A Dream come True

So finally I did it. We did it. Last evening we finally watched a play in Prithvi Theatre. I have been dreaming of this moment for a long time now. And what better way to fulfil this dream than to watch a really nice play there. That too on discounted entry ticket. We watched Don't Look Now.

After one full week of wait (after the unsuccessful plan last Wednesday), getting the ticket this time was an excitement in itself. 4 other Mariconeans gave me company and we had blast of a time. A really long journey filled with lots of traffic and confusions, hurried dinner and then a 2 hour bonanza of a performance. Watching KayKay in real life was a bonus.

I am really looking forward to watching more plays there and even if not plays, I want to explore more of that place. NCPA is next in the list too. I don't know when will I get time to do that.
So many things to do, so little time.

And the news is that I head to Chennai to spend next few days there. Hopefully I will fulfill one more of my dream there. Let's see if I get so lucky.

ps: New KKR video has SRK with a bandaged shoulder. Any comments?

Rangashankara Sept-07

Here is the schedule for Sept 07.
Interestingly not many English plays this month too.

Click on the image to enlarge and save.

I am a kid again

I always wondered why do we adults get attracted to animation movies like Ice-Age and Cars? Why we sit and watch "Tom And Jerry" cartoons, even though they are mostly repeat telecasts? Why Malgudi Days still makes a lot of sense to us and we can read it again and again?

There is a kid inside each one of us and it is this kid that makes us what we are.

Yesterday I found the child within me to unleash once more. "The Ungrateful Man" by BLT group which is showcasing over this week (and weekend) clearly brought the kind inside me out. I laughed and enjoyed each moment of it. It was a laugh riot throughout. For the first time I saw a play for kids and trust me they seem to enjoy like anything. And of course I had my share of fun too.

Brilliant acting and narration. The production is up to the mark. Just perfect.

This is one play I would recommend to each one of you. If you have kids at your home or whom you can take to this play, please go asap. They are going to enjoy it like anything.

Not to forget this play is staged in aid of DreamADream, an NGO working for kids from underprivileged backgrounds. All the more reason to watch this play.
The play is happening at Rangashankara, show timings: 7:30pm [sharp]
There are noon show also on weekend [3:30 pm]
More info can be found at this link.

The Ungrateful Man

This is a must watch play. JUST GO FOR IT.

Coverage for the same in Hindu

Rangashankara Aug Schedule

[Click on photo to enlarge]
Schedule for Aug-2007

The days before the mutiny

I watched a part of Dangeya Munchina Dinagalu last evening at Rangashanakara. This is a play in Kannada by a troupe called Rangasiri. The title translates to "The days before the mutiny".

And that is all I know and understood about the play.

Having lived almost 6 years in Bangalore, it is sinful for me to not to understand Kannada. But then, most decisions and choices in life are need based. So there I was, for almost 40 minutes, trying to comprehend what was happening at the stage. Nothing much I could understand.
Nothing can I write about the play so.

But for me, yes, it was a show worth going coz my friend Su was performing in the play. I could not afford to miss the opportunity to see her on RS stage. :)

The troupe will be performing soon in Malleshwaram. Exact details, I shall post soon.

beyond the horizon

I watched three plays last week.
- Exit the King
- The Island
- The Hare and the Tortoise

To tell you the truth, I could not make sense in any of them. Why?

- Hare and Tortoise did not run just a race there. They solved some maths problems also.
- The king was not a king actually but he was a don.
- The island had a play within play.

Everything beyond the usual comprehension.

It's so amazing to know that a simple story can have so many different interpretation. Our knowledge is limited to the most obvious rather most famous understanding of it. So when we hear "hare and tortoise", our imagination just reach to the extent of race between a hare and tortoise.

In last post I said I like darkness coz shadows can not fool me by any influence. The darkness gives me my freedom to explore the situation. It gives me the sense of challenge to think beyond what is so obvious.

Yesterday after the play I heard someone saying "thinking out of the box". True to a certain extent. But you can not go on doing it infinitely. Sometimes you need to move in to a bigger box or have to enlarge it.

Rout puts it as, You never know if you are in an altogether box. When they teach you to think out of the box, they never tell one important thing that out of a box there r other boxes. And by just thinking out of one, you run the risk of putting yourself in another.

I like watching some plays. They hurt my ego by telling me that I still cant see beyond the horizon. There is so much to learn and I can not afford to slow down on this journey of knowledge.

Having said that, I still recommend these plays to everyone. They have the best art and direction I have ever seen in a play. Amazing light and sound. Especially the last one is brilliant in its use of medium. A highly energetic actor lot will make your visit memorable. Dont miss them.

Rangashankara April Schedule

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Spartacus Returns

Spartacus Returns is coming very soon and we would like to heartly invite you all for the show on the 10th March, 2007 at the Tamil Government School on ORC Road, Austin Town , Bangalore. This is a musical show and also it is to raise funds for the Bornfree Art School. We are basically looking for individual contribution; Tickets are ranged from Rs.5,10,20, 50,100,200,500, and 1000. We are very glad if you could also invite your friends and families for the show and sell tickets to them. The play starts at 5;30 pm ( Kannada show ), and at 7;30 ( English show ). Please contact me about more details. We are looking forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Spartacus Returns

Credits
Script, Lyrics, Music, Stage Design, Direction~ John Devaraj
Assisntant Director~Mioi Nakayama, Japan
Production Controller~Jino Augustine
Sound & Light~ Takashi Yoshida, Amy Bins
Properties Master~Srinivas
Costumer~Valentina Gander

Cast
Spartacus I ~ John Devaraj
Commandant ~Rafeal T,France.
Ceasar ~ Anthony Devaraj.
Ceasars gaurds~ Robin and Srinivas
Jullian~Siju T Daniel
Senetors~ Royalty~ Takashi Yoshida (Japan), Prathibha R, Valentina Gander ( Austria), Amy Bins (U.K.)
Ceasars Dancers ~ Raja J, Chinnappa, Gayathri, Usha, Lakshmi, Mioi Nakayama
Gladiators / Slaves ~ John D, Saravana, Siju, Chinna, Raja J, Harish, Sorei K, Gokul, Sentil, Harish M, Ram, Kumaresh, Ravi D
Verona~Gayathri
Modern Spartacus~Jayaram
Koko Man~Chinnappa
Uncle Sam~Srinivas
Monsters~Ananth, Raja J, John Devaraj
Child Actors~Students of Bornfree Art School, the Government Higher Primary Schools, of Austin Town & Ashok Nagar

--
Mioi Nakayama [contact her at: mioinak@gmail.com]
Bornfree Art School International
Project Coordinator
http://www.bornfreeart.org

Comedy Plays in Bangalore

BIG B (Indlish Comedy)

Nov. 2 & 4 (Thu & Sat), 7.30pm
&
GHALIB IN NEW DELHI (HIndi Comedy)
Nov. 3 & 5 ( Fri& Sun.), 7.30pm

RANGA SHANKARA
36/2, 8th Cross, JP Nagar, Bangalore
Script & Direction: Dr. M. Sayeed Alam
By Pierrot's Troupe, Delhi

About Big B - India's first ever play in broken English, with more than 45 shows to its credit. About two Hindi-speaking brothers. Trying to come to terms with English – with the difference between 'being well' and 'being in well', the difference between 'nighty and 'dark', the difference between 'Gilli danda' and 'Baseball'.

About Ghalib In New Delhi - Witty, hilarious and satirical, wit(h) more than 170 shows to its credit. Its all about Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib taking rebirth in 'New Delhi' in 2006 with his customary beard and moustache. He is instantly recognized, too. Well! As Laden's uncle, Asli Saddam Metro train ka Naya driver and what not. Watch out the transformation of Mirza's "Dehli" into Manmohan's "Delhi" in this contemporarily historic play.

About Pierrot's Troupe: The least pronounceable and the most pronounced troupe
About the Writer-Director: A veteran (of many plays), aged 35
About the Cast: Highly sarcastic.
Tickets Rs 150/-
Available at Ranga Shankara from Oct. 28 (11am to 6 p.m.) and on the show days. Phones: 26494655, 26494656
For Details, tele Booking, Corporate Booking, Bulk Booking and Online booking contact: 9448088247 (Bangalore) 9810255291 (Delhi, 9810460366 (Delhi), 011 26391075 and/or pierrotstroupe@yahoo.com

jab dil hi toot gaya, ham jee ke kya karenge

I watched “K.L. Saigal - a musical play” yesterday. It was staged as part of ongoing theatre festival “Drama in October” at Ranga Shankara. Play narrated story of legendary singer Kundan Lal Saigal, in the form of a musical.

Theatre is one of the toughest forms of media. The story is narrated in live, with minimal technical help. What you see is what you get. There is absolutely no trick anywhere; no scope for mistake too. Actor toil their days and nights to prepare for performance of one night. Their effort fruit if they could portray the character on stage. The best of actors live their character and make the audience feel its life.

Yesterday was one such performance. Portraying Saigal, or rather living is no easy job. He being legendry adds to the pressure on the actor. But Uday Chandra was simply superb in his attempt. I have not seen Saigal, but I can surely vouch the fact that yesterday the performance was no less that Saigal’s reincarnation. Being a musical play, the actor was expected to be well versed in music. And trust me Uday had done his home work to perfection. He sang all the songs, no audio tape used throughout. Audience was mesmerized on his velvet voice and magical control over his tone. I am sure he must be a trained Classical singer, for this perfection is really hard to achieve.
The play narrates almost the whole life of Saigal, its ups and downs. For more than two hours, the audience was just traveling in past and watching everything as if a reality.

Tom Altar was narrator for the play, and he was as usual brilliant. His solid voice gives one classy touch to the play.

Great acting, superb direction and beautiful setup.

Only glitch was that it was too long for most of the audience. A play for 150 minutes is rare experience and thus everyone starts losing his patience.

Still, anything for such a memorable experience.

Play details on Ranga Shankara website

kuch bhi ho sakta hai

“Expect the unexpected” is one thing I learnt from the Dream Computer Program. Though I still am not able to totally incorporate it into my nature but I don’t doubt the validity of this statement anymore.

The same was theme for the monologue by Anupam Kher. The play, named Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai, was staged in the NIMHANS auditorium as the concluding event for the Times of India Refresh Bangalore Festival. This play is about Anupam Kher’s life through his own eyes. He narrates his whole life and it’s up and downs by the means of stage. It’s his autobiography written in language of theatre.

He is a successful actor today. But when we look at his past, we realize that all the success has come only because of his hard work. There are numerous stories of struggle and failure. Hearts breaking, dreams shattering, hopes getting doomed, everything is presen in his past. Nothing can be earned without suffering. You try and you fail. But you again try and keep trying till you pass. That’s the success formula for life.

Like an innocent child, Anupam narrates to us some of the most heart-touching incidents of his life. He does not make it dramatic, pure and truthful. He does not try to be critical. He just shows colors of life and tells us that these things happen with everyone, I am no Superman. He does not preach anything but just shows what he did every time he was faced with some problem. It’s totally up to the audience to relate to him or to agree to him.

He has great sense of humor and is a perfect actor. Only actors like him can keep the audience awake for more than 2 hours in a monologue (or for that matter any play). Crowd enjoyed each of his joke and his actions. He had spell bound the whole auditorium. Superb experience indeed.

The play ends on a positive note with a nice one liners from Anupam Kher “Nothing in this world can be all wrong, even the clock which has stopped working shows correct time twice a day”.

Overall the play was a memorable experience. The kind of energy he showed is really great. He did not slow down for even a moment. Audience was totally mesmerized by his sheer presence and enthusiasm. He gets 100% for his performance. The play also incorporated some of the most memorable scene from his movies and some of the rare photos. Great direction and productioin. The venue is not the best of choice for plays but seeing the size of the crowd, it looked absolutely perfect. The arrangement could have been better, specially the entry and timings. Play started around 7 and stretched onto 9:20. Most importantly, as it was free entry event, a varied kind of audience was present. Not the best of the crowd for a play but still manageable.

Some of the memorable lines from the play:

• Bheega aadmi kabhi bearish se nahi darata hai.
• There is no need of going through a problem twice, once thinking about it and secondly actually going through it.

ps: photo taken from TOI Bangalore Edn, dated 18th Sept,2006