ART

I was so blown away by DTQ (the play by Evam that I watched twice), that I decided to watch another of their productions.

This was in Rangshankara. An English play for 90 minutes, written by Yesmina Reza and directed by Suniil and Karthik.

This supposedly is their first production. And their favourite one.

There are just 3 characters, the three friends Marc, Yvan and Sarge.

Central to the story is a painting which is no painting at all. A few white lines on a white square canvas. That’s all.
And Sarge has paid a huge amount for this painting. It is this painting that becomes a cause of skirmishes between three friends.

Mark (played by Karthik – I totally love this guy), has the disposition of someone who thinks he knows better than everybody else. He plays a ‘know all’ guy who judges other people, who decides for others. Moreover, he is possessive about his friends.

He disapproves the painting bought by Sarge and makes no secret of his disapproval. He is sarcastic about the painting all throughout the play.

Sarge is offended and somewhat hurt by Mark’s sarcasm. He resists Mark and his judgment but in vain.

Yvan is a common friend of Mark and Sarge. He is trying his best to be diplomatic, trying to agree with both Mark and Sarge. Yvan’s dialogue delivery is superb. Totally effortless!

Check out this dialogue.

“If I am who I am, because I am who I am and you are who you are, because you are who you are, then I am who I am and you are who you are. But if I am who I am, because you are who you are and you are who you are, because I am who I am then, I am not who I am and you are not who you are.”

In the meanwhile, Yvan decides to get married. This episode provides much comic relief.

The play ends with all the three breaking the ice and laughing together like three old friends.

There is nothing special about the sets. The play actually seems somewhat boring without music, without women and without light and colour effects.



But if you follow every dialogue, you will appreciate the play for the character sketching of the three really different men, for the heavy sarcasm in Mark’s dialogues and the humour conveyed by the perplexity of Yvan.