Five short plays tell love stories of our times that are not fairytales

Moving a step away from dense narratives and glum stories that deal with complexities of the modern urban world, Crumpled is a collection of five mini plays by writers who want to deal with stories of their time with simplicity

Akash Prabhakar (left) at the rehearsal of Connection (about living 10 minutes without Internet), a story in Crupmled

Moving a step away from dense narratives and glum stories that deal with complexities of the modern urban world, Crumpled is a collection of five mini plays by writers who want to deal with stories of their time with simplicity, holding a mirror to the present society and yet be engaging.

A moment from the rehearsal of Spur in Crumpled

Akash Prabhakar, who wrote the story, The Connection in Crumpled, recalls how he would find it increasingly difficult to finish long novels and sit through long plays. This made him wonder if a new approach was needed. “I called over some theatre friends, and we had a workshop for a day and from this emerged five short plays that are contemporary and relevant,” he explains.

Each story is not more than 10 to 15 minutes long; it is the opposite of fairytales and perfect love stories, shares Prabhakar. “When one tells the truth about a time, it is not necessarily a comfortable one. For example in the story Connected, we talk about how we discover what we are missing in live being glued to the Internet. The idea though is not to preach, acceptance is also a part of telling the truth,” he says.

The stories to be staged are The Connection, The Tinder date, Spur, The Wedding Story and The American Dream. “We had come up with nine stories initially but went with these five keeping in mind the theme of being able to connect with our audience,” he says.

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