No boundaries for laughter

APLAY reading session is like a beauty queen in dishabille. Since it is just a little more than the bare bones of the script, it's unfair to pass judgment on the total effect and appearance of a play after attending the event.

What the two readings held recently at the British Council showed was that there is plenty of talent waiting to be tapped out there and it is possible for more playwrights to emerge given the right conditions and push.

The plays "So Far So Good" and "A Time for Decision" were written at the workshop held by Mahesh Dattani last year at the British Council in association with the Madras Players. As part of the year of the Chennai Playwright The Madras Players (Theatre Club) along with the Culture Cafe of the British Council has been presenting a series of rehearsed readings of the playscripts. "Under one Roof" by Sabitha Radhakrishna "Leave Me Alone" by Sunipa Basu and "Closer Apart" by Anupama Chandrasekhar are the plays which have been read over the last few months. Considering the quality of the scripts Dattani obviously conducts the workshops very well.

Harsha Dandapani, the writer of "So Far So Good" deserves to go far as he has so much talent. What's more, he has that rare gift, a spontaneous feel for sophisticated humour arising naturally from situation and character. The character of the dim-witted WWF wrestler Jawbreaker Holmes (brilliantly enacted by Madan Mohan) is an ace for the writer.

Set in a psychiatrist's office in the US, (a place which the author has not even visited as he admitted later) "So Far So Good" (directed by Krupasagar Sridharan) revolves around the doctor Merwyn Landen and three of his patients. Merwyn (Krupasagar Sridharan) is so engrossed in his work he hardly has the time "to stop and stare" except out of his window from time to time. He tends to identify himself too much with his patients and their problems which are unusual to say the least. The most unusual among them is Holmes who hides a dreadful secret, at least for one whose public image is of brown and power. The WWF wrestler's Christian name is of all things. Ophelia. Petrified the media will sniff it out, he barges into the doctor's clinic for help.

No less pathetic is the predicament of Aaron Weinstein (R. Shyam) who is terrified of his dominating wife. Advised by the doctor to go in for some passive gambling to boost his initiative, he does so. But his winnings make him a loser on the marital front. Thinking he has won a pair of pumas (the shoes), he discovers he has won the four-legged endangered kind instead. The third patient is Anne Crawford (Yamini Subramanian) an attractive, aspiring actress who has to fight tough battles in a competitive field.

Harsha adroitly weaves a smooth flowing, deliciously absurd comedy using these various strands. The laughter erased all geographical boundaries but it would be interesting to see Harsha turn his hand at a play of this kind with Indian characters and setting. His dextrous use of language and ability to develop humour in a fluid way are assets which he can use to great advantage. Krupasagar Sridharan as the psychiatrist was very convincing while Madan Mohan as Ophelia with his shambling gait was splendid.

The second play "A Time for Decision" was not as clear cut in the course it steered. It was a stew, a hotch-potch of elements that disconcerted the viewer. It changed directions, with confusing rapidity and ended rather abruptly. It was directed by K. Krishna Kumar Megha Rao (Priya Chari) is a 20 year old from an unhappy home who drifts into a relationship with a drug addict Manoj (Tarun Aggarwal). When her old friends, the brother and sister, duo Smriti (Reshma Nichani) and Samir Ahuja (Vikash Mehradra) meet her after a gap of many years, they are shocked at the change in her. They decide to help her out of Manoj's clutches and get embroiled in a case of murder Samir, a criminal defence attorney who prides himself on never letting the innocent suffer comes to Megha's aid...

The playwright Krupasagar reveals an ability to to craft realistic dialogue and is well versed in legal jargon. But one never really got involved in the drama and the characters were just stereotypes. The play needs to be reworked to make it more cohesive. A panel comprising Mr.Jaspar Utley, Director, British Council, South India, Ms. Mini Krishnan, Editor, Macmillan and Noshir Rathnagar theatre personality led the discussion on the plays after the readingon July 28.

KAUSALYA SANTHANAM

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