Jim Sarbh to deliver a monologue in theatre production

This critically acclaimed play by Simon Stephens is directed by award-winning director and NCPA Head of Theatre, Bruce Guthrie, and performed by Sarbh.

New Delhi: The versatile actor Jim Sarbh, who believes that storytelling must adapt to changing scenarios, said he is all for adopting a hybrid model: both physical theatre performances and virtual screenings. The actor will perform in ‘Sea Wall’, a co-production of National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and BookMyShow, which will stream online.

This critically acclaimed play by Simon Stephens is directed by award-winning director and NCPA Head of Theatre, Bruce Guthrie, and performed by Sarbh.

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“Theatre is an exciting medium for a variety of reasons, one of the main ones being the intimate feedback loop of live storytelling. Audiences can feel inauthenticity, and they consequently galvanise truthfulness. With ‘Sea Wall’ being made available on BookMyShow, I am glad that the NCPA is adapting and reaching out to tell stories to an audience sitting safely and comfortably at home,” said Jim Sarbh.

Sea Wall captures its audiences’ hearts with Alex’s delicate monologue, completely devastating and beautifully powerful. Alex played by Jim Sarbh speaks directly to the audience about his wife visiting her father in the South of France, having a daughter, photography, and the bottom of the sea. Donning a natural, happy, and engaging tone, with flickers of questions about belief and religion glimpsed under the surface, Alex’s contentment is short-lived before it fades away into deep and heart-breaking grief, crumbling to pieces with a vividness that is incredibly moving.

Articulating his experience of playing the protagonist of the monologue, Sarbh said, “Sea Wall is a gorgeous, elegant, devastating monologue. Working on it is as rewarding as it is challenging. I hope that I have done it justice, and I hope it reaches a virtual audience in as personal a way as it has reached me.”

Sea Wall marks the return of theatrical performances, as the play starts with Jim Sarbh switching off the Ghost light (a single light on a long stand that illuminates a theatre space with it is otherwise unoccupied or ‘dark’) before commencing with the monologue. Interestingly, the entire play was shot using a multi-camera set up and in one take without any cuts, retaining the essence of watching theatre live on stage.

According to Bruce Guthrie, this new collaboration aims to give audience a unique perspective on this moving piece of theatre and also the opportunity to see “this tremendous play with delicate, vulnerable and heartfelt performance by Jim Sarbh”.

The monologue will be streaming on BookMyShow Online between February 27-28 and March 6-7. Theatre-lovers can book tickets to the show, priced at Rs 299, on BookMyShow.