Witty take on pressing issues

A contemporary play called ‘Osama, Cinema and a Whole Lot of Black Money’, organised by The Park recently, had the audience in splits with its satirical take on current issues. 

It comprised of a series of captivating short plays, including ‘My Name is Cine-maa’, ‘Chairpersons’, ‘Lost Audition’ and ‘P James for President’.   

Mathivanan Rajendran, the creative director and one of the actors, was keen on presenting a play which is as original as possible. “We have made a fusion of the Indian and western styles of theatre. While there is a lot of movement in Indian theatre, there is much text in the western style,” he explained.
 The plays, which are performed in different cities both nationally and internationally, are changed according to the location. Mathivanan said that they include local references for better audience connect. 

The actors, who give themselves a day to change their script in each of the places where the plays are performed, said that they meet people to get to know more about the city. “The actors themselves change their lines accordingly,” added Mathivanan. 
The cast and crew of the play were delighted with the response they received from Bangaloreans. “It was awesome. It’s never happened that the audience has sung along with me, which was the case here. It really helps to have an interactive audience,” said Sandeep John, one of the actors, adding that it was the team’s first experience in performing in a banquet hall. 

 “We are used to performing in regular auditoriums, but this was something new,” he said. 

According to him, the play went down well with the audience because people these days are looking for something new, be it in films or theatre.  

Pooja Devariya, one of the actors, who has also stepped into Tamil films, felt that there is a world of difference in the two media. “The trend of theatre performers being cast in films is coming back. Previously, theatre actors were considered loud, dramatic and not suitable for films,” she said. 

The fresh style was welcomed by the audience. “It’s good to have seen a contemporary-styled play. It’s a change from the usual kind we see. What I liked best was the use of language in bits and parts. They were able to make us laugh with their satirical view on present happenings,” said Narahari, a member of the audience. 

Hari Ganapathy, another spectator, loved the high energy levels of the actors. “The play was engaging even with the use of minimal props. They touched on all issues of current relevance. Some of the actors were brilliant,” he said. 

“It was interesting to watch the spectrum of emotions they portrayed. The humour was brought out well and it was a fun evening,” added Hamsini, another member of the audience.