Plan B/C/D/E is a solo performance about a pressing issue - climate change. Delivering doomsday predictions and facts isn't easy so we asked Meghana AT, the person behind this, and I suppose ahead of it, about the whys and wherefores.
Q Let's start at the beginning. If I remember right, this play was born on foreign shores. I recall something about you standing alone on a stage with a handful of people in the audience, somewhere in Prague? Belgrade?
A Nope, this Mumbai centric show premiered at the Mumbai Art Room in Colaba, in August 2019, followed by living room performances in Bandra and Delhi, before I took it to Prague where I was halfway through my Master's. Never been to Belgrade, alas. You're right that it was a small space and audience though - it was a tiny room, with an exhibition featuring three artists, so I had about 2 sq metres of performance area, and then space for about 15-20 audience members. Cosy! Everything was designed for that space, and since then, I continue to tweak the design according to the venue I will be performing at.
Q Right. So it was a long time ago. Do you remember why you came up with the name? It's a great name for a play. Memorable.
A While I was coming up with ideas for the show, I was riffing off the idea of surviving a biblical flood (I was also fascinated by how many mythologies of floods there are) and made a little joke about things not working out, and needing a Plan B, but also a plan C, D, E, etc. I liked the joke. The tone and content of the show changed a lot since then, but the joke stuck.
Now, I sometimes regret the name because too many people ask me "how is Plan ABC doing" which sounds more like a show teaching the alphabet to toddlers. Which sounds great too! Just not what I have made...
Q Let's talk about the content you carry and share, in terms of facts. How did you do your research? Do you update and include the latest findings as they emerge?
A Before I started devising, I collected research on Mumbai's predicted future. To understand the predictions, I needed to better understand the global climate crisis and current climate terminology. I was pretty up to date with the news, but my scientific understanding was minimal. I looked on scholar.google.com and tried to get multiple sources for any research I was sharing, because I know even proper-looking journals can post spurious research. I needed to read most papers many many many times (I stopped studying science in 2011) and whenever I had a doubt, I just didn't use that data, even if it was dramaturgically exciting. I think the risk of misinformation is quite intense in the show, and I'd rather err on the side of caution. Fortunately there are also lots of sources that simplify climate research for lay people, so I leaned on those.
For subsequent shows, I do keep revising the research I refer to, check if numbers have changed (on three occasions the change was significant and left me scrambling to re-write!). This process can be exhausting and anxiety inducing, but it also grounds me before each show. As a lifelong nerd, I quite enjoy this part of the process.
Q What's it like to be a spokesperson for a topic of this magnitude? I'd be terrified of mis-representing or mis-interpreting something.
A Terrified is accurate. I'm so nervous that I have misunderstood something, or that the data has changed since my last read, or worst of all - I just misspeak and accidentally become a lying superspreader of 'alternative facts'.
My two safety nets are - obsessive studying and triple checking, and sharing key references post the show with the audience. Some people have messaged me (up to 2.5 years after watching the show) asking for the source of a claim I made, and it's very heartening that they are also still engaging in the topic and trying to fact check their memory.
Q Do you have any heroes in the fight against climate change? Greta Thunberg or Wangari Maathai or anyone else?
A I have been disappointed by too many former heroes to have any heroes any more. But I am super inspired by the numerous grassroots climate movements that have met with some success across India/the world. I am in awe of the Save Mollem movement, that took on the mining industry in Goa and actually won! It gives me climate hope like nothing else.
Q What do you think motivates these individuals to speak up and devote their lives and livelihoods to this greater common good? It's thankless, often reviled, targeted.
A For me, it's my sanity outlet. I know I have this skillset to reach out to people and I think this is the only way I could possibly feel like I am contributing enough to the climate crisis. My climate anxiety would eat me up inside if I didn't keep doing this show.
People have called out my activist bent as "too angry, too precious, too idealistic, too emotional" but I really think that my rage, fear, and whatever else are born of love and radical hope. I have this radical (absurd?) optimism that things don't need to be this shit, coupled with a realist bent that to get out of this mess, we need to fight the powers that be. 'Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will' as Stuart Hall said, and as I repeat in every show. Can't speak for the rest though, I definitely don't have even half an ounce of the guts on-ground activists do, those working from Bastar to Gadchiroli to Kashmir to Palestine, being beaten and jailed for their grassroots work.
Q Are you from the camp that believes art can change the world? And do you believe that it should be burdened with that responsibility?
A Can one single piece of art change a person's mind about something? I highly doubt it.
Can art be a part of the process of subverting narratives and changing people's minds over time? Yes! Art has always been a part of revolutionary movements. It's not The Movement, but without art to help us make sense of this world, it's just a very tiring and sad life (at least, in my view).
I've often been asked, did you make Plan B/C/D/E to convince people that climate change exists? Nope. If all the news articles and protests on the streets and 'clean Mumbai green Mumbai' signs didn't convince you, some girl joking around for 90 minutes isn't going to move the needle. I do believe art (and even Plan B/C/D/E) can bring in incremental change though. I'm not trying to convince the audience that climate change exists - I am trying to convince them that it is something happening NOW (not in the future) and it is something that will affect THEM (not just polar bears in the Arctic). In that, I think I have been pretty successful. I even had a friend who said the show gave him such climate anxiety that he switched careers from education to climate, just to feel better (it worked out for him! Though I wish I didn't spike his anxiety that much.)
But should art be burdened with this? Nah. Just like we deserve political art, we also deserve art that also just exists for enjoyment, for entertainment, for pleasure. I'm not blasting revolutionary anthems all day, you'll find that Pritam features heavily on my Spotify wrapped, right next to Mehdi Hasan, followed closely by Chappell Roan.
Q Back to the play. You've had some memorable audience interactions. Would you like to share a couple that have stayed with you?
A Oh man, some true classics, hard to share without giving away too many spoilers. I needle the audience a lot, especially to make a point about how class differences are going to be exacerbated by the climate crisis.
Some people have gotten really mad at me, totally missing the satire, and called me "glib and facetious". Others have nodded along as I said atrocious things, and said "true, poor people die, shit happens". It's all frightening and challenging to subvert, but makes for great drama.
Q And now we're nearly finished. You and Mallika Shah formed tafreehwale a year or so ago. What are tafreehwale's goals and ambitions?
A Aiyyo. For a person who made a show about planning for the future, I am notoriously unable to think about my future. Best I can do is a couple of weeks. Ambition is to keep going on, I suppose? To have fun, to be well rested, to earn some money and meet some more nice people? Who knows...
Q Do you enjoy running a company? Or would you rather just be in rehearsal rooms or classrooms all the time?
A I enjoy running a company but I can't pretend to like doing accounts or making calls to my CA. I also do miss being in someone else's rehearsal room. I love acting, and I miss it so much. Cough cough, directors reading this call me to audition for theatre plissss.
I'm a classic "grass is greener" gal. While working as a teacher, I miss acting. While acting I miss production. While producing, I miss teaching. At least I am self aware, I guess?
Q And finally, what's next for you? For tafreehwale?
A Pata nahi yaar, kuch toh hoga, hum dekhenge.
UPCOMING SHOWS
Feb 1 | 7.30pm
Tata Gardens, NCPA
About the play: Climate scientists predict that much of Mumbai city will be underwater by 2050. This shocking prediction must be front-page news, discussed daily in prime-time news, with every politician talking about it, right? Alas… it was quite the opposite.
Tired of waiting for political change, this performer decides to make her own backup plans to survive the climate crisis. She cannot sit idly by as the sea takes over her city; she needs to be prepared! In a unique interactive performance, Meghana AT enlists the help of her audience to ensure that by the time the apocalypse comes, her plans are water-tight.
written and performed by Meghana AT
dramaturgical support by Tanvi Shah
production support Lekha Parida
an NCPA Off-Stage presentation in collaboration with tafreehwale
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