This play by Evam sounds strange mainly because we are from a generation which grew up making love on telephone, later email and as of now over mobile. Sometimes i wish i worked at Hutch in night shifts, it might be fun to listen to lovers talk, although its not manners ... Jus kidding ...
With all hopes of seeing Andrea on stage, Evam gives a surprise with Mirchi Suchi pairing up with Karthik for the day. Love Letters is a very serious play with a bit of humour here and there. The play has only two performers and Karthik and Suchitra have done their best to take it smoothly. Love Letters is a collection of letters written by two childhood friends Melissa Gardner (Suchitra) and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III (Karthik Kumar).
The play goes on for 90 mins and has been able to clearly show the phases of life from childhood till being a grandparent. Everyone must be able to relate with this play, i was able to relate only to the part till they finish college, the other phases seemed alienated for me.
Dialogues is the most important part of Love Letters. The screenplay is really good with the letters being read by the writers themselves. Lighting was supposed to be really good and never before seen in Indian Theatre but i somehow dint like the light arrangements at certain points. The guy did goof up with lights. The blue light in the beginning which gave a silhouette look to the performers was good but not great. Arranging lights is really tough and it always doesnt turn up the way expected (courtesy: my short films) and with the fact that there is no option of re takes, people work under pressure, so the faults are acceptable.
I am somehow not able to re collect the play and its been less than 24 hors since i saw it, doesnt stick to the heart. Karthik was asusual wonderful with his expressions and dialogue delivery but Suchitra was not able to cope up with his performance. Her voice in radio might have people going crazy but theatre is still a far reach for her.
Showing posts with label Theatre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theatre. Show all posts
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Spreading the theatre bug - 2
Clap for me, i've been watching plays for three weekends in a row ... HATRICK !!! And today i brought Ashwin to watch Love Letters and he fell in love with it. I still wonder how ? Ashwin wants to go tomorrow too to watch another play but i am struck with some deadlines due on January and unable to go but he doesn't seem to give up, will try my best to make it dude : )
Today was the last show of Love Letters for this season and i dint want to miss it. So i call up Aparna to ask her to join ...
Paartha mudhal naale, unnai paartha mudhal naale ... (no thats not her dialer tune, it was me singing till she picked the call)
Ap : Heyyyyyyyyy !
Me : Hey Aparna ...
Ap : Hey i want to watch Pokiri da, shall we go this evening ?
Me : Today is the last show of Love Letters da ...
Ap : I ve been telling you for a week that i want to watch Pokiri, see i hate Vijay but i heard this movie is good and Prabhudeva has done a good job it seems ...
Me : See even i want to watch Pokiri, infact i've already seen the movie, but still i dont mind going for it but i just spoke to Kavitha da, she badly wants to see Love Letters and you know she fell in love with Karthik after watching The Odd Couple ... Lets not spoil her mood
Ap : Seri seri, Love Letters eh pogalam ...
Me : Ok meet you in 10 mins, bye !
and i hurry up with my next call
Oru maalai ila veyil neram, azhagana illayudhir kaalam (this time it was a dialer tune but for reasons best known to Kavitha alone, she has been having the same tune ever since Aircel came up with this service)
Ka : Hi Dinesh ! (in a hushy tone)
Me : Hey Kavitha ...
Ka : Sollu Dinesh ... (in her trademark tone)
Me : Where are you ?
Ka : Office Dinesh : (
Me : Today is the last show of Love Letters, shall we go
Kavitha thinks for a minute
Me : Aparna said she'll come
Ka : Oh ! ok then count me in (Kavitha and Aparna are die-hard pals, so convincing one of them is enough to get work done)
Me : Ok meet you at 6, bye !
Ashwin was rotfl after hearing this, we have been made to wait many a times by these girls (especially one of us by one of them) and he was more than happy to hear this. Ashwin who wanted to go to the beach this evening has got hooked to plays that he is not ready to even think of going to the beach tomorrow.
Today was the last show of Love Letters for this season and i dint want to miss it. So i call up Aparna to ask her to join ...
Paartha mudhal naale, unnai paartha mudhal naale ... (no thats not her dialer tune, it was me singing till she picked the call)
Ap : Heyyyyyyyyy !
Me : Hey Aparna ...
Ap : Hey i want to watch Pokiri da, shall we go this evening ?
Me : Today is the last show of Love Letters da ...
Ap : I ve been telling you for a week that i want to watch Pokiri, see i hate Vijay but i heard this movie is good and Prabhudeva has done a good job it seems ...
Me : See even i want to watch Pokiri, infact i've already seen the movie, but still i dont mind going for it but i just spoke to Kavitha da, she badly wants to see Love Letters and you know she fell in love with Karthik after watching The Odd Couple ... Lets not spoil her mood
Ap : Seri seri, Love Letters eh pogalam ...
Me : Ok meet you in 10 mins, bye !
and i hurry up with my next call
Oru maalai ila veyil neram, azhagana illayudhir kaalam (this time it was a dialer tune but for reasons best known to Kavitha alone, she has been having the same tune ever since Aircel came up with this service)
Ka : Hi Dinesh ! (in a hushy tone)
Me : Hey Kavitha ...
Ka : Sollu Dinesh ... (in her trademark tone)
Me : Where are you ?
Ka : Office Dinesh : (
Me : Today is the last show of Love Letters, shall we go
Kavitha thinks for a minute
Me : Aparna said she'll come
Ka : Oh ! ok then count me in (Kavitha and Aparna are die-hard pals, so convincing one of them is enough to get work done)
Me : Ok meet you at 6, bye !
Ashwin was rotfl after hearing this, we have been made to wait many a times by these girls (especially one of us by one of them) and he was more than happy to hear this. Ashwin who wanted to go to the beach this evening has got hooked to plays that he is not ready to even think of going to the beach tomorrow.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
The ODD Couple
Marriages may come and go but poker stays forever
- A wise saint called Felix, married once later divorced
Saturday morning i woke up only to see Sunil's threatening mail, the last three shows of The Odd Couple were scheduled for this weekend.
The Odd Couple is the third play i watched after Art by Evam and Five Point Someone. Unlike Art which had only three performers ruling the stage, The Odd Couple had eight performers including my favourite Sunil Vishnu, the Shooshaa.
The play begins on time and is hilarious, hilarious and even more hilarious. Oscar's (Karthik Kumar) expressions were at their best, especially when he speaks to his friend Murray's wife over telephone. The story is basically about two divorcees who share an apartment, while one of them is this live-this-moment guy, the other one is the itchy, picky and naggy kind who is obsessed about cleanliness and hygiene.
Felix (Karthik Srinivasan) walks into the stage sulky but at the end of this 110 mins play, he gets along with not just one but two gals and is all smiles and no words. The stage is set in Oscar's apartment which happens to be the meeting place of the six friends for a game of poker. Things turn upside down when Felix moves into Oscar's place after divorce.
Murray (Sunil Vishnu), Speed (Sarvesh Sridhar), Roy (Navin Balachandran) and Vinnie (Shankar Ramachandran) are the poker pals of Oscar. Although the cast has eight artists, no one other than Oscar and Felix have much to do but they have the audience gripped to them during their poker sessions. The Pigeon sisters (Anuradha Ananth and Kalyani Kumar) are also divorcees and reside in the same building with whom Oscar is desperate to get laid with, but it is the unconventional and naggy Felix who steals the show in front of the gals, much to the irony of Oscar.
Situational comedy is in plenty, there is humour in every dialogue and every action. The comedy in dialogues were welcomed with thunderous claps and a high-on-weed kind of laughter, but the the audience somehow missed a few subliminal comedies. There is one scene in the end where Oscar opens the window with hopes that Felix would jump out of it, that was a perfectly executed act but somehow it dint get the response it deserved.
The best dialogue was when Oscar in the end asks Felix 'Wont you thank me?', Felix 'What for?', Oscar 'For taking you in and throwing you out!'. This had a lot of meaning, it isn't that easy to put it in such a small conversation. Evam does it really well.
The play was directed by Evam which has done a very good job. The sets were fantastic and had an apartment inside the stage. The times during set change and props change were a disappointment with some unappealing music running in the background. Evam was smart enough in Art and had a small boy entertaining the audience during props change, something similar to that could have been done this time too. And one more thing, the telephone rings on the right side of the stage but the sound of ringing comes more from the left. It was a major flaw, blame the stupid speakers.
Otherwise the play is a major fun for a saturday evening. Only two more shows of The Odd Couple are in line for this season so make sure you don't miss it.
- A wise saint called Felix, married once later divorced
Saturday morning i woke up only to see Sunil's threatening mail, the last three shows of The Odd Couple were scheduled for this weekend.
The Odd Couple is the third play i watched after Art by Evam and Five Point Someone. Unlike Art which had only three performers ruling the stage, The Odd Couple had eight performers including my favourite Sunil Vishnu, the Shooshaa.
The play begins on time and is hilarious, hilarious and even more hilarious. Oscar's (Karthik Kumar) expressions were at their best, especially when he speaks to his friend Murray's wife over telephone. The story is basically about two divorcees who share an apartment, while one of them is this live-this-moment guy, the other one is the itchy, picky and naggy kind who is obsessed about cleanliness and hygiene.
Felix (Karthik Srinivasan) walks into the stage sulky but at the end of this 110 mins play, he gets along with not just one but two gals and is all smiles and no words. The stage is set in Oscar's apartment which happens to be the meeting place of the six friends for a game of poker. Things turn upside down when Felix moves into Oscar's place after divorce.
Murray (Sunil Vishnu), Speed (Sarvesh Sridhar), Roy (Navin Balachandran) and Vinnie (Shankar Ramachandran) are the poker pals of Oscar. Although the cast has eight artists, no one other than Oscar and Felix have much to do but they have the audience gripped to them during their poker sessions. The Pigeon sisters (Anuradha Ananth and Kalyani Kumar) are also divorcees and reside in the same building with whom Oscar is desperate to get laid with, but it is the unconventional and naggy Felix who steals the show in front of the gals, much to the irony of Oscar.
Situational comedy is in plenty, there is humour in every dialogue and every action. The comedy in dialogues were welcomed with thunderous claps and a high-on-weed kind of laughter, but the the audience somehow missed a few subliminal comedies. There is one scene in the end where Oscar opens the window with hopes that Felix would jump out of it, that was a perfectly executed act but somehow it dint get the response it deserved.
The best dialogue was when Oscar in the end asks Felix 'Wont you thank me?', Felix 'What for?', Oscar 'For taking you in and throwing you out!'. This had a lot of meaning, it isn't that easy to put it in such a small conversation. Evam does it really well.
The play was directed by Evam which has done a very good job. The sets were fantastic and had an apartment inside the stage. The times during set change and props change were a disappointment with some unappealing music running in the background. Evam was smart enough in Art and had a small boy entertaining the audience during props change, something similar to that could have been done this time too. And one more thing, the telephone rings on the right side of the stage but the sound of ringing comes more from the left. It was a major flaw, blame the stupid speakers.
Otherwise the play is a major fun for a saturday evening. Only two more shows of The Odd Couple are in line for this season so make sure you don't miss it.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Spreading the theatre bug
Of late i got interested in theatres and this bug in me was today extended to Aparna and Kavitha. Today i coaxed them and made them come to watch the play The Odd Couple by Evam. Well after a series of warnings, they join me.
Kavitha : If the play is no good, i'll trash you DINESH !!!
Aparna : Ya di, good that you warned him !!!
And then what happened ? They enjoyed the play more than me, bursting out laughing even at odd scenes. But ofcourse what made Kavitha come readily was the photograph i promised her, she wanted to take a pic with Karthik (remember Alaipayuthey - Naan ok eh, ok illiya ?). Karthik is the co founder of Evam and one of the lead actors in it and he was more than ready for the pic, which made the day for Kavitha. After going home Aparna messaged me that she dint expect the evening to be so good. And Aparna is this girl who is intersted in all such peppy things and she sees more to life than anyone else. Well it made her day too. My collars are up. Ashwin who promised to spend this saturday with us dint turn up. Thirinthitaano ?
Kavitha : If the play is no good, i'll trash you DINESH !!!
Aparna : Ya di, good that you warned him !!!
And then what happened ? They enjoyed the play more than me, bursting out laughing even at odd scenes. But ofcourse what made Kavitha come readily was the photograph i promised her, she wanted to take a pic with Karthik (remember Alaipayuthey - Naan ok eh, ok illiya ?). Karthik is the co founder of Evam and one of the lead actors in it and he was more than ready for the pic, which made the day for Kavitha. After going home Aparna messaged me that she dint expect the evening to be so good. And Aparna is this girl who is intersted in all such peppy things and she sees more to life than anyone else. Well it made her day too. My collars are up. Ashwin who promised to spend this saturday with us dint turn up. Thirinthitaano ?
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Five Point Someone
After all the super fun at ECR on my friend's birthday, i rushed to IIT-M to catch the play which i missed three days in a row at Museum Theatre. I was at the venue 30 mins earlier than the show time, the Q was long but i thought i could make it into the auditorium. After reading all the thumbs-up reviews of the play i was even ready to stand and watch the entire play if the seats are full.
My friend Rachel who is from the press comes in, she sees the long Q and goes to the organisers to see if she could get seats for us, she doesn't turn up and the place has no network coverage. Damn ! And then the guys at Saarang close doors saying the hall is full. I knew Rachel must be nicely seated inside and i faked as a person from the press. They took me into the auditorium through a special entrance and i got a seat right in the front row beside Rachel who gives a stupid grin and spells a series of apologies .... Ok forgiven ! Man, the front row had recliners : )
My interest in plays was brought out by Evam's Sunil. After watching Evam's Art i was hooked to plays, Madras Players just took it one step further. The play Five Point Someone tells what not to do at IIT. Every soul who finds a place in IIT has worked really really hard for two years in school just to find that, college is no different. GPA is what determines what you are in college and under performers are treated as an outcast.
The story goes around three under performers in college Ryan, Hari and Alok who manage only a 5.something GPA. College has labelled them as outcasts. Five Point Someone is all about what is life other than the serious studies at IIT, what is friendship, life and love. The set props were simple and nicely used. Three props made the entire play. Ryan Oberoi (Praveen Bharatwaj), Hari Kumar (Abhijeet 'Monty' Mohanty) and Alok Gupta (V Sarvesh Sridhar) rule the stage for a solid two hours. Alok is this serious guy who is very keen on studies while Ryan is a happy-go-lucky guy, Hari can be easily influenced by both of them in anything and everything. These three guys carry a perfect rapport all through the play.
Ryan, Hari and Alok expects more out of life and in this frantic search they end up with a 5.something GPA which gives a serious blow to their friendship. In this chaos, engineering and fashion designing meets thanks to Hari who falls in love with Neha (Uttara Krishnadas). Neha is also an excellent performer and her solo scene on stage where she writes a letter to her dead brother speaks volumes.
The senior Madras Players come like a storm with their more matured voice and modulation. P.C. Ramakrishna as Prof. Cherian the most hated professor by all speaks as though he swallowed a couple of mics, what a voice he has got, too good ... Dialogues and humour is fantastic. P.C. Ramakrishna introduced Nikhila Kesavan to the audience as the youngest director of Madras Players. There are re takes while directing a movie but in case of plays ...
This is where Nikhila rocks !
Something i noticed in the play was the prompt and timed dialogues uttered by the artists. If the audience are laughing or clapping loud, the artists wait till the laughter and claps fades and then speak their dialogues, so that no one misses a word. Hari was this normal guy when it comes to the love scenes, tensed and messing ! Neha and Hari do leave the audience clapping all the way. The story is narrated by Vidyuth Sreenivasan who is calm and cool and walks around the stage narrating, he even takes a shot of vodka with the performers.
Overall the play made two hours fly so easily and my lie worth it.
My friend Rachel who is from the press comes in, she sees the long Q and goes to the organisers to see if she could get seats for us, she doesn't turn up and the place has no network coverage. Damn ! And then the guys at Saarang close doors saying the hall is full. I knew Rachel must be nicely seated inside and i faked as a person from the press. They took me into the auditorium through a special entrance and i got a seat right in the front row beside Rachel who gives a stupid grin and spells a series of apologies .... Ok forgiven ! Man, the front row had recliners : )
My interest in plays was brought out by Evam's Sunil. After watching Evam's Art i was hooked to plays, Madras Players just took it one step further. The play Five Point Someone tells what not to do at IIT. Every soul who finds a place in IIT has worked really really hard for two years in school just to find that, college is no different. GPA is what determines what you are in college and under performers are treated as an outcast.
The story goes around three under performers in college Ryan, Hari and Alok who manage only a 5.something GPA. College has labelled them as outcasts. Five Point Someone is all about what is life other than the serious studies at IIT, what is friendship, life and love. The set props were simple and nicely used. Three props made the entire play. Ryan Oberoi (Praveen Bharatwaj), Hari Kumar (Abhijeet 'Monty' Mohanty) and Alok Gupta (V Sarvesh Sridhar) rule the stage for a solid two hours. Alok is this serious guy who is very keen on studies while Ryan is a happy-go-lucky guy, Hari can be easily influenced by both of them in anything and everything. These three guys carry a perfect rapport all through the play.
Ryan, Hari and Alok expects more out of life and in this frantic search they end up with a 5.something GPA which gives a serious blow to their friendship. In this chaos, engineering and fashion designing meets thanks to Hari who falls in love with Neha (Uttara Krishnadas). Neha is also an excellent performer and her solo scene on stage where she writes a letter to her dead brother speaks volumes.
The senior Madras Players come like a storm with their more matured voice and modulation. P.C. Ramakrishna as Prof. Cherian the most hated professor by all speaks as though he swallowed a couple of mics, what a voice he has got, too good ... Dialogues and humour is fantastic. P.C. Ramakrishna introduced Nikhila Kesavan to the audience as the youngest director of Madras Players. There are re takes while directing a movie but in case of plays ...
This is where Nikhila rocks !
Something i noticed in the play was the prompt and timed dialogues uttered by the artists. If the audience are laughing or clapping loud, the artists wait till the laughter and claps fades and then speak their dialogues, so that no one misses a word. Hari was this normal guy when it comes to the love scenes, tensed and messing ! Neha and Hari do leave the audience clapping all the way. The story is narrated by Vidyuth Sreenivasan who is calm and cool and walks around the stage narrating, he even takes a shot of vodka with the performers.
Overall the play made two hours fly so easily and my lie worth it.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Evam - taking theatre, places
When it comes to theatres and plays i was only used to the plays of Crazy Mohan and S.Ve.Shekher. Their plays were a package full of fun and laughter and people who come to watch their plays will surely walk out with pain in their tummy. English theatre was always distant to me and thanks to Sudhish Kamath and his That Four Letter Word, i got introduced to Sunil who plays Zebra in TFLW. Sunil is the co founder of the Chennai based theatre group called Evam.
Evam which has been successfully staging plays for the past three years is celebrating 150 shows of Evam. Sunil persuaded me to come over for their play Art by Evam, which got me very excited because its going to be my first english play and i was eager to meet Sunil in person.
Art by Evam is an eighty five minutes play and has Sunil, Jimmy and Karthik as the lead actors. The story revolves around the three guys. Serge (Jimmy) buys a painting which is white in background and has a lot of designs in it in white, when Marc (Karthik) learns that his friend bought it for 200,000 francs he feels its a bad bargain and criticises the painting. Hell breaks loose, Serge and Marc has a bitter battle with words, Vyan (Sunil) is caught between them in his attempt to unite them. How and why these guys patch up forms the rest of the play.
This serious play is fuelled with subtle comedy at strategic points. All the three guys score well in acting and a stiff competition is clearly seen between them. Karthik having done a few films is quite familiar than the other two. Sunil is one hell of an actor who gives out awesome expressions, i've also seen Sunil's performance in Sudhish Kamath's TFLW. Sunil's performance can be described in just one word ... err sorry two words - Mind Blowing !!!
Jimmy and Karthik are no exception either, right from the body language to dialogue delivery these guys are perfectionists. Seeing the crowd turn up for plays in such a huge number looks very healthy for theatres in Chennai. And there is one more actor in Evam, Vaidhya, a twelfth standard guy who comes in between the show during props change and entertains the audience. More plays of Evam are coming up in the months of January and February, so guys if you have the time make sure you spend it watching Evam, else make time and watch Evam.
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