‘Letters of Suresh’: A play that celebrates handwritten letters
Tumhari Amrita and Mughal-e-Azam—is rehearsing for his new play, Letters of Suresh. And as the title suggests, actor Vir Hirani can be seen reading out excerpts from a set of letters. The play is not set too far back in the past; rather, it deals with the post-pandemic reality.
Based on the text by American playwright Rajiv Joseph, who has in the past written plays like Guards at the Taj and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Abbas Khan’s play focuses on communication between young Suresh and a senior Japanese priest, Father Hashimoto. They don’t know each other but their letters speak of everything, from education to relationships and religion. Hashimoto, essayed by Harssh Singh, first spotted Suresh, a prolific artist, at an origami conference in Nagasaki, Japan.
Even though they didn’t speak at the time, the priest found an exquisite bird, folded by the artist, and felt a yearning to communicate with him. Even though they exchange ideas on paper, in this age of digital communication, the story doesn’t seem strange or abrupt. Rather, this need for slow, thoughtful communication seems oddly relatable.
Save for one FaceTime conversation, the characters never meet or speak in person. You witness two sides of the same story through the letters. The characters have been well-etched out.
As the play unfolds, you learn of Hashimoto’s stroke of luck to have escaped the dropping of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. Suresh gradually reveals his fascination for older women. Two other characters are integral to the story: Melody, a Seattle-based teacher, who is Hashimoto’s niece, and Amelia, who is romantically involved with Suresh.
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