Written by Esthappen S
Language: English
for K underneath whom this play was first imagined. there is no one outside the window love.
for those who were disappeared. may the oppressors lose.
Kunja started slamming in order to escape the sickness that is the nation. And then slamming made Kunja sick. Now, his partner Gaurav wants to join the forces that protect the nation. Set in the year 2015, when Manipuri rebels ambushed an Indian Army convoy killing 20 soldiers and injuring several others in the deadliest attack on the Indian Army since the Kargil war, ‘The price is high’ explores the place of queerness among state institutions. It furthers the work that Tony Kushner started in ‘Angels of America’, but instead of placing queerness inside state institutions, the play takes its queer characters to the gates and gives them a peek at what lies for them inside before they make a choice to enter or walk away.
AN EXCERPT
The world has folded. A tree in Manipur now hangs upside down above the bed in Kunja’s room in a city in India. The tree is a Panggong Tree (Butea monosperma) used in Manipur to make effigies of the dead when the body is not found.
2015: Days go by. The noise dwindles but doesn’t settle.
(Rebels in Manipur ambush an army convoy outside Imphal city.)
...
(Kunja stands looking out the window. Lost but alert. Gaurav watches him sitting on the edge of the bed. As soon as Gaurav calls out to Kunja, Kunja shuts him down with a sharp shush.)
…
(Heavy firing from both sides.)
…
(Gaurav is working out. Kunja is sitting on the edge of the bed but his gaze is fixed out the window. After a while, Kunja’s eyes give up, but no sooner does his body tilt to fall, he wakes up with a jolt and resumes the watch. Gaurav continues working out.)
…
(The firing settles leaving behind dead bodies of men in army uniform strewn across the road.)
…
(An overturned bowl with its contents strewn across the floor. Kunja is asleep. Gaurav is sitting next to him making notes in a thick textbook.)
…
(Army response. The site where the ambush took place is being investigated.)
…
(Gaurav stands with a plate of food feeding Kunja who is guarding the window. Kunja smokes his cigarette in between every morsel Gaurav feeds him.)
…
(Media frenzy around the site of the ambush.)
...
(Gaurav tackles Kunja to the ground. Kunja is hysterical. Gaurav is holding Kunja’s mouth shut with his hand. Kunja keeps pointing at the window while struggling to set himself free. Kunja manages to free himself and goes and hides under the bed.)
Kunja: They are outside!
Gaurav: Noone is.
Kunja: You don’t know. Now they will catch every young person and murder them. Tear apart their limbs, arms, heads, hearts. Save me Gaurav. Hide me.
Gaurav: You are safe.
Kunja: I don’t mind dying. But I will not be raped. They shove guns. Knives. Whatever they find. Hand me my knife.
…
(Newsflash: 20 soldiers killed in Manipur ambush in deadliest attack on Indian army since the Kargil war. The news anchor provides an account of insurgency in Manipur starting with the formation of the separatist faction known as United National Liberation Front (UNLF), on 24 November 1964 until the attack in 2015.)
...
(Kunja walks around the room inspecting the ceiling.)
...
(Gaurav force feeds Kunja two pills.)
…
(Gaurav and Kunja fuck.)
…
(Gaurav bathes Kunja.)
Kunja: I know what you are doing. These tiny lights on the ceiling. I know what they are. How many cameras are there? Are all of them cameras or only some? No bedroom has these kind of tiny lights, this is a museum. I can hear the camera's recording. Sometimes they beep, probably because the battery is low or something.
(Beat.)
Gaurav: Let’s see a doctor.
Kunja: Why? Are you sick?
...
(Kunja spots Gaurav as Gaurav weight lifts.)
...
ABOUT ESTHAPPEN
Esthappen is a queer playwright and threatremaker who runs Somethings Simple, a queer arts and political space to bring forth stories of the queer communities. Previously, he was part of the playwriting residency conducted by The Royal Court Theatre, UK, and Rage Productions, India, called Writer’s Bloc. His work as a playwright includes Given (
To contact Esthappen, please email esthappen90s@gmail.com
ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
A lot of us feel the need to write but we don’t often get the chance. Or the guidance to help us understand not just what we are writing but also why we write in the first place. Bhasha Centre’s playwriting program was as much a training in writing as it was about how to think about writing. Abhishek broke down the world’s best plays into how they are written, why they were written, and what it means to write such plays. Our curriculum combined tools for writing, an insight into the practice of writing, and thoughts on writing as an act of philosophizing. I leave the course confident and eager to write more. I hope a thousand Bhasha Centres spring up across the country.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
notes:
Main content sources:
Centre for humanitarian dialogue.
Amnesty international.
e-pao.net
glossary:
Slamming: Intravenously inducing drugs using a syringe
Track marks: Injection site marks
High fun (HF): Sexual encounters involving use of drugs
Meow: Mephedrone (drug commonly used during slamming)
Narcotics Anonymous (NA): A global organization that works on de-addiction and recovery.
Meitei: Majority ethnic group of Manipur.
UG: Underground resistance groups in Manipur.
Language: English
for K underneath whom this play was first imagined. there is no one outside the window love.
for those who were disappeared. may the oppressors lose.
SYNOPSIS
Kunja started slamming in order to escape the sickness that is the nation. And then slamming made Kunja sick. Now, his partner Gaurav wants to join the forces that protect the nation. Set in the year 2015, when Manipuri rebels ambushed an Indian Army convoy killing 20 soldiers and injuring several others in the deadliest attack on the Indian Army since the Kargil war, ‘The price is high’ explores the place of queerness among state institutions. It furthers the work that Tony Kushner started in ‘Angels of America’, but instead of placing queerness inside state institutions, the play takes its queer characters to the gates and gives them a peek at what lies for them inside before they make a choice to enter or walk away.
AN EXCERPT
The world has folded. A tree in Manipur now hangs upside down above the bed in Kunja’s room in a city in India. The tree is a Panggong Tree (Butea monosperma) used in Manipur to make effigies of the dead when the body is not found.
2015: Days go by. The noise dwindles but doesn’t settle.
(Rebels in Manipur ambush an army convoy outside Imphal city.)
...
(Kunja stands looking out the window. Lost but alert. Gaurav watches him sitting on the edge of the bed. As soon as Gaurav calls out to Kunja, Kunja shuts him down with a sharp shush.)
…
(Heavy firing from both sides.)
…
(Gaurav is working out. Kunja is sitting on the edge of the bed but his gaze is fixed out the window. After a while, Kunja’s eyes give up, but no sooner does his body tilt to fall, he wakes up with a jolt and resumes the watch. Gaurav continues working out.)
…
(The firing settles leaving behind dead bodies of men in army uniform strewn across the road.)
…
(An overturned bowl with its contents strewn across the floor. Kunja is asleep. Gaurav is sitting next to him making notes in a thick textbook.)
…
(Army response. The site where the ambush took place is being investigated.)
…
(Gaurav stands with a plate of food feeding Kunja who is guarding the window. Kunja smokes his cigarette in between every morsel Gaurav feeds him.)
…
(Media frenzy around the site of the ambush.)
...
(Gaurav tackles Kunja to the ground. Kunja is hysterical. Gaurav is holding Kunja’s mouth shut with his hand. Kunja keeps pointing at the window while struggling to set himself free. Kunja manages to free himself and goes and hides under the bed.)
Kunja: They are outside!
Gaurav: Noone is.
Kunja: You don’t know. Now they will catch every young person and murder them. Tear apart their limbs, arms, heads, hearts. Save me Gaurav. Hide me.
Gaurav: You are safe.
Kunja: I don’t mind dying. But I will not be raped. They shove guns. Knives. Whatever they find. Hand me my knife.
…
(Newsflash: 20 soldiers killed in Manipur ambush in deadliest attack on Indian army since the Kargil war. The news anchor provides an account of insurgency in Manipur starting with the formation of the separatist faction known as United National Liberation Front (UNLF), on 24 November 1964 until the attack in 2015.)
...
(Kunja walks around the room inspecting the ceiling.)
...
(Gaurav force feeds Kunja two pills.)
…
(Gaurav and Kunja fuck.)
…
(Gaurav bathes Kunja.)
Kunja: I know what you are doing. These tiny lights on the ceiling. I know what they are. How many cameras are there? Are all of them cameras or only some? No bedroom has these kind of tiny lights, this is a museum. I can hear the camera's recording. Sometimes they beep, probably because the battery is low or something.
(Beat.)
Gaurav: Let’s see a doctor.
Kunja: Why? Are you sick?
...
(Kunja spots Gaurav as Gaurav weight lifts.)
...
(Gaurav is asleep on one side of the bed. Kunja is on all fours crawling back and forth on the other side, an animal guarding territory. His gaze is fixed outside.)
…
(Kunja eats. Gaurav has a map spread out in front of him. He makes notes.)
Gaurav: Fuck this. I always get confused between the names of your states and their capitals. They should just combine these and make them one state.
Kunja: How about a new country?
…
(Kunja stands next to the window pointing a knife outside. After a while, he goes and hides the knife under the bed.)
…
(Gaurav cries sitting on the floor.)
…
(Gaurav and Kunja are in a cafe. Gaurav is the first to burst out laughing.)
Gaurav: Have they followed us here?
Kunja: No.
Gaurav: Gone?
Kunja: They come in the night. Then you wake up in the morning and find another person has disappeared. You will wake up one day and find me gone. No trace. No body. Will you search for me?
Gaurav: So you know these are hallucinations and you still can’t tell?
(Kunja smiles.)
Kunja: I know when I hallucinate and when they are actually there.
Gaurav: What about the others who slam? Do all of them see things?
Kunja: Some do. Some see their parents, some see their friends yelling at them for slamming, some see lovers and some their school teachers.
Gaurav: And you see the army. What if I get into IMA?
…
(Kunja points the knife at Gaurav. Gaurav says the same thing over and over.)
Gaurav: NA or rehab?
(Kunja lowers the knife. Gaurav walks to Kunja. He takes the knife and goes out. Gaurav comes back and smacks Kunja on the face. Kunja falls to the ground.)
…
(Kunja paints Gaurav’s back. He refers to a stack of paper next to him to ask Gaurav questions.)
Gaurav: I brought you papers as well. The paint feels cold and icky.
Kunja: You want me to paint or not?
Gaurav: Yes. It helps you right?
Kunja: It helps you. You like watching me paint good things, right? Mountains. Flowers. Dicks. Does it make you believe that you love me?
Gaurav: Ask the next question.
Kunja: The Shompens are the vulnerable tribal group of A. Jharkhand B. Odisha C. West Bengal D. Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
(Gaurav answers.)
Kunja: Afro-Asian solidarity as a central element of India's foreign policy was initiated by which of the following Prime Ministers? A. Narendra Modi B. I.K. Gujral C. J.L. Nehru D. Manmohan Singh
(Gaurav answers A.)
Kunja: When a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, the right to move a Court for the enforcement of all Fundamental Rights remains suspended, except A. Article 20 and Article 21 B. Article 21 and Article 22 C. Article 19 and Article 20 D. Article 15 and Article 16
(Gaurav answers.)
(Kunja starts laughing uncontrollably.)
…
(Gaurav takes his shirt off.)
Kunja: How was the test?
Gaurav: Difficult.
(Kunja goes and hugs Gaurav.)
Kunja: Sorry babes.
Gaurav: It wasn’t that bad.
…
(Gaurav bathes Kunja. Kunja appreciates the gesture.)
Gaurav: So?
Kunja: So what?
Gaurav: How was your first meeting?
Kunja: It was alright. Just like the movies. Everyone sits in a circle. Thanks the lord!
Gaurav: What did you learn?
Kunja: It’s not a school.
Gaurav: Of course.
Kunja: We are powerless against the drugs. No matter how strong or smart we think we are, we are powerless against the drugs. So I said drugs are afspa. Nobody knew what afspa was.
(Gaurav takes a towel and starts drying Kunja.)
Gaurav: Okay, mister! You are taking me out for a fancy dinner. A fucking fancy dinner!
Kunja: Why?
(Gaurav starts shaking.)
Gaurav: I cleared the written test! I have the medical test next month.
(Kunja hugs Gaurav.)
…
(An electrician stands on a stool. He pulls out a ceiling light and gives it to Kunja. Kunja inspects it. Gaurav does push ups in a corner.)
...
(Kunja paints the word ‘army’ on the wall. He then paints an upside down heart around it. Pauses to watch. Then he paints over the words filling up the heart.)
(Gaurav enters after having worked out.)
Gaurav: What is this?
Kunja: Our love.
(Lights flicker. A long blackout.)
…
(Kunja eats. Gaurav has a map spread out in front of him. He makes notes.)
Gaurav: Fuck this. I always get confused between the names of your states and their capitals. They should just combine these and make them one state.
Kunja: How about a new country?
…
(Kunja stands next to the window pointing a knife outside. After a while, he goes and hides the knife under the bed.)
…
(Gaurav cries sitting on the floor.)
…
(Gaurav and Kunja are in a cafe. Gaurav is the first to burst out laughing.)
Gaurav: Have they followed us here?
Kunja: No.
Gaurav: Gone?
Kunja: They come in the night. Then you wake up in the morning and find another person has disappeared. You will wake up one day and find me gone. No trace. No body. Will you search for me?
Gaurav: So you know these are hallucinations and you still can’t tell?
(Kunja smiles.)
Kunja: I know when I hallucinate and when they are actually there.
Gaurav: What about the others who slam? Do all of them see things?
Kunja: Some do. Some see their parents, some see their friends yelling at them for slamming, some see lovers and some their school teachers.
Gaurav: And you see the army. What if I get into IMA?
…
(Kunja points the knife at Gaurav. Gaurav says the same thing over and over.)
Gaurav: NA or rehab?
(Kunja lowers the knife. Gaurav walks to Kunja. He takes the knife and goes out. Gaurav comes back and smacks Kunja on the face. Kunja falls to the ground.)
…
(Kunja paints Gaurav’s back. He refers to a stack of paper next to him to ask Gaurav questions.)
Gaurav: I brought you papers as well. The paint feels cold and icky.
Kunja: You want me to paint or not?
Gaurav: Yes. It helps you right?
Kunja: It helps you. You like watching me paint good things, right? Mountains. Flowers. Dicks. Does it make you believe that you love me?
Gaurav: Ask the next question.
Kunja: The Shompens are the vulnerable tribal group of A. Jharkhand B. Odisha C. West Bengal D. Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
(Gaurav answers.)
Kunja: Afro-Asian solidarity as a central element of India's foreign policy was initiated by which of the following Prime Ministers? A. Narendra Modi B. I.K. Gujral C. J.L. Nehru D. Manmohan Singh
(Gaurav answers A.)
Kunja: When a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, the right to move a Court for the enforcement of all Fundamental Rights remains suspended, except A. Article 20 and Article 21 B. Article 21 and Article 22 C. Article 19 and Article 20 D. Article 15 and Article 16
(Gaurav answers.)
(Kunja starts laughing uncontrollably.)
…
(Gaurav takes his shirt off.)
Kunja: How was the test?
Gaurav: Difficult.
(Kunja goes and hugs Gaurav.)
Kunja: Sorry babes.
Gaurav: It wasn’t that bad.
…
(Gaurav bathes Kunja. Kunja appreciates the gesture.)
Gaurav: So?
Kunja: So what?
Gaurav: How was your first meeting?
Kunja: It was alright. Just like the movies. Everyone sits in a circle. Thanks the lord!
Gaurav: What did you learn?
Kunja: It’s not a school.
Gaurav: Of course.
Kunja: We are powerless against the drugs. No matter how strong or smart we think we are, we are powerless against the drugs. So I said drugs are afspa. Nobody knew what afspa was.
(Gaurav takes a towel and starts drying Kunja.)
Gaurav: Okay, mister! You are taking me out for a fancy dinner. A fucking fancy dinner!
Kunja: Why?
(Gaurav starts shaking.)
Gaurav: I cleared the written test! I have the medical test next month.
(Kunja hugs Gaurav.)
…
(An electrician stands on a stool. He pulls out a ceiling light and gives it to Kunja. Kunja inspects it. Gaurav does push ups in a corner.)
...
(Kunja paints the word ‘army’ on the wall. He then paints an upside down heart around it. Pauses to watch. Then he paints over the words filling up the heart.)
(Gaurav enters after having worked out.)
Gaurav: What is this?
Kunja: Our love.
(Lights flicker. A long blackout.)
ABOUT ESTHAPPEN
Esthappen is a queer playwright and threatremaker who runs Somethings Simple, a queer arts and political space to bring forth stories of the queer communities. Previously, he was part of the playwriting residency conducted by The Royal Court Theatre, UK, and Rage Productions, India, called Writer’s Bloc. His work as a playwright includes Given (To contact Esthappen, please email esthappen90s@gmail.com
ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
A lot of us feel the need to write but we don’t often get the chance. Or the guidance to help us understand not just what we are writing but also why we write in the first place. Bhasha Centre’s playwriting program was as much a training in writing as it was about how to think about writing. Abhishek broke down the world’s best plays into how they are written, why they were written, and what it means to write such plays. Our curriculum combined tools for writing, an insight into the practice of writing, and thoughts on writing as an act of philosophizing. I leave the course confident and eager to write more. I hope a thousand Bhasha Centres spring up across the country.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am a non-Manipuri person who is writing a play with Manipuri protagonists. I have not engaged in chem-sex (although i have used drugs previously and done about 2 years of research on the subject) and I am writing about the chem-sex experience.
What the fuck am i doing?
I will not deflect any appropriation charge that might come my way (I would much rather study it) but my gut feeling is that there is something alongside appropriation that must be questioned here. Another possibility that is waiting to be explored. One which demands investigation into the ‘how’ along with the ‘what’.
The only thing I have in common with my characters is queerness. But, is queerness enough ground to stand side by side with my characters and tell ‘our’ stories together? I don’t know. Even if such an occurrence is possible, I still don’t have a clear insight into the nature of such a queerness that can construct a commonplace for the uncommons. I also don’t exactly understand what material-philosophical-intellectual-practical conditions led me to pursue the construction of such a place that holds unfamiliarities and subverts the rules of power- a room where there may be an oppressor but no exploitation? And I obviously don’t know where I have reached on this journey. Yet, I sincerely hope that I haven’t oppressed my characters while writing this draft. The other question is about the language that should be spoken in such a room. How can I speak to my characters about finding home when I don’t even know what is the word for home in Meiteilon? What a mess!
Lucky for us, my protagonists and I agree in our views on the notion of nation and the institutions it has built to protect itself from the people whose freedom lies in their dismantling. And also our views on un-sobriety are the same! Maybe that’s what holds the play together. Our eagerness to dismantle structures of power and get high.
_____________________________________________________________________
this play does not reflect on the chemsex experiences of queer afab and transgender folx due to my own inability to articulate them. this does not mean i don’t consider you as samudaaya or that there are no trans and afab folx who are part of the chemsex and other resistance sub-cultures.
_____________________________________________________________________
without the slamming samudaaya, that opened up to me about their most private thoughts-fantasies-experiences, let me into their minds and hearts and beds, this play would not have been possible. i hope i have not let you down. i don’t think you are amazing, i think you are solid.
this play was developed during a year long playwriting course held at The Bhasha Centre, bengaluru, under the guidance of abhishek majumdar.
i thank: my fellow playwrights at The Bhasha Centre playwriting course 2019-20. abhishek majumdar. Sadam hanjabam. mario da penha. vqueeram aditya sahai. vivek madan. anisha anantpurkar. ramneek singh. aritra pal. romal laisram. pavel sagolsam.
The team that workshopped the play and shwetanshu bora who lead the workshop.
the many who i cannot name.
notes:
Main content sources:
Centre for humanitarian dialogue.
Amnesty international.
e-pao.net
glossary:
Slamming: Intravenously inducing drugs using a syringe
Track marks: Injection site marks
High fun (HF): Sexual encounters involving use of drugs
Meow: Mephedrone (drug commonly used during slamming)
Narcotics Anonymous (NA): A global organization that works on de-addiction and recovery.
Meitei: Majority ethnic group of Manipur.
UG: Underground resistance groups in Manipur.
esthappen
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