How Broadway’s longest running solo play was given an Indian flavour

When Iceland-based company Theater Mogul decided to stage its famous production Defending The Caveman in India, CEO and executive producer Oskar Eiriksson insisted that it should be directed by a woman. A comedy about how men and women relate, it holds the record for being the longest-running solo play in Broadway. Since it required a male actor doing a one-man show, a female director would provide the right balance and touch.

They thus brought on board Heeba Shah, daughter of veteran Naseeruddin Shah. Besides acting in plays and films, Heeba has directed five plays for her production house Alchemy, including What Happened? and Anokhi Nishani. After some thought, she agreed to Theater Mogul’s proposal. Heeba was of the view that the chosen actor should not be from the current crop, and after an audition of 30 performers, the role was given to New Delhi-bred Vishesh Arora.

Written by American actor and comedian Rob Becker, Defending The Caveman has been staged in 58 countries
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Special Arrangement

Written by American actor and comedian Rob Becker, Defending The Caveman has been staged in 58 countries before coming to India. The first public show was held at Mumbai’s Veda Kunba Theatre on November 24. Shows were organised^{over weekends in December and will be held in January too, with plans for other venues.}

Talking about the experience, Heeba points out that she is not a trained director, though theatre is in her blood. “Naturally, my father has been my biggest influence. but I am still learning as I go. From my father, I’ve learnt about text, how to respect each word because the writer has thought out every word. Some actors keep improvising if they don’t remember the lines, but I don’t do that. I believe in sticking to the text — clarity of speech, clarity of movement and the pauses. I have picked up these skills from my father, and am using them in Caveman too.”

Heeba Shah with Vishesh Arora during rehearsals.
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Special Arrangement

Defending The Caveman has been described as a blend of comedy, lecture and therapy session. It takes a light-hearted look at the age-old battle of the sexes through the eyes of a modern caveman who hilariously dissects the connections between men and women. After a swift exit from a house party, the actor sees a vision and gets visited by a caveman. He tells stories of his own marriage and compares the ways we interact with our partners with the way things were back in prehistoric times.

Jiten Bhagat, the show’s associate producer in India, says the play has been adapted to suit Indian sensibilities. “The basic content is the same, and it works,” he says. Adds Heeba, “We’ve adapted the references to make them sound Indian. For instance, instead of softball we say cricket, and instead of Hollywood films, we’ve taken the names of Hindi movies and actors.”

The first time she read the script, Heeba thought it was very funny. “The more I read it, the funnier I found it. So we kept working on it. The script is great and that’s an advantage. Vishesh is a great actor; he’s got lots of energy. I’ve done my best to hammer him as much as possible.”

Vishesh has loved being on stage since he was five. “I don’t understand good acting or bad acting, but I understand the passion of being on stage,” he says.

Vishesh did a lot of plays at school in New Delhi and also trained under theatre personality Dilip Shankar. Eventually, he moved to Mumbai, where he began understanding the nuances. “I was waiting for something long-term and this happened. I have done a few solo plays but never this long. When you’re alone, the audience focus is entirely on you and the slightest mistake is caught. So you have to be perfect,” he says.

Naseeruddin Shah with Defending the Caveman team
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

According to Vishesh, the whole rehearsal process was a collaborative effort. “We would find something new each time. One thing I was scared of is that Heeba used to tell me you’ve forgotten a comma, you’ve forgotten to say ‘the’. So I had to repeat it a hundred times till I got it right. Heeba knows exactly what needs to be done. I just have to do it.”

CEO Oskar flew in from Reykjavik just before the first performance. He recalls how Theater Mogul was formed around Defending The Caveman after they saw a performance in Iceland in 2000. “We decided to take it to other countries. We wanted to go to Scandinavia first because those countries were close by, but somebody else had the rights there, and we almost gave up. So we applied for Germany, Austria and Holland. We opened the show in August 2000 in Berlin in a bus shelter because we couldn’t get a theatre. But the feedback was good, and we kept growing. We moved to other countries, with or without a partner.”

During Oskar’s visit to Delhi a few years, Jiten’s name was recommended, and things got going. It was decided that they would stick to English in the first run, and that Mumbai was the ideal place to open the show. Oskar is confident he has found the right team and ideal Caveman in India.