It was worth every moment
Insightful
The play titled, ‘A Guy Thing’, staged by Akvarious Productions at Ranga Shankara in the City, recently provoked the viewers to go beyond what was performed on stage.
The play asked certain fundamental questions, in a humourous but sensitive way. ‘Why are we all so afraid of just being ourselves?’ This made the play interesting. The play revolved around two characters, Mitch and Lino.
It traced the story of two diametrically opposite individuals, brought together by a rendezvous online. Lino, a 30-year-old bisexual dreamer, finds himself stuck in a cottage with a rather furious Mitch, who was duped into believing that Lino was in fact a girl.
This rather hilarious instance sets the stage for greater revelations and both characters are seen divulging some of their greatest fears and sharing insights about their own personalities.
Neil Bhoopalam did well in portraying the character of Mitch, an angry sensitive man, who is just out of a relationship and trying hard to understand why things fell apart.
His transition from a fuming tough angry exterior to a rather vulnerable confused man was a delight to watch. Ali Fazal (who played Lino) was the perfect awkward bisexual man, aware of his shortcomings.
From his body language to mannerisms, everything matched with the stereotypes in our society, making the character appear very real. The chemistry that both the characters shared on stage kept the audience engaged in the play.
Akarsh Khurana, the director, of the play said, “I picked this play because for the first time we were actually seeing a man’s point of view when a relationship comes to an end. It also spoke of how most guys were too caught up with the image of being a man, which led to complications in their relationships. The humour in the play disguised a lot of insightful stuff about relationships.”
Neil Bhoopalam, putting it more simply, said, “It is about being honest with the person you love.” Helen Haywood, a member of the audience while appreciating the play said, “I really liked the play. I thought the two of them were not only great as individual characters but shared brilliant comfort with each other which enhanced their performance. The oscillation between anger, frustration and various other shades of Mitch’s character was handled well. Lino, who was aware of his flaws, was done well.” Elaborate sets and simple lighting made this play a real worthwhile affair.
