‘The Last Song’ a multi-lingual play by Art Beat that was held at Sadhana Dell ‘Arte, Merces, as part of the We, The Rivers of Goa event, portrayed story of a river and its custodian Iravati (Tuntuni Paakhi), who is fighting to save the last piece of pristine natural world.
The play which is written and directed by Asavari Gurav is inspired from the Maldivian folktale ‘Kullavaffalu Ranin.’ It talks about the tussle between the capitalist world and the indigenous communities who are fighting against all odds to save their land. Set on a mangrove island which is being sold to a company to set up a water factory—as it is the only place remaining for clean water.
‘The Last Song’ through its 45-minute duration talks about contemporary issues like water pollution, shortage of portable water due to AI data centres, concretisation of eco-sensitive areas and above all, the greed of human beings which has no end.
It also depicts the dystopian futuristic world where everything is on sale including our memories. But, does a river forget like we humans do? Or its memories get embedded only to reveal in times to come? This emotion is well enacted by Mamata Verlekar through her Konkani poem, ‘Yaadi Maranat.’
The live folk music from Goa like Dhalo and Fugdi and Baul music from Bengal, along with original songs written by Mamata Verlekar and played with the Ghumat, adds another layer to the play. ‘The Last Song’ is an honest attempt to depict a story of water, life, survival and memory; stated a press release.
