Plays!

For many were called but few are chosen! (Bible Matthew 22:14). The verse is true with many of our lives offerings. There is no dearth of choices but it’s only a few that we choose to settle down with. They are the once that leave a mark and urges us to return to it from time to time. And it’s the same with Plays.

Some plays are commonplace. But some requires special mention. No doubt, performance matters but some plays just rise above the ordinary. And there are some plays which are astounding just on technicalities. There must be a lot of hard work and co-ordination to host a play. That’s presentation. But when you speak about impact, there should be more to it that we see or experience.

Some plays are just for laughs. They deal with daily events which we all consider ordinary. The play brings out nothing new. All that is happening on stage is something which we already know. It’s like a webcam capturing the mundane movements. Some activity might excite and give humour. But the sum total always tends to zero. It’s not that the performance is wanting. It’s not that the writer has given no depth to the subject. It’s actually the subject. If you dig sand, howsoever deep, it’s still sand, isn’t it? Depth matters only if it unearths variety.

Some plays are for pathos. They are an attempt to project some social or environmental problem. Plays on Female Infanticide and Child marriage are informative but it needs a right setting. I mean, if the play is written to be hosted at select theatres, then it will miss the mark. After all, a person sitting through a play is a part of a metrosexual audience. He might be affected by the laughs and the cries, but he can do little to carry forward the subject. But it does highlight some of the societal ills lest those emotions get fossilized. Still, I have this opinion that such plays should be organized at school and college levels and also on those areas more prone to such evils.

Some plays are sarcastic satires. Here we step into imaginations. Although, all plays need imagination, but a satire always has an edge. A good spoof requires a good graft. A good play of this genre will never fail to excite. A satire works like Dredges. It will scrape your intellectual bottoms and evoke disturbance. Many call this thought provoking.

But they are few plays which are path breaking. The names of plays with Laughs and Pathos can be skipped. Well-known satires which break from the ordinary do get a mention. But you have to name the excellent. When emerging out of the theatre after seeing this kind of Play, your brain will not have dimension as seen in Grey’s Anotomy. Well, for some time, your thoughts will have edges like multi-faceted richly carved intricate surface.  Some experiences, good or bad, are everlasting.

If you ever get a chance, you must never miss “The Disappearing Number”. Just like Jesus demarcates BC and AD, this play has the same effect. Before this, I could never imagine, that a play could also have an audio visual bonanza! Now, you may have seen some visuals and audios in plays, but in this play, it’s like magic. You will be enthralled. Trust me – It’s spellbinding. Content wise, the play is shallow. Ramanajum and mathematics are just props. The success is in its presentation.

Another play worth a mention is “Vagina Monologues”.  I have also seen its Hindi version “Kissa Yoni Ka.” and found the Hindi version to be better performed than the English version. Anyway, it’s left onto you to choose. This is a straightforward story of the “Vagina” in different settings. Birth, Death, Rape, Enjoyment etc., and the “Vagina” has its own story. The play de-mystifies the Organ in question, so to say. English “Cunt” and Hindi “Chute” is pronounced openly but never in derogatory terms. Even different orgasmic sounds are enacted with great finesse. It’s a play for every Man and Women. And No Offence!