Celebrate Parsi New Year with a song-and-dance drama entertainer that includes classic Parsi sketches by iconic playwright Adi Marzban
No Parsi New Year revelry can be complete without the traditional ritual of watching a Parsi natak, especially one that features wit and humour of the iconic director-playwright, the late Adi Marzban. Tomorrow, relive some of Marzban’s classic farcical sketches in Bombay Bawa — Parsi Gujarati Variety Revue. The two-hour song-and -dance piece has been produced by NCPA with Theatre Arts and Silly Point for the Adi Marzban Endowment Fund. Besides his sketches, the entertainer, directed by Sam Kerawalla (The Rummy Game, Miss Bindass among many others), also features new originals penned by 28-year-old Meherzad Patel.
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“While earlier we would stage full-fledged Adi Marzban plays, we have exhausted most of them. So, this time, we decided to merge his content with that of a younger talent like Meherzad,” says the octogenarian Kerawalla. From Marzban’s memorable sketch of a Parsi woman who is pregnant with everyone wondering who the father is to one on how Bawas fight over parking spaces in a typical Parsi colony and what happens when they go to watch a movie, the revue gives a glimpse into the community’s daily life and experiences in the city. “The theme is about Parsis, who used to live in Bombay and are stubborn about calling it Mumbai. The sketches are mainly of the typical Parsis, who live in South Mumbai,” informs Patel.
An all-Parsi cast includes Pheroza Modi, Darius Shroff, Danesh Irani, Pasheen Kasad and Pervez Mehta while the songs will be by Kayo Billimoria, Thea Shroff and Shanaya Boyce. Meanwhile, Shiamak Davar and his team have been roped in for the dance routines. “While the sketches are in Gujarati, the songs are in English, since we are targetting a younger audience. The idea is to keep Parsi theatre alive,” sums up Patel.
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