2008 play finds new relevance in divisive world

Playwright Haresh Sharma's monologue Eclipse, to be restaged in January, deals with the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan

- Shawn Hoo

Restaging a 2008 play about the aftermath of the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan is timelier than ever for playwright Haresh Sharma, 59, who thinks "the whole world is like a big partition" today.

"People in power are separating us from one another using faith, history, geography and whatever they can get their hands on," says the Cultural Medallion recipient, referring to contemporary religious fundamentalist movements.

Eclipse, Sharma's monologue about a young Singaporean man journeying to his father's birthplace in Pakistan, was first staged as a 20-minute play in Edinburgh in 2007, along with three other shows that dealt with histories of independence.

The play, which was developed into a full-length monologue at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival in 2008, is being restaged at the festival from Jan 15 to 18. It joins other plays such as Bangalore-based theatre collective Qabila's WePushTheSky in a season that tells stories about displacement and dislocation.