Prithvi Theatre Fest: The Flying Wallas- Opera Noir

Jeet Thayil and Suman Sridhar raise some interesting questions as they accuse each other on stage, with their theatrical venture, The Flying Wallas: Opera Noir- a drama that combines the voice of a soprano with the voice of one musing through with an elegant tapestry of quotations. The musical pair integrate their version of opera with electronic background music and conversational English (including slang). 

It all begins when a trapeze artist falls to his death and comes back to cry “MURDER”. Now a ghost, he accuses the other for not catching him on time, leading to his untimely demise. As the conversation heads along, the artists reveal details about themselves, the relationship with the other, the insecurities, the betrayal, the friendship,  etc., until the ghost turns his attention towards God, embittered but still probing for he has these unanswered questions.

The contemporary noir production is not for a niche group, and going by the response at Prithvi struck a chord with the attendees, which covered a broad range of demographics. There’s a high chance of being amused by the verbal exchange, the moods and the quirky characters personified. Thayil does his part well, though he seems not too convinced with the assertions in the ‘libretto’.  And Sridhar gets better by the day, whether acting on stage or crooning at a gig.

In short, The Flying Wallas: Opera Noir is an entertaining pretend opera for ‘the unpretentious.’

The play is part of the ongoing Prithvi Theatre Festival.

I Am An Emotional Creature

Being a woman I feel privileged to have attended the world premiere of Eve Ensler’s ‘I Am an Emotional Creature’ directed by Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal and Kaizad Kotwal. The actors open by speaking up about the injustice that exists in the world in the form of discrimination, not only on the basis of gender but caste, color and status. Monologues voicing the grievances of women and girls all over the world follow; the emotional dialogue punctuated by signature ironic humor.

A pregnant teenaged girl and one who is about to lose her virginity, don’t know how to ask for protection, depicting the confusion of modern young girls wanting to ‘grow up’. At the same time there are girls who have to ‘grow up’ against their wishes as they are subjugated to rape, slavery and prostitution. Girls in Israel, courageous enough to protest are imprisoned, while in India, a free country, uneducated women are prisoners in their own homes. Technology and media, when used correctly, educate us but when misused can destroy us. Too much exposure leads to girls abusing their bodies and pressures of society expect women of a certain status to confine to norms snatching from them the ability to express themselves.

We proudly declare that the world is progressing but gender discrimination still exists today in appalling forms and places least expected.

The performances were outstanding. The pain in the faces, voices and body language was so real and intense that it felt like they were telling their own story. The cast danced with full energy, for all women, encouraging them to express themselves through it.

And with each story there is a revelation. Layers are peeled off as the beautiful woman inside is unravelled. Brave women have dared to rebel and fight for what is rightfully theirs; freedom and identity. Eventually the entire cast declares “I Am An Emotional Creature”. As they state eccentric, yet endearing characteristics of women conveying that the reasons for which the sex is ridiculed are the precise reasons for which they should be loved. If you are a woman, being the emotional creature you are, you will have tears rolling down your cheeks, out of empathy, pain, joy and pride.

Contributed by Raashi Malhotra

Prithvi Theatre Fest: The Hamlet Quartet

Amitesh Grover’s ‘The Hamlet Quartet’ is a revised version of Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’, integrated with Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The play has been cleverly adapted to depict the present day crisis of the modern man. While Hamlet represents the war against injustice and evil,  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (the jesters) contribute with their wit and over-the-top theatrics.

While mourning the death of his father, Hamlet encounters the former’s ghost, and learns that the death was an act of betrayal by his Mother (Gertrude) and Uncle (Claudius) . What follows is the story of his revenge and the sacrifice of his love for Ophelia, due to his political responsibility, which finally works up to the death of all characters, including Polonius, Ophelia’s brother, who battles Hamlet in order to avenge the suicide of his sister.

The message that comes across is that if in the end only evil exists, nothing will survive. The dilemmas of man and how his actions affect his psychology are portrayed beautifully by the actors. Adding a lighter note to the grave story are the clowns (or gravediggers) who manage to get quite a few laughs out of the audience. Technology in the form of televisions, mobile phones and video cameras have been cleverly incorporated into the play to create visual and sound effects that are quite impactful. The message comes across with the use of scarce but intelligent props; credit for which goes to the outstanding performances. The Hamlet Quartet is heavy on emotion and the eccentricities of characters are exaggerated complimenting the overall mood.

The Hamlet Quartet and other plays are showing at the ongoing Prithvi Theatre Festival ‘09.

Contributed by Raashi Malhotra

The Alchemist: Spellbinding Adaptation

Designed and directed by Mahesh Dattani, Ashwin Gidwani Productions put up a solid performance of Paulo Coelho’s best seller, O Alquimista (The Alchemist) at St Andrews Auditorium, Mumbai. Playing to a packed auditorium, the adaptation was something to rave about as it managed to squeeze as much of the book in under two hours, with a rich score, innovative stage sets, and some very able actors.

For those not acquainted with the story, The Alchemist is about Santiago, an Andalusian boy who wants to follow his dream of travelling to the Egyptian pyramids in search of a treasure. He leaves his home in Spain, journeying the markets of Tangiers and the deserts of Egypt, making acqaintances and learning about life, until he meets the Alchemist, who guides him towards his destiny.

The Alchemist, incidentally, is one of the best selling books in history and the most-translated book (71 languages) by a living author, having sold more than 65 million copies around the globe since written in 1988.

Asif Ali Beg and Tarun Singh Negi portray Santiago (present and past) effortlessly, while Mohan Kapoor does well as the mysterious and swarthy Alchemist. The lads playing the tribesmen in the desert also deserve a mention for the convincing accent.

The Alchemist will be on stage again on August 9, 2009 at NCPA Tata, Mumbai.

The Skeleton Woman

You might be a good writer, but it is of no use if you can’t complete your story. The Skeleton Woman is about a writer who is trying to finish his incomplete stories with his wife sometimes,  whom he rescued 2 years ago when he was a fisherman.

The stories of our fisherman-turned-writer are about the sea, a woman’s skeleton or a goose. and most of his stories start with “There was once this woman”. He has created an imaginary world of sharks, fish, geese and the sea in his house, and he’s very happy with it. So much so that he’s not interested in taking his wife out for a dinner (as the place would be noisy and he would not like to leave his goose and fish and the skeleton of a woman alone). All the characters in the stories are confused because the writer doesn’t know what happens next. But he never gives up.

The wife is a working woman and doesn’t want to get into the husband’s imaginary world. But after a while even she leaves her job. She tries to make sense of the situation but fails to snap him out of his imaginations, instead ends up thinking of a story with him. Thankfully, one of the stories gets published and he is happy, but his wife is not, because according to the media she’s dead.

The play features Kalki (Dev D) who plays a frustated wife very well. Prashant (her husband) is very good with dialogue delivery and expresses himself well, at times better than Kalki. There’s a good situational comedy in conversation between the writer and the wife. Skeleton Woman is co- written by Kalki and Prashant Prakash, and has won the Metro Plus Playwright Award for Best Original Script.  Directed by documentary filmmaker, Naren Chandavarkar the play is an absolute entertainer. It is also produced by Anurag Kashyap, so i don’t think you would want to miss it.

Contributed by Kamaksh Gangani

Day I Met The Prince: Imaginations Unlimited

If you have trouble imagining, getting to this play would be a good option. The better option however would be to read The Little Prince by Antoine Saint Exupery, the book from which the play is adapted, and rather well at that. Written by Kuo Pan Kun, Day I Met the Prince is interactive and involves the audience to find answers to life’s myriad questions.

What do you do when people around you don’t understand you? Or your drawings? A little girl cannot understand adults, especially when they ridicule her drawings of pythons and elephants. She then meets a prince from a far away planet who has only one query, “How do you protect a rose from a goat?” And the two of them set off on a journey to get the answer, meeting interesting people along the way, including a geographer (”Why are you asking me all these questions? I’m a geographer, not an adventurist”)  and a seller of magic pills (”Why spend time drinking water when you can have these magic pills”). When they both finally get the answer, the prince bids adieu, leaving the little girl in her interesting world.

From the time it starts, Day I Met the Prince keeps you amused with lively performances by Working Title’s very talented trio of performers. Music, drama, magic tricks, and spirited singing are something you can look forward to. The stage actors paint a lovely illusion and if you’re part of the audience, chances are you’ll be playing along as well. And that’s not all, the interactive play brings out wacky quips from kids in the audience. So be prepared!

Mummy Please: Leave Them Kids Alone

The characters of Mummy Please pop out of a book to tell the story of Ayush, who is constantly harangued by his mother to score 90% marks in his exams. Presented by theatre group Yatri, the play in Hindi shows how Ayush’s mother wants her son to achieve more than what he can, making him utter in distress each time, “Mummy Please.”

Ayush is a boisterous lad who loves playing football, online games and irritating his sister, Anjana. His constant hassles with his mother are heard by Piglu, a sticker on his computer that comes alive to help him and is visible only to him. On discovering this genius of a sticker, Ayush is delighted and converses with him non-stop, much to Anjana’s and his mother’s chagrin who think he’s losing his mind. Annoyingly, a nosy neighbor also adds fuel to the fire by giving her high-pitched advice on what kids should and shouldn’t do. But Piglu manages to salvage the situation each time in a fun manner.

Mummy Please continues to draw in the masses though some of the dialogues can be a bit harsh for smaller kids. Parents should watch it too; there’s something to learn there. While Piglu’s dexterous moves and bold remarks are fun to behold, they also drive home a message- that kids should be allowed to be their age.

Yatri has been around for more than 20 years, with renowned plays like Sakharam Binder, Chandu Ki Chachi and Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge, while Nakchadi and Mummy Please are productions for the younger audience.