Auditioning the Plaintiff. Rehearsing the Witness:The Bhawal Court Case

Auditioning the Plaintiff. Rehearsing the Witness: The Bhawal Court Case by Zuleikha Chaudhari is a theatre and installation work— its first iteration developed at the Mumbai Art Room in 2015. This earlier version was an ‘exhibition’ combining rehearsals, auditions, and an expert witness programme. The project uses original evidence from the Bhawal court case as scripts and reference material, testimonies of witnesses as well as photographic portraits of the young Kumar restaged by the older plaintiff to establish likeness. Auditioning the Plaintiff focuses on the plaintiff’s testimony. This material, which bears the burden of proving one’s self, of convincing the court that you are who you say you are and that what you say can be believed, is used as an audition text. An audition is typically an introduction—in an audition, the actor has to present a self portrait as well as his technique and ability to become someone else. The representation is real and staged at the same time.