While studying ‘The Theatre of the Absurd’ and Samuel Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’ in our Modern Literature Course, our professor discussed the film version of Beckett’s shortest play ‘Breath’ - thirty-seconds play and assigned us one of the most creative tasks to interpret this shortest play and shoot a small video.
Here is the script of this shortest play titled 'Breath'
CURTAIN Up
1. Faint light on stage littered with miscellaneous rubbish. Hold about five seconds.
2. Faint brief cry and immediately inspiration and slow increase of light together reaching maximum - together in about ten seconds. Silence and hold for about five seconds.
3. Expiration and slow decrease of light together reaching minimum together (light as in 1) in about ten seconds and immediately cry as before. Silence and hold about five seconds.
CURTAIN Down
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Feel free to watch my attempt of shooting a video with a concept that is purely Indian. A 'saree' is considered as a traditional ideal outfit for women by most people in India.
My Interpretation of the play-
"Man is defined as a human being and woman as a female – whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male."
- Simone de Beauvoir
As indicated by the typical Indian culture and society, a female is only considered as an ideal lady after she becomes a wife and bears her husband's child. An ideal wife is a person who serves the orders set by the male-centric culture, a patriarchal society where feminity subscribes to obedience, dutifulness, loyalty and submission. Whatever is the concept of femininity which we today are witnessing is derived from the grand, most elegant Ancient Indian Culture particularly the Hindu mythologies surrounded on the identity of a woman which is either idealised or iconised.
Even when worshipped and adorned, women have had no autonomy and received recognition as rational individuals, any more when they have been abused and denigrated.
"One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman."
- Simone de Beauvoir
With reference to Simone de Beauvoir's work 'The Second Sex', one can argue on the basis of its influence by existentialism that it denies the existence of pre-ordained 'human nature' and emphasises on the liberation of a being from the shackles of gendered identity. The socialization of a woman renders har a woman with certain inherent qualities. These objects, which are displayed in the video as miscellaneous as an adaptation of Beckett's play with a different perspective displayed the decoration of a female body. Not only the beautification but more than that, it characterizes the chains that are holding from liberation.
There are objects like Bengals, Bindi, Maang Tikka, Necklace, Mangalsutra, etc.
"One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, compassion."
- Simone de Beauvoir
Here is my explanation of the shortest play 'breath' with my perspective of existentialism-
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