Think dark chocolate. Now pair it with a glass of Shiraz. Add some crackers with pate to it. Finish all of that with candied fruit. I present 'Butter and Mashed Banana' to you.
Sweet, aromatic and full bodied, subtle yet not oh-so-sophisticated, not to forget the cheeky fun. There was all of this, and yet, more too. Ajay Krishnan's debut was raved and ranted about and you will have to watch it to understand why.
This is one play where I will have to say there was nothing but perfection on stage. The script was enjoyable, identifiable with, beautifully directed and even more beautifully performed. It was a a bit like a comic musical and a bit like a gentle mock. The lead is a child conceived out of mixed ideologies and carries that with him throughout. He is a writer, a wannabe politician and later a nobody, all in the quest of the so called "Free Speech". "Don't you dare say that!" is the recurring theme.
He writes a book, which is instantly censored, he decides to become a politician, he is instantly censored, he then makes movies, and is censored again. A more than subtle dig at the 'freedom' that we all claim to enjoy, the play is a bouquet of many things.
I do not know who those actors were, nor do I want to Google about them. They had immense talent, and when provided with an outlet as refreshing as Ajay Krishnan's 'Butter and Mashed Banana', the result was astonishing. There was so much energy on that stage that I never even knew when the performance came to an end.
I must say I was grateful for watching this after 'Hair'. This spectacle would have created so many expectations that it would have been impossible to give 'Hair' its due which has the capability of gathering its own followers for Ajay Krishnan, though not in the same league as his debut.
A delectable fare, to be enjoyed by all.
PS: Just as I was hoping, today was very boring, and I had almost forgotten this post, which I did not hope for. So if this review seems like it was written when the super-fast was approaching with my foot jammed in the line, you know that is how it was indeed. My office was being shut down.
Showing posts with label Ajay Krishnan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ajay Krishnan. Show all posts
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
On watching 'Hair'
Saturday saw me watching the play 'Hair' directed by Ajay Krishnan at Ranga Shankara. Hair is the third directorial venture by Ajay who had made his debut with the much acclaimed 'Butter and Mashed Banana' in 2005 (which I shall be watching on Wednesday or Thursday at the same venue) and produced by Evam Youth Forum. It was an attempt by the 24 year old (so claims a news article I came across through Google News) director to reinterpret the classical fairy tale of Rapunzel.
Almost all of the Google searches for various references to the play returned only pre-staging reviews but none of the post-staging kinds. I was looking very hard for them hoping that they will help me make better sense of the entire thing.
It started off with a sort of prelude in the form of a dialogue between a man (I love my hair) and a woman (I hate my hair) about hair which leads to the story of Rapunzel and questions as to why Rapunzel, The Witch and The Prince did what they did and said what they said. The scene then moves onto Rapunzel in a tower along with The Witch and explores the complex relationship between them until the arrival of The Prince onto the scene ("She loves me a lot too", says Rapunzel at one point).
White rope (hemp?) is constantly manipulated through out the play, alluding to hair and how it binds us, entangles us and entwines us. The play ended with a projection of clips from (the Turkish staging of the play by tiyatro 0.2 Istanbul?) a different performance of the same play with Rapunzel watching her life go by.
My reaction was mixed, as I could not claim to have completely unraveled the play and I had to leave with a faint feeling that the tiny key to completely understanding it had somehow eluded my grasp. The odd thing about this performance was that the actors did not introduce themselves.
On the whole, in spite of a lot of talent among many of the actors (notice I do not say all), the play refuses to bring out their full potential. The performances by Rapunzel and The Witch were par excellence. The script is ambiguous, even if so deliberately, which though adds to the mysticism, also helps the audience interpret the play in their own way. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it a moderate 3.
Almost all of the Google searches for various references to the play returned only pre-staging reviews but none of the post-staging kinds. I was looking very hard for them hoping that they will help me make better sense of the entire thing.
It started off with a sort of prelude in the form of a dialogue between a man (I love my hair) and a woman (I hate my hair) about hair which leads to the story of Rapunzel and questions as to why Rapunzel, The Witch and The Prince did what they did and said what they said. The scene then moves onto Rapunzel in a tower along with The Witch and explores the complex relationship between them until the arrival of The Prince onto the scene ("She loves me a lot too", says Rapunzel at one point).
White rope (hemp?) is constantly manipulated through out the play, alluding to hair and how it binds us, entangles us and entwines us. The play ended with a projection of clips from (the Turkish staging of the play by tiyatro 0.2 Istanbul?) a different performance of the same play with Rapunzel watching her life go by.
My reaction was mixed, as I could not claim to have completely unraveled the play and I had to leave with a faint feeling that the tiny key to completely understanding it had somehow eluded my grasp. The odd thing about this performance was that the actors did not introduce themselves.
On the whole, in spite of a lot of talent among many of the actors (notice I do not say all), the play refuses to bring out their full potential. The performances by Rapunzel and The Witch were par excellence. The script is ambiguous, even if so deliberately, which though adds to the mysticism, also helps the audience interpret the play in their own way. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it a moderate 3.
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