A city doctor brings to town an English play Gentlemen that breaks common myths and misconceptions associated with men and their emotions Some months ago, the famous play Vagina Monologues written by Eve Ensler was staged at a Bangalore stage. u00a0 Dr Anil Abraham, Head of Dermatology at St John's Medical College Hospital desperately wanted to watch it but he could not get the passes. u00a0 This set him thinking that unlike the notion that men always get what they want, men hardly have their say. u00a0 <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/sep/cycle.jpg" border="5" /> Thus was born the idea of the English play Gentlemen, which will be staged this weekend. Penned and directed by Anil Abraham, this humorous play promises to break the clich ufffds and stereotypes attached to male characteristics. While explaining that the title, Gentlemen is also a reference to the board outside the men's toilet, which indicates that the content is mature and should be within the four walls, Abraham, the director of the play confides, "Men hardly have their say. They also hardly have anything to say. Their conversation ranges from the banal to the boring. Sports, politics or stocks with a careful deflection of anything personal or vulnerable. I thought it was time that men came out in the open and expressed feelings without restraint." u00a0The play with a dash of slapstick humour depicts the lives of a software engineer, a barber, a housewife, an old man and a modern young man. u00a0 Set in Bangalore, these characters discuss everything from impotence to television serials to the misconception that men don't cry. Since the characters belong to different age groups, they deal with the nuances of varied topics like the angst of the teenager, peculiarities of an arranged marriage and old age traumas. The characters and the situations are treated in a way that not only helps the audience to empathise with these characters but also laugh out aloud with them. Stressing that the play is a hybrid of a stand up comedy and theatre, Abraham says, "It is a comedy with no apologies about the material being discussed. The characters speak directly to you to establish a one-on-one interaction and to make the material less removed from reality. u00a0 This is theatrically called breaking the fourth wall the wall that normally separates the audience from the characters on stage." A perfect balance of wit and sensitivity, Gentlemen, which is strictly meant for those above 18 years, represents men in a contemporary society but not in a sexist way. u00a0 With popular songs punched here and there to heighten the pathos and humour of the situations, Abraham has carefully used tight and stark lighting to impart distinctiveness to all the characters. Gentlemen chronicles all the emotions and feelings that the society does not allow men to express. At Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar On September 4 and 5, 7.30 pm Call 98863 70614 For Rs 150

Six layered sweet somethings

A city doctor brings to town an English play Gentlemen that breaks common myths and misconceptions associated with men and their emotions

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