Packed with laughs

AMARENDRAN, THEATRE director, and Theatre Arlequin were back at the Alliance Francaise doing what they do best. Offbeat comedies. In Chennai, it is certainly offbeat to have a matinee show for a play. Yes, after two screenings on Friday and Saturday evenings, Theatre Arlequin also had matinee performance at 3 p.m. at the Alliance Francaise on Sunday.

The play, titled `Doctor In Spite of Himself', set in the 17th century is a costume drama written by French satirist Moliere, adapted in English by Tim Mooney. ``The play is a farce on doctors, pseudo intellectuals, fake gurus and their ilk. I got my hands on the script through the internet,'' Amarendran reveals.

Theatre Arlequin, in the last few months, has created a brand for itself with its offbeat themes - be it surreal comedies (`Four Plays by David Ives') or their previous production, `Zoo Story'.

The latest production, the English adaptation of Moliere's `Le Medecin Malgre Lui' did pack a dozen laughs. Amarendran's group rehearsed for about one and a half months, even when they were rehearsing for `Zoo Story'.

The effort did show during the performance. The plot about a woodcutter mistaken for a doctor, had plenty of scope for even first-timers. ``It has a lot of body humour and witty dialogues,'' the director adds.

The result was hilarious. The body language though loud, was required of the play and it did heighten the comedy quite appropriately. The 55 minute comedy had quite a long cast. And an interval just before the climax as the play was divided into two parts of 40 and 15 minutes. ``We couldn't split it anywhere else.''

Chander Mouli who played Sganarelle, the woodcutter posing as the doctor was the master entertainer, as he carried the play on his shoulders. Kamini Mathai as the angry wife Martine went about her lines in verse with the ease of a seasoned actress. The rest of the cast that chipped in appropriately included T.T. Srinath, Dilip Singh Mohta, Kaushik, Melissa Stephen, Nikhila Kesavan and Sendil Kumar.

``We have a lot of first timers as well, making their debut in the play,'' he adds. ``Another first of sorts for this play apart from the matinee show is that the whole play would be in verse,'' Amarendran says. And there was also a surprise cameo by the director Amarendran himself. Onstage and Offstage. Onstage, he played the comic role of the neighbour. Offstage, he was spotted giving cues for the lights himself.

By Sudhish Kamath

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