Akvarious Productions brings a man's life under the spotlight with their new play, A Guy Thing. Ladies, it's time to give the battered man his space on stage

Akvarious Productions brings a man's life under the spotlight with their new play, A Guy Thing. Ladies, it's time to give the battered man his space on stage

There are just four guys in the rehearsal room at Prithvi House. Protagonists Neil Bhoopalam and Ali Fazal are rehearsing their scenes. Director Akarsh Khurana is guiding them along. Hussain Dalal, in between prompting the actors their lines, is playing Akarsh's Man Friday.
u00a0
That's odd for a play rehearsal in so many ways -- theatre, like most other forms of mass media, always has more women than men in the cast and crew. But these men intend to let the audience (especially the female audience) know what's going on inside a man's head. "It's time to show some testosterone on stage," declares Bhoopalam.

Neil Bhoopalam and Ali Fazal rehearse for A Guy Thing at
Prithvi House. PIC/RANE ASHISH

A Guy Thing is a play about two men -- Mitch and Lino -- stuck in a hunting cabin as a storm brews outside.

They're cut off from the world, the phone line is dead and water has seeped into the car's engine.

Stuck with each other, the two reluctantly start discussing their lives. "Mitch is recently divorced and trying to deal with being single after a five-year marriage. He is desperate, bitter, confused and his most convenient reaction to everything is anger. So, he comes across as very aggressive," says Bhoopalam. Ali's character Lino, on the other hand, is a calm and sensitive guy who is set in his ways.

On July 24, Akvarious Productions' popular play All About Women completed 50 shows. So, just as the all-women cast celebrate their achievement, this quartet thinks it fit to present a man's side of the story. "The
playwright, New York-based Michael Puzzo, is taking pot-shots at the way guys generally behave. The play deals with a man's obsession with women, the concept of manhood, and the insecurities that drive men to do what they do," says Khurana.

The boys, however, lament that their voice is rarely heard these days. Says Hussain, "The ideal title for the play is Save the Man. Like the tiger, we too need to be rescued." Girls, are you reading this?

Today at Prithvi Theatre, Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road, Vile Parle (W), 6 pm and 9 pm
Call: 26149546
Tickets: Rs 250