Batatyachi Chaal
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A well-known Marathi writer, P. L. Deshpande, wrote "Batatyachi Chaal" (Translation: "Potato Tenement"), a Marathi play. The play involves characters who belong to the lower middle class economic stratum in modern times in the State of Maharashtra in India, and who live in the so-called "Potato Tenement" which is fictionally located in the downtown of Mumbai, India. (The play is based on the author's book by the same name.)
The play was presented to the audience for the first time in 1958, it being then Marathi theater's first one-man show. The author himself would perform in the presentations, using a blue backdrop, and only a bench, an umbrella, and a muffler as his props. Marathi-speaking middle class formed the play's main audience.
In order to cater to a new generation of audience with varied backgrounds, the above play was later changed to include multiple actors. This new version uses much more elaborate sets in the presentations, and involves the following four episodes:
- Upaas (meaning "fasting")
- Sangeetika (meaning "a musical show")
- Bhraman Mandal (meaning "a travel club")
- Chintan (meaning "introspection")
