Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Mouse and Positions



Saturday 5th April
Troupe - The First City Theatre Foundation, New Delhi

My first ever play in Rangashankara after 4 years of staying in Bangalore. Better late than never. Mouse and Positions is not one play but 2 plays in sequence by the same troupe. 125 minutes.

Mouse – is about a play (A play within a play!). There are 2 characters. The director and the mouse (a guy playing the mouse). The director is a finicky woman giving too many instructions to a diffident mouse during a rehearsal. She is a perfectionist. The mouse tries to please her carrying out all her orders but in the end, he can’t take it anymore. He expresses his exasperation by messing up the sets. At this point, the director realizes that she has been too harsh and mellows very suddenly, giving him all the freedom to play his role the way he likes. The play ends with the director holding a torch far behind on the stage, and the mouse dancing away merrily. The viewers can see the silhouette of the mouse dancing against the bright light of the torch.

You may think what is so interesting about it. There is subtle humour from the start till the end. There are just 2 or 3 characters. The girl has done a wonderful job. She had so many lines to memorize! All of them delivered with perfection.

The second play is called Positions.
Six short plays or rather scenes. Some interesting and humourous; some seemed weird. Perhaps I missed some nuances.

Catch it if it’s showing in your city.

4 comments:

A.G.C said...

Rangashankara!!! my fav haunt...truly has been a revelation of sorts.

btw, great writeups...needless to say, u made it to my blogroll :))

Anupama said...

Would have loved to see the plays. Sound very interesting. Will surely catch them the next time they are playing. Thanks for the review...

Sowmya Chakravarthy said...

Thanks shake for hosting me on your blogspace. I am honoured... Do visit me again....

Anu, theatre is wonderful.... we must be regular at it...

Rishi said...

Our Theatre presents "Beyond the Land of Hattamala", a play in English by the celebrated playwright Badal Sircar, at Rangashankara on April 3rd and 4th.
Synopsis
Two thieves, Kena and Becha, jump into a river to escape being caught. They wash up on the shores of a never-never land where buying and selling are alien concepts. In this new land, everyone works together to produce what the entire community needs and wants - money does not exist. Being thieves, Kena and Becha do not understand this concept and several humorous misadventures follow as they make their journey through this land. We hope that you can be a part of the audience for one of the shows and make the journey with Kena and Becha. Beyond the Land of Hattamala
April 3rd, 7.30 pm
April 4th, 3.30 pm, 7.30 pm
Rangashankara
JP Nagar II Phase For tickets you can book online at www.indianstage.in or call us! You could also pick them up at Rangashankara (from 28th onwards, between 6-7 pm everyday) before the show. For telebooking, call Vipul at 9886390879.
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Our Theater is a group by one of my friend who will be acting in this play. This is FYI.

- Rishi.