20 July,2011 08:50 AM IST | | Piali Dasgupta
A play doesn't have to be staged in an auditorium. Nor does it have to be long and sermonizing. Relationship Roulette - An Evening of Dark Comedy breaks away from the conventional format of theatre promising a jolly time to its audience
For those who have enjoyed Rihanna's 2009 chart topper Russian Roulette in which theu00a0 R&B singer used the lethal game as a metaphor for relationships, the 60-minute play being staged at Olive this Sunday, would make mighty sense. Titled Relationship Roulette, the supper theatre directed by theatre veteran Judy Bidapa, who returns to direction after a long hiatus, has been produced by Anitha Mithra of The Tortilla Entertainment Company.
It's a compilation of six 10-minute long plays sourced from the internet that includes copious doses of dark humour and brings on stage eight noted theatre actors: Edgar Fernandes, Mario Jerome, Kartik Kumar, Anitha Mithra, Kavita Babu-Kashyap, Manisha Vinod, Shobitha Mani and Piyali Bagchi.u00a0u00a0u00a0
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u00a0Judy, who hopes to be more active in theatre, finds the short play format challenging as one has to create optimum effect in less time. "The character has to be clear within the first few minutes and there has to be a distinct beginning, middle and end. My inspiration is the play itself and I want to be true to the plots. The challenge is to pull the actual character out of the actor and portray it exactly the way the playwright sees them," says Judy who's been working on the play for a month.
There couldn't have been a more apt moniker for a play that has relationships at the core of it. But what kind of relationships does it explore? Award winning playwright Phil Olson's play Girl's Night Out is about a bunch of women who meet in bar encountering a bizarre situation. Then there's Clean Break that revolves around a mother and her daughter set on the morning of the day of her wedding, which eventually doesn't happen.
Ace lensman cum playwright Joseph Torrentini's So You Wanna Marry My Daughter looks at a father daughter relationship while Mark Keneally's Increment is about newly weds who step into their house for the first time. Perhaps the darkest of them all is Keneally's Fork in the Light that depicts a woman who's suicidal after a nasty break up.
There's a play on practically every situation. Litmus, for instance, delves into the relationship between a girl, her date and her roommate. And while it wasn't hard for Anitha to source these scripts, she administered a rigorous screening process and shortlisted six plays from the 21 that had impressed her before sending them to Judy, her senior from Baldwin School. The underlying theme, of course, had to be relationships as "that's something people can relate to the most right now."
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Adds Anitha, "These plays would make you go, 'I know somebody just like that', or 'That happens to me all the time.' Every line is loaded and there's a subtext. We want the non-theatre going audience to realise that theatre can be very enjoyable and also a viable mode of entertainment."So, get set for this hexagonal theatre experience that comes with minimal props but myriad faces.
Where Olive Beach, 16 Wood Street, Ashok Nagar ON July 24, 8 30 pm
Call 41128400/ 9945565483
Foru00a0Rs 700, including a cover charge of Rs 400
SIC
Directed by Sharanya Ramprakash from the city-based group Dramanon, this English play unfolds in the doorways and shared hallway of three neighbouring apartments.u00a0 The plot revolves around the daily lives of Theo, a touchy amusement park ride theme music composer, Babette, a struggling writer and Frank, a happy-go-lucky aspiring auctioneer. This bittersweet comedy shows how these diverse characters battle the haunting drudgery of city life.
Where Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar
On July 20, 7.30 pm
Call 26493982
Mayamruga
Ghosts have always been an integral part of human imagination. However, the existence of this unnatural entity has always been a matter of debate and discussion. Through the play Mayamruga, city based theatre group Vatikutira Troupe questions this and more. Penned by the famous Kannada author Kuppali Puttappa Poornachandra Tejaswi, this play explores the world beyond our vision and explains the reason of its existence in human minds.
Where Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar
On July 21, 7.30 pm
Call 9880695659
Adhe Adhure
Directed by Lillete Dubey, this Hindi play reflects the fate of middle-class existence. Savitri, a middle-aged woman tries to find a way out of a failed marriage. However, caught in her destiny and circumstances, the play shows how her life decides its own course.
Where Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, Malleshwaram
On July 21, 7.30 pm
Call 23443956
