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Sketches’ — a compilation of five different plays, which was staged at Alliance Francaise recently — presented the audience with snippets of fun, comedy and emotions. Presented by Centerstage, and written and directed by Kenneth Sebastian and Vishal Khimraj, these five plays were all unique in character.
They outlined the stories of different people’s lives. In particular, they focussed on the simple, yet life-changing moments, which many people don’t give a second thought to.
The performance began with a piece called ‘4pm’, based on the story of Roshan and Nadya. Roshan comes to Nadya’s house as her parents are not home. They have until 4 pm, at which time Nadya’s parents will be back. The unexpected arrival of her father, much before the time mentioned, makes the whole piece shift between romance, comedy and drama. ‘Dancing in the Shifting Sands’, another romantic play, is about a couple who have been indulging in a no-strings-attached relationship — except this time, the girl wants to know where the relationship is headed. The play had an unexpected ending and focussed on the ambiguity in relationships.
The third segment, ‘Interception’, showed how a young NDA aspirant goes back in time to meet his father and talks to him on the fateful night, just before his death. Mathew, the young man, learns to come to terms with his reality. He chooses not to change the course of events, accepting that he has grown up without a father.
This performance began with two narrators amongst the audience, introducing each sketch and interspersing each segment with their witty comments. In the next segment, ‘Terrorist’, they took centre stage. It was an action-based segment about T1, a cocky experienced terrorist and T2, a more dedicated but clumsy terrorist. They can’t take the performance anymore, and plan to bomb the venue.
The performance concludes with ‘Lovingly Arranged’, a comic piece reflecting a sarcastic approach to the whole concept of the ‘settling-down’ attitude after marriage, with two couples meeting for dinner after their respective honeymoons. It included witty, humourous, rib-tickling dialogues and each of the actors performed their best for their respective pieces.
“‘Sketches’ made me laugh between each dialogue. The manner in which they shift the mood of the audience is simply impressive. Each of the segments was a true reflection of what is seen in day-to-day life,” says M K Sereena, an art director who attended the programme.