So it seems things on my list are moving - within a week of saying I wanted to see a play, I have actually seen one. If only other things move as fast!! But here's some more on my first Theatre experience (Theatre = High Culture = Blah! Culture and Media hangover)
The play was "C for Clown". Directed by Rajat Kapoor, it starred Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak and himself - a pretty regular combo nowadays (at least from the movie point of view). It was staged at Prithvi Theatre and I must admit my first experience of Prithvi has been mind blowing. It was something I had only read about till now, but to actually see it and the whole ambience was great. Got a look at Zakir Hussain, some other character actors in Hindi films and that's when I realized that these are the kind of places that Bombay Times must be covering for its daily dose of Page 3. I couldn't grab a bite at the Prithvi Cafe but hopefully there's a next time for it. The theatre itself is pretty small, contrary to my expectations of a large LT like venue it was a small cozy venue that could seat say maybe 250 people and seats went right up to the stage. So if you are in front row seats you can actually shake hands with the actors. Talking of shaking hands, the amount of schmoozing that goes on is so much - everyone seems to know the actors or at least pretend to know or be very interested. After a time one wonders how the hell don't they get bored with it?? But no more of ambience and the people cause it's time to begin the show - and you better be on time because Prithvi has very strict rules of not letting people in once the show has started (the theatre-wallahs now start their plays 5-10 minutes late just to make sure everyone is accommodated!!!)
The play started off in gibberish and for the first five minutes I was actually wondering if I am going to be lost for the remaining two hours. Had I made a mistake in coming and was this not my cup of tea? But soon my fears were laid to rest when it started off with English that I could understand. I shall cover the play without going too much into the details or by giving spoilers - In short the play is about the lives of five clowns - Bozo, Soso, Popov, Fido and Fifi and their circus show. There are a number of tracks that the clowns cover as part of their act which are well and truly hilarious. The first one hour is truly awesome comedy and even before you know it the hour's up. The play however starts to slow down a bit as the lady and the romantic track comes in which in some sense reminded me of a very filmy style and this track goes on for a particularly long time, making you look at the watch. The hilarious scences are still there every now and then but the theme lets it down. The ending following this track is even more abrupt and I personally felt it was there just because the show had to end.
Overall, as Anjor said the play was an experiment that focussed on the lives of the clowns. Every track was like a snapshot at a particular time. There is no apparent story line and indeed it is hard to try and connect all the tracks and acts other than the above mentioned idea. Regular theatre goers like Ghaza and Vishnoi found the play to be quite bad mainly for its lack of story/storyline. But one should still go see the play if only for the performances by the characters - stupendous is the only word one can use but every actor plays his/her part to the fullest. A special feature of the play - its interaction with the audience that was just so fantastic. They played on the audiences reaction for almost the entire first hour be it the mind reading act or the one with the suicide attempt or Bozo's run. The front row is indeed where all the action was and mind you the comedy is not clean and sterile comedy. What makes it enjoyable is that it is everyday language taking potshots at everyone and not afraid to say/show ideas that would be entirely unacceptable in our homes. The acting again comes to the forefront with the use of gibberish which took the emphasis away from the dialogues to the acting.
All in all, it's a good play to watch for the performances. A bit too lenghty, but if you have nothing better this is what you should be watching. As for my theatre experience - I just say bring it on. Maybe a few more in the next two months should actually get me enthused about dram also!!
The play was "C for Clown". Directed by Rajat Kapoor, it starred Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak and himself - a pretty regular combo nowadays (at least from the movie point of view). It was staged at Prithvi Theatre and I must admit my first experience of Prithvi has been mind blowing. It was something I had only read about till now, but to actually see it and the whole ambience was great. Got a look at Zakir Hussain, some other character actors in Hindi films and that's when I realized that these are the kind of places that Bombay Times must be covering for its daily dose of Page 3. I couldn't grab a bite at the Prithvi Cafe but hopefully there's a next time for it. The theatre itself is pretty small, contrary to my expectations of a large LT like venue it was a small cozy venue that could seat say maybe 250 people and seats went right up to the stage. So if you are in front row seats you can actually shake hands with the actors. Talking of shaking hands, the amount of schmoozing that goes on is so much - everyone seems to know the actors or at least pretend to know or be very interested. After a time one wonders how the hell don't they get bored with it?? But no more of ambience and the people cause it's time to begin the show - and you better be on time because Prithvi has very strict rules of not letting people in once the show has started (the theatre-wallahs now start their plays 5-10 minutes late just to make sure everyone is accommodated!!!)
The play started off in gibberish and for the first five minutes I was actually wondering if I am going to be lost for the remaining two hours. Had I made a mistake in coming and was this not my cup of tea? But soon my fears were laid to rest when it started off with English that I could understand. I shall cover the play without going too much into the details or by giving spoilers - In short the play is about the lives of five clowns - Bozo, Soso, Popov, Fido and Fifi and their circus show. There are a number of tracks that the clowns cover as part of their act which are well and truly hilarious. The first one hour is truly awesome comedy and even before you know it the hour's up. The play however starts to slow down a bit as the lady and the romantic track comes in which in some sense reminded me of a very filmy style and this track goes on for a particularly long time, making you look at the watch. The hilarious scences are still there every now and then but the theme lets it down. The ending following this track is even more abrupt and I personally felt it was there just because the show had to end.
Overall, as Anjor said the play was an experiment that focussed on the lives of the clowns. Every track was like a snapshot at a particular time. There is no apparent story line and indeed it is hard to try and connect all the tracks and acts other than the above mentioned idea. Regular theatre goers like Ghaza and Vishnoi found the play to be quite bad mainly for its lack of story/storyline. But one should still go see the play if only for the performances by the characters - stupendous is the only word one can use but every actor plays his/her part to the fullest. A special feature of the play - its interaction with the audience that was just so fantastic. They played on the audiences reaction for almost the entire first hour be it the mind reading act or the one with the suicide attempt or Bozo's run. The front row is indeed where all the action was and mind you the comedy is not clean and sterile comedy. What makes it enjoyable is that it is everyday language taking potshots at everyone and not afraid to say/show ideas that would be entirely unacceptable in our homes. The acting again comes to the forefront with the use of gibberish which took the emphasis away from the dialogues to the acting.
All in all, it's a good play to watch for the performances. A bit too lenghty, but if you have nothing better this is what you should be watching. As for my theatre experience - I just say bring it on. Maybe a few more in the next two months should actually get me enthused about dram also!!
