Two to Tango, Three to Jive

A comedy by Saurabh Shukla - These five words should say it all if you know the genius of Shukla. Nevertheless, it is worth writing a few lines about this play in Two Acts which was staged at the Turf Club, Pune, India on 21 Sept 2013.

Middle-aged Parminder Sethi wants to have an affair, and so three women come into his life. The three women are quite interesting and quite different from each other. The rendezvous is Sethi's mother's house in her absence. Unfortunately, the much needed affair never happens, but in the process of trying to have one, a lot of other things happen.

The comedy deserves mention because of its witty dialogue, perfect comic timing, great acting and thought provoking premise. Saurabh Shukla, Achint Kaur, Sadia Siddiqui and Preiti Mamgain have showcased their acting skills, no doubt. Also the country music playing in the background was well selected keeping in mind the perky name of the play.

I only wish the venue was a better one (a real auditorium, I mean). At times I had to crane my neck or twist my body to catch a glimpse of what was happening on stage, as two very tall people sat right in my line of vision!!

Tughlaq

I was mesmerized with Tughlaq - the character and the play. It is an immortal piece of work because it speaks of human folly that repeats itself again and again. The ambience of the play at the Ferozshah Kotla was magnetic. It simply drew me in and it was as if I was seeing the past events of Delhi unfold right there in front of my eyes as if it were today. I became one of Tughlaq's subjects. Yashpal Sharma wearing the mantle of Tughlaq was just right. His mannerisms, his talk and his pathos pulled at the heart strings. I felt helpless along with Tughlaq at the collapsing situation around him. His lonliness at the end engulfs me too. That is the magic of good theatre!! Thank you Girish Karnad, for recreating this imperfect ruler so perfectly. The production crew with the perfect lighting, music and costumes was spot on. Bhanu Bharti, you deserve the accolades!

Goodbye Forever

An English play by Feisal Alkazi. It has two acts and is 105 mins long. I went to see because it was directed by Alkazi. Now this play had members of the Alkazi family involved in prominent roles. And yes, all are capable actors.
So your loved one dies suddenly. You are yet to come to grips with this loss when suddenly she returns!! How do you deal with it? The husband is the happiest person, greeting his wife with love and prohibiting her to leave again. The son, on the other hand, reacts differently. He knows she is a ghost and cannot stay. The mother- in- law played ably by Sohaila Kapur hits the nail on the head when she tells the family that this situation was not right. Anyway, she was not very fond of Estelle either as her husband was quite smitten by his daughter in law.
Estelle was in the middle of rearranging her house furniture when she died. So she comes back to complete the task and while she is at it, she manages to reconcile the family to her death. In fact, the play ends with the husband offering to drive her back to the graveyard and the young son breaks down for the first time since her death.
Alkazi describes the play beautifully - About loving and leaving... of laughter and forgetting.
Letting go is what the play is all about.

World Theatre Day

On March 27, the world celebrated Theatre day. I attended a panel discussion on theatre and found it quite riveting. Where have the patrons of theatre gone? - That was the topic. Well, with the kind of theatre being churned out, is it a wonder that patrons are running for cover? Being a part of the Creative Arts gave me an insight into what experimental theatre is all about. The director, Ramanjit Kaur, has been working on site-specific theatre where the audience too has a part to play and is unsure of what to expect next. Our play, The Merry Go Round - Another Spin, was quite a show stealer when it was staged. Attracting audience is no mean feat. Stage something new and exciting, a play that seriously wants to make a difference, really wants to communicate with the audience, then and only then will theatre get more eyeballs, sorry to use that word.