Swami and Friends

An adaptation of R.K. Narayan’s Swami and Friends – I knew I had to go for this. I know not one Indian who is not a fan of Swami made particularly famous by the DD serial ‘Malgudi Days’. I can hear many of you humming ’taa na na nana ta na’

The brochure said…’faithful to the novel but adapted and directed with a fresh perspective’. I would so agree with that for this one time many will come out as fans of Mani.

Mani, with his curly hair and idiotic smile just stole the show. As the ‘sutradhar’, when he was telling the anecdotes to Rajam, the faraway, dreamy look in his eyes was so natural.

“What is the holy trinity?” Swami’s ‘Vishnu, Brahma and Shive’ bought out laughs in the audience, but Mani’s ‘Swami, Rajam and Mani’ along with that idiotic laugh, had the audience roaring.

This is not to say that Swami was not good. The helplessness and ‘I can’t understand the logic of the Arithmetic teacher’ came out brilliantly.

For the history teacher all I can say is my biggest regret is why I didn’t have him as my teacher - with his enacting classed would have been very interesting!!!

A well spent Saturday evening!

A Wedding Album

Maybe it would be unfair if I said that this play didn't meet my expectations, probably because  I had recently seen Miss Meena - a creative masterpiece and this set the benchmark quite high.

Moreover, just by virtue of it being a Girish Karnad play, directed by Lillete Dubey, boasting a star cast with Lillete Dubey, Ira Dubey, Suchitra Pillai, Utkarsh Mazumdar, Amar Talwar one really has some high expectations.

The acting was brilliant – no doubts about that. Guess the story line was not very intelligent and that’s why we didn't see  any of the expected sharp and witty humor one associates with Girish Karnad. In fact I think the story was more appropriate for a  B-class Bollywood movie than a play with such a brilliant cast!

It reminded me of one of those Govinda-Karisma Kapoor movies, which were a rage in the 90s. There were several of them, but I am sure no one remembers which one was which. There will definitely be confusions on which scene / dialog / song was in which movie. The movie made you laugh for a bit, but nothing that stayed with you for even a minute after the movie was over.

The theme is how the traditional Indian Wedding has changed in today's globalized, technologically advanced world…a subject which maybe could have been handled more innovatively. But the characters where stereotypes.

So we have this EDUCATED, LIBERAL, MODERN urban middle-class family – an elder daughter who lives abroad with her professional husband, a son who is a software designer BUT the younger daughter is willing to marry a suitable boy from the US whom she has never met. The play starts with the brother making a video of his younger sister to showcase her to the prospective groom. Not theatre material…I say… Bollywood material!

But not to take everything from the play …it does have some charming moments and witty dialogues. Utkarsh Mazumdar was brilliant – his portrayal as Appa who still lives in the past had everyone laughing, especially when he would repeat the dialog about ‘had his brother been alive…’

The prospective groom from the United States (not sure of his name) was super….his American twang was just out of the world. His talk, his body language, accent… everything was just so USA returned!

Maybe if the play stayed in this one theme, it would have done better…but me no expert. This is just my personal view, but the play tried to raise too many questions and in the end leaving some of them unanswered…as in what was with the dead uncle. And the most ominous one…did she find happiness getting married to that obnoxious creature or as advised by her siblings..that if things didn't work out, she could always come back, did she return?

Miss Meena

Finland was fun…a lot of fun, but one thing I really missed about Bangalore was the theatre scene especially Rangashankara. I returned and was dying to catch a play…it didn't help that Rangashankara was closed for 2 weeks for maintenance and renovation.
Finally, Miss Meena was playing one weekend. I hadn’t heard about the group before but it sounded good. Couldn't find any company to join me, so heights of desperation…I decided to go alone and that also the evening show. It was so worth it.

Miss Meena‘s script is loosely based on ‘The Visit’ by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. The tagline was "A Play In English and a Smattering of Other Languages". Only it wasn’t just a smattering. There was some Hindi, wee bit of Kannada and a bit too much Tamil for my liking and understanding.It was a bit irritating, but the play was so brilliantly creative that I would still recommend it to people who don’t speak Hindi, Tamil or Kannada.

The plot revolves around a film star Miss Meena (earlier Asha), who is returning to her native village Pichampuram after two decades. In the meantime Pichampuram has descended into a state of dire poverty. The play opens with the villagers hoping that Meena will rescue her village. The onus is put by the villagers on Ravi to plead their case since they had something going many years back and she must still have some feelings for him.

Ms. Meena arrives …and that was the 1st glimpse of creativity. So we have this group of people singing a song (Miss Meena, Miss Meena, avala pere Miss Meena) and it suddenly they converge into a circle in the centre of the stage. The lights dim a bit, but its not totally dark. The circle opens up to give us our first glimpse of Miss Meena who has apparated in the middle of that from god alone knows where. How the hell she reached there…I still haven't been able to figure out.

Miss Meena agrees to help the village…in totally filmi style she announces that she will make her final film here and that would boost the village as many people will visit it in her remembrance and to pay homage to her. The film will also star the villagers. But in return for that…she wants the life of Ravi. It seems he had dumped her…and as they say - ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’

And suddenly from the sweet Meena….she transforms to the bitter. Throughout the act  effortlessly she reflects the pose-for-the-camera-sweetness and underlying bitterness.

What I liked best about the whole act was the creativity that shone in the usage of the props…simple props like iron bucket, brooms (the big bamboo ones used to sweep fields etc), winnowing baskets and other handicrafts, a roll of bubble wrap were used in such inventive ways.

I was just wondering what they are trying to achieve when the broom handle was used to suddenly lift the bubble wrap to a height…it was a waterfall! Complete with round winnowing baskets placed as stones to walk on!

A bucket and table frame turned into a cow….and believe me it looked really good. During the shooting of the film, a bicycle pump is used as a microphone, a broom and a churner used to create a boom microphone, and a bucket on stick represents a camera.

The bus scene was amazingly hilarious. A winnowing basket became the steering wheel, the brooms the handrails, the table frame the frame of the bus…this complete with the the slow-motion of the people moving backwards and forwards had the audience roaring.

But the most inventive was when right there in front of us, the cast constructed a statue of Ganesha using the brooms for this ears, sun glasses for his eyes, a length of red fabric(which was elsewhere used to represent a garland) his trunk…it was a very recognizable Ganesha!

Another interesting aspect of  the play was the spoof on films and the parodies on movie clichés. So whether it was the rendition of a film climax with the gunfire and screaming or the ‘baaap ki beti’ sequence, they sure were a hit with the crowd. The father in the sequence is a cripple, and the way the actor enacted the crippling walk was hilarious.

And finally, a brilliant cast makes the play a must watch. Not only did they play multiple roles to perfection, but they way the enacted insects and winged moths accompanied with oral percussion was brilliant.

Naariyal Paani

The advert was really nice…a man in jeans and white tee sprawled out on luxuriant green grass, holding a tender coconut. Alongside it said - "The play begins with the character madly in love and every time he tries to share his story with others it is of no avail. Frustrated, he decides to present his story and reach out to the general public. He wants himself to be heard. He goes on and books Ranga Shankara to tell his story to the world."

Funny name for a play, was my first thought. Couldn’t figure out how Naariyal Paani fitted in with the love story! The one thing that stands out in my mind was me thinking after the play ... was the description in the advert really apt?

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it.

As the protagonist comes on the stage, he is accompanied by two musicians playing the Tabla and Guitar. At regular intervals during the course of the play they enter the stage from one end and leave from the other end. The protagonist gets irritated with them and wants them to leave. But they in a sing song way talk to him and tell him that he cannot get rid of them, as the guitarist t represents the universe, while the actor playing the Tabla signifies his own physical presence.

During the entire play the protagonist is in conversation with the audience, wanting to tell them about his love for a girl.

He comes across as a man with a disturbed mind, though this is not explicitly mentioned at any point of mind. I guess it is left up to the viewers to interpret and develop their own perception...was he always like that or did he become like that when he lost the girl he loved.

His acting was superb, especially the way he enacted himself cycling for football practice and how he would stop, park his cycle and stand behind the tree to observe the girl. His way of talking like a small innocent child was so endearing especially the way he gets upset when he reaches the place late to find that she has already left. He takes you into his innocent world, his reaction when he comes to know that she is getting married to someone else, his staunch belief that she does not want to get married and will return to him one day soon.

Another thing that I felt was...was this whole story a make belief, a figment of his imagination or did he really love a girl, did he really wait and collect the empty coconut after she had finished the tender coconut and left the stall. Though, I did feel that he had not ever confessed his love to the girl but just liked to believe that she knew and loved him back.

I guess by now you would have guessed where the name came from... he would secretly observe her when she came to drink Naariyal Paani at the stall and collect the empty coconut after she left!!!

Hamlet, the Clown Prince

Another delayed post on a play that I watched quite some time back ...one which I really enjoyed and I must say has become one of my favorites.

The director, Rajat Kapoor, is one of my favorite actors and I was still in awe from a recent play, The Blue Mug, which I had watched sometime back when I got the email for this one.

The advertisement itself was quite interesting.
"The production is a creation based on William Shakespeare's HAMLET- in English and gibberish. A bunch of clowns are putting up a show of Hamlet- They sometimes misinterpret the text, sometimes find new meanings in it, sometimes try and understand it, very often make a mess of it.
They choose to use some phrases from the play and mix it with gibberish. They even edit the text, throw out some important scenes, and made a mess of the order of things as if the pages got mixed up. But through this all they are simply looking for the essence of Hamlet. And trying to find a context for it in our own times"

I hadn’t read Hamlet, so I was a bit apprehensive that I may lose out on some of the nuances of the play. Luckily one of the girls going with us seemed to know it by heart and gave us a good rundown on the story as we drove to Rangashankara.

At RS, we grabbed some good seats and were pleasantly surprised to find Rajat Kapoor, with an unkempt beard and arty look sitting there in the audience.

A day before I had Googled a bit and found that here again, like in Blue Mug, there was no script but the whole play was created during the rehearsals. This was evident in the 1st scene of the play itself, when we find them making references to Bangalore. I believe when they play was staged in Mumbai and Delhi, they made references to those cities.

The play is about a company of clowns who want to stage a play…i.e a play in a play!!! The clowns are thinking which play to stage and who will play what role when one of clowns reaches late. When he is questioned he makes fun about the distance of the Bangalore airport from the city…on how the taxi kept going and going. Since the airport moved from the city to the outskirts this is a major irritant for frequent travelers, so you could see many people in the audience bursting out into laughter.

The opening scene is all gibberish…how the actor’s mange to talk nonsense in such a consistent way is admirable. How does one learn a line of gibberish! Guess it must be impromptu!!! But that again requires a different level of confidence.

The introduction by the clowns to their play was simple but totally hilarious -"Clown Company presents TRAGEDY!!"

Throughout the play, the clowns in the play acknowledge the audience and converse and joke around with them directly.

It is good slapstick comedy, very witty unlike some comedy shows which think that comedy is all about buffoonery.

One of the actors was amazing. Guess he was not really interested in tragedy, so he breaks into impromptu dancing – Michael Jacksons moon walk which at that time was in everyone’s mind due to his recent death. Or he would suddenly break out into songs from Lion king. He had everyone roaring with laughter.

At one time, he plays Hamlet’s dead father’s ghost. Since he is not allowed to talk, he starts using dumb charades to explain to the clueless Hamlet what he wants him to do to avenge his death!! God! I nearly rolled over from my seat at this scene.

But it was not all comedy. Somewhere between the laughter are poignant scenes. Especially Ophelia’s drowning, which was quite touching.

One has to watch this play to understand how it is possible to make a serious Shakespeear play funny. It makes you laugh so much that you sides hurt and your face muscles get tired!

All in all...a great show. Totally entertaining, not to be missed.

The Stones

I saw this play a couple of months back...started my blog on it but never got down to finishing it, till now.

It is inspired by a real life incident. In 1994 two Melbourne teenagers in a dangerous rush of teenage rebellion were kicking stones off a freeway overpass. One of the stones smashed the windshield of a passing car and killed the driver.

This play starts with the playful exuberance of the 2 kids aptly referred to as Yahoo and Shy boy. Yahoo, the leader of the two always eggs on his shy friend challenging him to do several tasks, which not always the shy one is confident of doing or wants to do, especially the climbing on the top of ladder. He is shown to be aggressive with a swagger, more like a street tough in the making. The Shy Boy is more of a childish prankster and a reluctant follower who always lets himself to be prodded on by Yahoo. It's he who is guilt-stricken after the crash and confesses to his mother who takes him to the police. A trial follows and the trauma the Shy Boy goes through was very well enacted.

It was a brilliant play which left one thinking for a long time. The best thing about the play was that after it finished the actors had a q&a/comments session with audience.

They asked their first question, would you give the 2 boys a guilty or not guilty and one could feel the dilemma that each one of us felt while answering that question.

There were several other best things about the play...

The sets were minimal, no elaborate props. There are only 2 artists who did a role play. They play the two boys and with a simple change of shirt by one and police cap by the other they change to the 2 detectives investigating the play. And this is done so well. They just walk backwards on the stage itself for a few steps and return as the new avatar.

They conjure everything out of thin air, with their guitars and bodies adding a range of witty sound effects, from the sound of the stones going smashing down on the freeway to the trailing echoes of a sewer.

As adult interrogators, the men are merciless but at the same time the one interrogating the Shy Boy also seems to want to help the boy. In one scene they are shown trying to empathize with the boys, asking the question – what if their own child was involved? They seem unsettled and confused in what they really think and want – guilty or not guilty?

The one question that was on everyone’s mind was what finally happened to the boys? Not surprisingly, they had a hung jury and then a second trial was held. At the end of the trial, all felt that the trauma faced by the children was punishment enough and they were acquitted. However, where the boys are now or what they are doing is not known. The names of the boys were kept hidden from the media and the theater group, in order to respect the privacy of the children. Which is where the media in India can learn a lot – respect what should be digged up and what should not be.

It seems that the wife of the driver who was killed was invited to watch the play. She came but left half way without any comments.

As is very rightly said - the play has no easy answers but it dares to ask some big questions.

The Blue Mug

"Konkana Sen Sharma makes her debut in theatre with the Blue Mug" - a headline in Bangalore Times. I am an absolute fan of Konkona so I googled some more and as I went through the cast I was like WOW!!! The entire cast was very impressive - Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak, Sheeba Chaddha and Munish Bhardawaj.

I also read that the content of The Blue Mug was evolved by a group of actors and the director through a series of workshops and that it is a work without a script!!! Very interesting!!!

It is a play based on 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' by psychiatrist Oliver Sacks, and takes us into the world of the neurologically impaired.

It’s a different thing that as I watched the play I didn’t feel that any of them was neurologically impaired. To me it seemed more like ordinary people trying to deal with the bizarre world of memory and creating bits and pieces from their forgotten past.

Some of my friends who went with me found the play a bit haphazard. There was no continuity or a storyline is what they felt.

However, I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of one of my all time favorite Audrey Hepburn movie - Two for the Road. The story is told in a non-linear fashion, and scenes from latter part of her life are juxtaposed with those from the beginning. Quite entertaining.

Also many of the anecdotes were ones that I could identify with…whether it was Rajat Kapoor with his Mango parties in Delhi (in my case Chandigarh/Jammu) or Sheeba with her description of the Saharnpur house, the galis and the all in one mundu!
When Vinay Pathak was talking about his Dad’s first visit to his hostel I was like – “that could be me!”

Ranvir Shorey and Konkana played a doctor/patient duo. For some reason his mind had stopped at a particular age and he could not remember anything from that point on. Even if he was told something, in the next few minutes he would forget. Ranvir Shorey was quite a humorous but at the same time the entire sequence was done in a very sensitive way.

Couple of things - I felt that Konkana Sen was not used to her potential. And I couldn’t understand why the play was called “Blue Mug”. There was a Rajat Kapoor memory around a Blue Mug so maybe coz of that.

A lovely play and also it was very realistic. So much so that at the end I was wondering if the actors were actually playing parts from their own lives!

An Idiot For Dinner

Attending this play was nothing short of an adventure. Poorvi booked my ticket for 12th June without actually talking to me. Unfortunately I had a team building outing on 11th and 12th and wasn’t sure if I could make it back from Angsana in time to reach RangaShankara by 7:30.

So I passed on my ticket to another friend but kept feeling bad that I wouldn’t be able to see this play coz the moment I read the synopsis I knew I would love it...I had nearly cracked up when I watched Bheja Fry!!!

12th June 4:45 PM - we are on Old Madras Road moving towards Outer Ring Road and I think maybe I can make it. So on an impulse I call Poorvi. She was on her way. I couldn’t decide if I should ask her to wait for me especially since I didn’t even have a ticket! But she was like…I’ll wait, you come fast...

I tried calling Rangashankara for a ticket but couldn’t get through. So I thought I had better not delay Poorvi, but she wouldn’t listen. Boss and another colleague were sharing the cab with me so I couldn’t even ask the cab driver to step on the gas. Finally after dropping off my colleague I suggested we take a short cut and trust my luck...one stupid truck in front of us moving at 0.5 km/hr grrrrrrrrr.

I was sure I am not gonna make it but finally at 6:30 or so I reached the Bellandur crossing and then Poorvi drove like crazy. And while waiting for me she had managed to get me a ticket too (from someone who was trying to sell off their extra tickets- WOW)

7:15 PM - All well as we crossed Woody’s. I had just started to relax thinking that we’ll make it. But just then on the last stretch we met a massive traffic jam. I thought I would burst into tears...it took us 15 mins to cover a stretch which shouldn’t take more than 5 mins!!! This is namma bengaluru for you!

As we entered RangaShankara the 3rd bell was ringing and our friend was waiting at the door with the tickets. Just made it in the nick of time...one second more and they would have closed the door.

Well...was the evening worth all the tension and running? YES, absolutely. What a knockout performance, totally hilarious and one helluva a de-stresser.

"An Idiot for Dinner" is an adaptation of a French movie titled "Le diner des cons". It was also made into a famous Hindi movie- Bheja Fry with Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak and Ranvir Shorey.

A rich publisher and his friends meet every Wednesday evening, where they each have to bring an Idiot along. They have a good laugh at the idiots' expense. At the end of the dinner the host with the biggest idiot wins, while the idiots never figure who the joke was on.

One such idiot (?) that the publisher finds is Mr. R. Golden Gopu, an income tax officer who has an obsession for making matchstick models of the wonders of India. Just hours before the dinner, the publisher twists his back and has to stay home, and at the same time his wife who is very upset with her husband's idea of amusement leaves him.

Gopu visists the publisher at his home and tries to help him – for the sore back and to help him get his wife back. What results is absolute chaos and pandemonium.
The idiot manages to make Sanjay's back problem worse, bring his mistress home, drive his wife into the arms of a sex maniac and get his income tax audited.

What I liked best was Golden Gopu’s voice message which went as follows (in a sing song manner)
R Golden Gopu
Cannot talk to you
Don’t weep
Leave a message after the beep.

Totally hilarious!

Gopu was definitely the show stealer. His body language, expressions and his acting skills were just excellent. Gopu’s friend Hari whom he calls for help in getting the address of the sex maniac was very good too...just so into the skin with the character.

A must watch rib tickling comedy!

An interesting intro...

The intro to the play "Day I Met The Prince" was just so charming and interesting...

Take a dot, add a line
Roses in a circle
Stars surround a lonely night
A sky that's magical
Faraway planet with no forest
A land without a sea
Flies in a friend with a shimmering cape
And a bit of aristocracy
Miles across the Milky Way,
stars twinkling through the galaxies
A question in time,
did a goat eat my rhyme?
Or a rose that that?s just a little bit shy?
Chatter chatter, yell and scream,
Dive and swoop and song?
Foxes and wishes, a thousand lost roses,
Will the answer be a hat or a song?

Bhikre Bimb

In spite of a crazy busy schedule when I heard that Rangashankara was playing a Girish Karnad play I just knew I had to make the time and effort to watch it. The cherry on the cake was that it was featuring Arundhati Nag!!!

Tickets were initially booked for 1st May, then changed to 30th April…nearly didn’t make it…but eventually really glad that I did go for it as it was tooooooooooo good.
Bhikre Bimb is a dramatic monologue and Arundhati Nag as the protagonist was just brilliant.

It is story of Manjula Nayak, a professor of English literature who has been an unsuccessful Kannada writer till she finds international acclaim when she writes an English novel, which becomes a bestseller.

The story starts with her introducing the audience to her novel in a TV studio, prior to a film on it being telecast. She comes across as a proud kind of a person as she mocks the people who criticized her and seems to lash out at them.
After she finishes her introduction, she is confronted by her own image on the screen which poses questions on betrayal of her mother tongue Kannada and identity when she chooses to write in English.

The image or we could say her divided self continues to question her about her personal life and her relationship with her parents, disabled sister and her husband and makes her confront the truth about herself. She tries to brush off everything but at the same she looks helpless and goes on to justify each of her actions. Even though she is the so called ‘vamp’ in the story, one cannot but feel empathy for her. It could also be something to do with Arundhati’s acting which gave me the goose bumps - her dialogue delivery, expression especially the one of helplessness and the look of 'imagine my plight too'

Eventually she comes clean on her plagiarism - the best selling book was actually written by her sister but instead of publishing it in her name after her death she goes on to publish it in her own name. One can’t feel scorn but only pity for her as she tries to put it all down to a misunderstanding by the publisher on the name of the author.

By the end of this confrontation she is on the brink of madness and again Arundhati was so convincing.

Arundhati Nag deserved every second of the standing ovation that she got!

Woyzeck – an adaptation by Anmol Vellani at Rangashankara

Woyzeck by Georg Büchner is set in Prussia in the 1830s. He left the work incomplete at his death, but it has been variously and posthumously "finished" by a variety of authors, editors and translators and has become one of the most performed and influential plays in the German theatre repertory.
An adaptation of Woyzeck by Anmol Vellani was playing at Rangashankara. As I read the synopsis I thought ...it sounds quite depressing but it would be a play where a good actor can create magic...and was I right...but more on that later.
It is the story of Franz Woyzeck, a disturbed soldier with an illegitimate child by his mistress Marie. Woyzeck earns extra money for his family by performing menial jobs for the Captain and agreeing to take part in medical experiments conducted by the Doctor.
As the play proceeds we see that there is deterioration in his mental health and he has hallucinations. Meanwhile, Marie grows tired of Woyzeck and turns her attentions to a handsome Drum Major.
With his jealousy and suspicion, Woyzeck confronts the drum major, who beats him up and humiliates him. This leads Woyzeck to murder Marie and then kill himself.
The set was very simple, using very few props and a cardboard wall… but still very effective. Infact what I must appreciate is that even with the minimalist set, I can compare it in effectiveness to the plays that I have seen in West End which rely so much on detailed sets, costumes and live music.
A special mention must be given to Anish Victor who as Woyzeck gave an outstanding performance. It was intense...so intense that you could see the beads of perspiration on his forehead. In one scene where he is supposed to faint he falls from a small wooden box and gasps were heard from the audience. He was sooo still at that moment that we felt he had actually fallen down and was not acting...BRILLIANT.
Generally his portrayal of a disturbed man was so convincing. His eyes, his facial expressions and the way he spoke...all was awesome. The other actors were good to, but just paled in front of him.
The other actor that I really liked was the Tavern Keeper. She carried herself well and her role gave the much needed comedy in the otherwise somber mood of the play.
All in all...a brilliant evening which convinced me that theatre is about ACTING and in the end the stage, props, costumes and music don't matter.

Wicked, the musical

I love musicals and everything about them - the songs, the costumes and the dancing. And after watching Wicked, I love them even more. Wicked was absolutely adorable.

It is the untold story of the unlikely friendship between the future witches of Oz - Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. It’s like a prequel to the 'Wizard of Oz’.

It starts with a tin dragon made at the top front of the stage roaring, followed by some colourful paper bunting ...since we had top seats ...only 6th from the stage ...lots of it fell on us…initial shock then glee!

In the opening scene the citizens of Oz celebrate the death of the Wicked Witch of the West. Glinda looks absolutely ravishing in a silvery white gown with tiara, wand and the works, as she descends in her bubble to confirm the circumstances of the Witch's melting with a wonderful rendition of 'No One Mourns the Wicked'.
In this song itself, someone asks her about her friendship with Elphaba and the scene moves into a flashback – how Elphaba’s mom has an affair with a man who offers her a drink from a green bottle. And a hilarious scene as she pops a Green Baby!!!

Elphaba has a very unhappy childhood, as she faces ridicule and discrimination because of her skin colour. Her father also seems to blame her for fact that her younger sister Nessarose is born a cripple.
One feels really bad for Elphaba as father gifts Ness a pair of beautiful silver shoes, while reminding her that she is being sent to Shiz university only so that she can take care of her wheelchair born sister.

As Glinda and other students sing 'Dear Old Shiz', they come across and shy away from Elphaba and one ends up sympathising with her. At this point I wondered, was the wicked witch really wicked at all and if the Good Witch was really good?

Madame Morrible, the sinister headmistress insists on taking care of Ness herself as she says it was a special request from their father, the governor. Despite Elphaba’s resistance she accidentally makes her roommates with the spoiled and popular Glinda.
In her anger Elphaba accidentally reveals an innate magical talent, which impresses Madame Morrible. She decides to tutor Elphaba personally and also tells Elphaba that this would be helpful to the Wizard. Here for the first time we see a happy Elphaba and her soaring rendition of 'The Wizard and I' deserves a standing ovation.

Glinda seems to be jealous at this point as she too wants be tutored by Morrible who just seems to ignore her. So Glinda immediate takes a dislike to Elphaba. Elphaba also dislikes Glinda, and seem to be quite unhappy that they have to share a room. At this point they sing 'What is This Feeling?’ which was quite humorous especially as they try to describe each other. Glinda calls Elphaba "unusually and exceedingly peculiar" while Elphaba just sums her new friend up as "a…eh…blonde!!!"

Certain circumstances and we see a friendship blossoming between the two. Glinda then decides to help her friend get a makeover to make her popular and the way she teaches her to ‘ TOSS TOSS’ her hair is toooo blondish and funny.

Elphaba seems to fall in love in Fiyero...but thinks it would be impossible for someone like Fiyero to love someone like her – and one can't stop the tears welling up in one’s eye as she sings 'I'm Not That Girl'.

Other songs that I loved were The Wizard’s 'Sentimental Man' and Elphaba’s ‘Defying Gravity’ – where she enchants a broomstick to fly and flies off, promising to fight the Wizard with all her power.

In Wizard of Oz there are some assumptions - what is the story of the Tin Man and why he doesn’t have a heart, why the lion is a scary poor, what’s the story behind the Scarecrow. 'Wicked' provides answers to these.

Wicked was pure fantasy entertainment…loveable to the core.

Les Miserables, the musical

Based on the Victor Hugos novel, it has a very moving storyline... a love story set in the plot of the French Revolution with just the right combination of humour, pathos, love and loyalty.
The main storyline revolves around the conflict between two men - Jean Valjean, at heart, a good man, but a small crime and he is labelled a criminal for life, and Javert, a police officer who has unbending principles of justice and is hell bent on capturing his convict no 24601.

Their lives and those befriended and loved by Jean Valjean become inextricably entwined - the wretched Fantine, whose illegitimate daughter, Cosette, is cared for by the thieving, lying Thenardiers whose own daughter, Eponine, is destined to fall in love with idealistic student, Marius, who, in turn, is captivated by Cosette.

All this has been fantastically moulded together with breathtaking songs and a very imaginative and clever revolving stage... the barricade filling the stage, finally turning a full 360 degrees to reveal the terrible and shocking aftermath of the confrontation was amazing.
At this point, when the fighting has just stopped and all the men lie dead on the barricades there is a long silence – very effective and literally sends chills up your spine.
The Thenardiers were marvellously humorous and at the same time were genuinely dislikeable ...they played their roles so well.

This is the ONLY musical I have seen in which there is no simple dialogue...everything has to be sung!!!

The play begins with a work song – 'Look down' followed by 'On Parole', both of which highlight the plight of the people called the les Miserables in France at that time.
The actor playing Jean Valjean had the most amazing voice...so apt for the role. His delivery was excellent leaving one totally impressed. His rendition of 'Come to me' at the time of Fantine's death and 'Bring Him Home' were really beautiful...

Generally the singing was breathtaking …whether it was the patriotic fervour of 'Do You Hear the People Sing?' Or Fantine’s 'I Dreamed A Dream' or the Little Cosette’s 'Castle on a Cloud' or the humorous 'Master of the House' by Thenardier and Madame Thenardier...

The Lion King

Finally...after several attempts managed to get tickets to see The Lion King last weekend. The couple of times I tried earlier, it was always sold out. Which is not in the least bit surprising...considering the show is brilliant...it has a magical escapism about it...

The show begins with a procession of animals that make their way down the aisle to powerfully rhythmic African-style singing. It's a wonderful spectacle with a giant elephant, baby elephant, giraffes, zebras, antelopes and many more animals brought to life by some stunning costumes, masks, puppetry and special effects.
I found myself smiling with glee just like the kids sitting next to me...

It was all so imaginative...especially they way they tried to depict a herd of antelopes and flocks of birds. For antelopes several actors had a headgear in the form of the antelope plus they had wooden antelopes in their hands and so each person depicted 3 antelopes...when 3 such actors galloped across the stage the effect was magnificent...
The life-size giraffes - stilted cast members - were quite convincing too. Infact the puppetry around all the animals was amazing...The hyenas actually came across as meanies...

The stage was quite simple ...but came alive with the special affects ...the sun, trees, plants made on curtains which fell down at appropriate times...
The way the mountain was done was brilliant too...steps that would roll and come up on the stage when needed and the floor would open and it would rotate and go under the stage when not needed...quite good technically.
At one point when Rafiki gives Simba the courage to go back to the pride lands, in the backdrop of "He Lives in You" Mufasa's face appears behind a waterfall...abso stunning...

Simba's high energy "I Just can’t wait to be King" and Mufasa's "They Live In You" were both brilliant. 'Circle Of Life' was good too though "Hakuna Matata" & "Can you feel the love tonight" I felt could have been better...

The farting warthog Pumbaa and the rubbery meerkat Timon are puppetry at its best...also the bird Zazu character was also brilliant...they way the actor moved the bird's body and the mimicry was hilarious...

The masks were incredible...more so because they were capable of movement...so as the actors would stretch, the masks would move and it would look just like the head of a lion when a real lion stretches...

Like it says on the posters..."This is a dazzling show with the heart of a lion."

Dickens Unplugged

Last weekend went to watch the musical comedy show Dickens Unplugged based on the life and works of Charles Dickens. It was done so well… absolutely hilarious and made me want to go back and read my Dickens.

A less than 2 hrs musical journey through several books, it was at breakneck speed...you would get an idea when you see the list of books covered - Oliver Twist, Bleak House, Great Expectations, The Old Curiosity Shop, David Copperfield, The Pickwick Papers, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities...
And all this is interspersed with hilarious biographical snippets from Dickens' life, with repeated hints to his obsession with the bludgeoning scene in Oliver Twist.

Amazingly, the cast consists of only 5 male actors who enact a total of 104 characters between them and don hats, crutches and wedding gowns to play each of the characters from Dickens’ life and works. They use an incredible mix of musical styles.

The play starts with an introduction by the 4 boys from California who call themselves “the biggest Charlie Dickens Tribute Band in Santa Cruz”…
Next is a scene from Charlie Dickens’s bleak childhood at the boot blacking factory...with 2 jovial numbers - 'Made by real children' and ‘Aint Goin Back To Blackin’

The cast then reproduce Oliver Twist with the song and dance numbers from Oliver! Thoroughly enjoying themselves until Dickens himself storms in.
“Oliver Twist is bleakly realistic” he admonishes them.
“That’s way different to the movie,” is the disbelieving response.

They literally gallop through some of the stories... the complex Bleak House reduced to a 30 second country and western song...Similarly for The Old Curiosity Shop...

David Copperfield and the song on Uriah Heep was hilarious...

Either before or after DC is a snippet about Charles Dickens complicated marriage and numerous children...There’s a wonderful scene in which Dickens asks his wife to leave and she manages to encapsulate all the resentments of 18 years of less than perfect marriage into one short blistering diatribe..."I am so sick of your sh*t!"

A quite chirpy 'A Tale of Two Cities' complete with a Guillotine scene with chopped off heads was really quite brilliant...

This was followed by a bit on Charles' Dickens final years… quite hilarious...as he enacts the bludgeoning scene in Oliver Twist one last time.... finishing with his rendition of 'I’m going home to have a stroke'

Christmas Carol is then given the full treatment with Tiny Tim’s crutch doubling as an electric guitar.

Overall...I would say quite a bit of silliness...but thoroughly enjoyable...

Afrika Afrika Clip

Afrika-Afrika

As a kid I loved going to the circus…I really enjoy theatre… so what were the chances that I would miss a show described as circus-style theatre. Called Afrika Afrika, it has been described as a “kingdom of the traveling entertainers and a paradise for the zest of life”.
There are no animals or clowns in this circus but there are fantastic scenes of mythical creatures and African beasts, evoked through costume. Ostriches bound across the stage and tortoises open out into giant flowers. Though there are a few acts similar to those seen in a traditional circus.



Unbelievable acrobatics, intoxicating rhythms and costumes of exceptional beauty...left me at a loss of words. Fortunately, though photography was prohibited, we were advised that we can download some pictures from their website…
He walked onto the stage like a spider…Feet turned into hands; hands became feet – a rare spectacle only possible within the African tradition of perfect, absolute body control. Huit Huit, the contortionist from Congo, was amazing as he slipped through a tennis racket.

Jean-Claude Belmat, a tissue aerialist with perfect synthesis of strength and body control. He seemed to just float in the air as he slowly spiraled his way up to the dome of the tent and then balanced his body in a horizontal position.


It is not without reason that she has earned the nickname of “snake girl”. She wraps her leg around her head, until her toes are resting under her chin. She then twists her body in a way that her head appears to be resting next to her body leaving one staring in disbelief.


The pole artistes make the audience catch their breath as they effortlessly and elegantly swing back and forth on the poles at top speed or slide up and down, head first while performing dangerous stunts.

Dancers build dizzyingly high human pyramids.

The so-called water man makes 8 bowls dance at the same time and spouts out water like a huge fountain, several meters high. He has the ability to hold five litres of water in his stomach!!! Using pressure, he is able to bring it up, spraying it like a rainstorm.


First six, then eight, then ten balls are simultaneously juggled by the juggler from Addis Ababa. The way he tosses the balls is hardly noticeable until they pick up such a speed that they appear to stand in the air. The human eye simply cannot follow what’s going on.

Lying on their backs, the female artistes swirl tables, vases and furniture around in circles at breakneck speed. Simultaneously and seemingly effortlessly, they juggle heavy furniture with their feet.

There was an 11-member group of basketball players, who darted around on unicycles, blowing whistles, moving to pulsating hip-hop beats. They play a surreal game of basketball on wheels, combining physical prowess and comedy.
While 2 players turn 2 ropes, one of the unicyclist skips in between those 2 ropes…Amazing…

From South Africa comes the loud, forceful rubber boot dancing. This dance originated from the horrific conditions within South Africa’s gold mines during apartheid. With no drainage, the miners were given rubber boots to wear, chained up and forbidden to speak. They developed a language of feet-stamping to communicate and these moves have now blossomed into a dance.
The finale sums up the joie de vivre that is Africa - the energy given off as all the dancers come together is unsurpassable.

Romanza – Act 2

(contd from Romanza - Act 1)

The opening of Act 2 is a scene from a cemetery. Vampires skate past as a huge American-style black coffin slowly moves towards the middle of the rink…a creaking sound as it opens slowly…
The body of Dracula, lying horizontally in the air, is slowly lowered into the coffin and the lid closes. Several vampire creatures take off and show a spooky flying ballet…
The scene changes…a group of elegantly dressed ladies with long white dresses and hats seem to be taking a walk... London police men are on patrol, when Mina appears.
Dracula seduces her against the backdrop of heavy metal music. She falls for his charms to a beautiful rendition of “I will always love you” which climaxes with her getting bitten by him.

Forever unforgotten is the secret and tragic relationship of Italian nobleman Romeo and the beautiful Juliet. Against the backdrop of ancient Italian newspapers informing us about the tragic happenings in Verona, where the families of Montague and Capulet live, there is a feast going on in the house of the Capulets. Romeo, dressed up so he would not be recognized catches sight of Juliet and they fall in love and meet secretly after the feast.
A lovely decorated balcony is placed on the ice in front of the stage on which Juliet appears in a red dress to see her secret love, Romeo. But unfortunately their love was ill-fated.
Romeo kills Tybalt, nephew of Countess Capulet, and gets banned. More newspaper headlines tell about the tragic events. Juliet is being forced to marry Count Paris…she swallows a drink which makes her unconscious in order to avoid the marriage. Romeo does not get the information that Juliet is only unconscious and decides to kill himself. After their last kiss he poisons himself and dies. Juliet awakes and realizes what has happened. She takes a dagger and kills herself.
The entire Romeo & Juliet number is staged most romantically and with lovely Italian love songs.

Warnings to resist temptations of the seven deadly sins echo as skaters in Spanish costumes painted with neon colors skate in with things that look like trees and transform them into small bistro tables. The femme fatale appears and starts to make fun of an ugly toreador who has got huge ears and a horrible nose. She pretends to seduce him by stripping for him. With “You can leave your hat on” she takes off one piece of clothes after the other. This scene is fantastic as we can see only the neon colored clothes and tables but no faces. It looks really funny as the clothes that she still wears seem to hover in the darkness.

Next is my other favorite of the show…it revolves around the sins of laziness and gluttony…its about the Passion for chocolate. 8 chorus girls lay down on huge cushions to give in to their addiction to chocolate. Gula, the gluttony, brings in a huge inflated chocolate cake with cream and cherries on the top. The girls start to bite into the pieces of the cake that start to move around on the ice. This number really funny one and the song “Everybody wants a chocolate!” is thrilling! At the end of the number the girls disappear into the huge chocolate cake. And come out again- fat as marshmallow men and hardly able to move any more. The only thing they’re still able to do is to fall down on their cushions, raise their fat legs like a beetle on his back and moan!

The other sins like Avaritia, the greed follow…The girl skaters enter the casino, dressed as illuminated slot machines. The boys are eager to win and try their best when suddenly the projection pictures on the screen indicate that the jackpot has been hit. Everybody starts chasing Greed and his huge bag full of money while the golden coins are falling down like stars.
Next it’s the turn for a card game. Some chorus girls mingle with the players, dressed as playing cards and of course roulette can’t be far behind.
The entire chorus performs like a life-size roulette game in a precision wheel-routine, also doing fast movements and tricky splices. They are dressed either in tight shimmering red or black suits with numbers on their backs and the two center skaters dressed in green as “zero. As soon as the croupier demands the 4-spoked chorus wheel that quickly was formed starts spinning with a principal skating around it in opposite direction as roulette ball. One by one the skaters form a wheel with “Owner of a lonely heart” and the speedy “Round and around and around we go”. Everybody joining the wheel switches on a little spotlight. The way the wheel is completed is most impressive.

Romanza’s last principle number is a beautiful one with everybody dressed elegantly in pure white….

As the show ends one is just left awestruck and wanting more…

Romanza – Act 1

Last weekend I went to watch an ice skating show…called Romanza from the world famous Holiday on Ice group.

It is a romantic trip through history, telling both happy and tragic tales of passion, emotion and love from through the ages. Amazingly skilful skating from 46 world-class skaters, artistic choreography, exquisite & colorful costumes and lighting and what a use of props! And if that is not enough…there is flying, fire and magic! A truly breathtaking performance

I realized during the show that there was no break in between the various numbers and what I learnt later was that during this show NOT A SINGLE costume change is made in the dressing room! All the changes have to be done right backstage! There’s no time for the skaters to make their way to the dressing room, not because of the distance but because of the required quick changes during the entire show.

The show begins with the creation of the heart…and the chorus team all dressed in black suits with red and green electroluminescent light cords on their bodies, shaped like hearts and in wavy lines skate onto the rink. Wonderful routine with many ice skating tricks!

This is followed by the story of Adam and Eve… Colourful paradise birds and other animals in neon pink enter the ice.
The skating by Adam and Eve was mind blowing…how he just lifts her and turns around in the same place…or when he swings her from her leg…so fast …I was like…if he lets go…she is going to go thrashing across the rink, probably onto the stands…
A huge heart with illuminated veins in red and green is moved forward on the ice. Silently a huge pink tree with apples makes its way to the middle of Garden of Eden, followed by an awesome snake, trying to seduce Eve to pick one of the apples for a bite which she finally does.

This leads us to the next scene about the seven deadly sins - Luxuria, the lust, Invidia, the jealousy, Ira, the anger, Gula, the gluttony, Acedia, the lazyness, Superbia, the pride and Avaritia, the greed. All the skaters personifying the sins were so aptly dressed and again mindblowing skating routines.

Next is the story of Samson & Delilah…The scene starts with a farmers’ dance, performed by the chorus boys with stacked up wood which is set on flame – a technical trick that was really outstanding.
Then there was a routine of a Stone Age gym. The girls exercise with huge rock handles while the boys work out their muscles with weight-lifting on Flintstone-like benches. Very, very cute…
Samson is the popular hero who can withstand any danger but cannot resist the charm of Delilah. He is seduced by Delilah and she chops of his hair which is the source of his strength rendering him completely powerless.
The skater playing Samson (he also plays Ceaser later) was the most energetic skater/dancer…twice he nearly skated off the rink…

Geishas enter the scene, carrying huge red lanterns which are being placed around the ice. Beautiful props creating a very intimate and romantic set….this has to be the famous Japanese story of love and betrayal of Madame Butterfly and Pinkerton…
A bed under a huge pavilion rolls onto the ice and there is a dream sequence where he remembers his wife in USA …so he deserts Madame Butterfly and flees

The next scene is a parade of famous couples in history - Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf…who suddenly freeze as the next couple enters: The frog and the princess and finally a bit drunken, but happy in love, Popeye the sailorman as he tells his beloved, Olive: “I wanna be loved by you”.
They are joined by girls’ in golden dresses and blond wigs, happily jumping: “I’m a barbie girl in a barbie world”. And where there’s Barbie, Ken is not far away. The chorus boys as Kens in fine white jackets with yellow hearts, yellow shirts and black trousers take their Barbies out for an excursion.
Danny and Sandy from Saturday Night fever are next with “You’re the one that I want”, before a Dirty Dancing sequence ends this number with “Time of my life”.
And then one of my favorites…a solo girl in a red dress skating to “The lady in red”…. Superman appears and takes off on an invisible cable, taking his Lois Lane with him.

The last part of the Act 1 begins with a parade of Egyptian girls, beautifully dressed in basketwork dresses, personating Egyptian amphora. Fantastic!
Then the curtain opens again and an enormous Sphinx statue with a black face is being positioned to demonstrate the arrival of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra.
When she steps down from her throne, she pulls behind her extra long golden train like a never ending waterfall.
Her entire court surrounds her with “Walk like an Egyptian”.
Caesar tries his best to seduce Cleopatra who is not easy to get…and there is a love triangle with Mark Anthony. He says “She drives me crazy” (and this is the same energetic fellow who played Samson earlier)
Lust is there to help him reach his aim, but is there a rival in the plot? Jealousy, the next of the seven deadly sins is there, too…he is killed and Cleo is off with Mark Anthony.

Act 1 ends with golden banners in a breath-taking finale! Act 2 to follow.

Chicago, the Musical

The poster outside the theatre reads "Sex, sleaze, sin"...and much more (can’t remember the whole list now). In the introduction they say...its all about murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery. The catch line is if you can’t be famous, be infamous.

The show lived up to these. It begins with a number 'All that Jazz' - beautifully choreographed...with hot women with perfect bods in SEXY form-fitting bodices and panty hose, good looking hunks in tight pants and body hugging see through shirts or just waistcoats.

And everything in black...the stage, the clothes...excellent and giving the effect that this is a dark tale... 'The Cell Block Tango' number where the six murderesses of the County Jail tell their tales of murder goes well with the entire theme.

Chicago tells the story of Roxie Hart, a chorus girl who murders her lover, then manages not only to avoid prison with the help of razzle-dazzle lawyer Billy Flynn, but uses the trial to propel herself to showbiz stardom along with another murderous chorus girl, Velma Kelly.

Roxie is played by a petite redhead and the way she blinks her eyes, nods her head and shakes her bum is brilliant...the act of innocence is perfect and she comes across as a pretty damsel in distress, so vulnerable rather than a cold blooded murderess. The song where Billy and Roxie tell her story to the press – 'We Both Reached for the Gun' is fabulous - my favorite in this show.

Then of course I mustn’t forget Sob sister reporter Mary Sunshine with her opera singer like voice. The shock comes later as they say ...'all is not what it looks like' and Mary Sunshine removes her dress and wig and we realize she’s a man!!!

Billy Flynn, the lawyer is properly slick and manipulative…his gelled hair, his suit says it all...His rendition of 'Razzle Dazzle' was really good. This is the only time we see a bit of color – white as the dancers do wonderful choreography with white feathers. The way they hide him, with only his face popping out...and then the other way around as they circle him and he appears like the centre of a flower...Brilliant and so clean...

If I forget to talk about Amos, Roxie’s husband then it would be just like in the play...his problem is that the whole world just passes by him without seeing him...his parents moved the house while he was away to school!!! The rendition of 'Mr. Cellophane' makes you think...how pathetic.

I remember Shabana Azmi telling someone on one of the dance shows that a good performer is one who even after finishing their performance, keep up the act till they leave the stage, as long as they are visible to the audience they must keep up the act.
That was another amazing aspect of this show...right through the show it had some of the actors sitting in chairs on the side of the stage and they were clapping their hands and clicking their fingers without a miss,in perfect sync...and they would move to a full out dance in the blink of an eye.

A delightful musical...