The Script
The Script, July 2007. Issue 7.

Dear Drama lover,

 Hello again! The rains are finally here to give us some much needed relief from the scorching summer. But the shows must go on! July continues to give us some outstanding plays.

 On the QTP front, Q and Toral are back from a four month long tour with A Midsummer's Night Dream. Also, we are staging more shows of our new production - The President is Coming all across the city. Thespo at Prithvi continues to bring you some more youthful talent. This month 'Le Chayim' Theatre's 'Confessions' directed by Kashin Shetty will be showcased. There is also a workshop on 'Black Comedy' to be conducted by Sunil Shanbag. So do come to check out the most exciting developments in the theatre landscape. Also our regular events like 'Great Texts' will be in full swing on the last Monday of July. We hope to see you there.

 In this month's edition of The Script, Dolly Thakore concludes her two part piece about her Spring Theatre Experiences in London and Scherazade Kaikobad reviews the puppet production 'Almost Twelfth Night'.

 On a more tragic note Dr. Jamshed Bhabha, founder and Chairman of the NCPA passed away on the 30th of May. One of the few administrators and champions of the arts, he will be sorely missed.

 We dedicate this month's edition of The Script to his memory.

 Yours Sincerely,
On Behalf of Q Theatre Productions,

Himanshu.
Editor, The Script.

Quick Links:
Tribute to Dr. Jamshed Bhabha
Corno-Q-pia:  The President is Coming ,Crab and Thespo at Prithvi & Great Texts
Point of View:  Scherazade Kaikobad reviews Almost Twelfth Night.
4 Corners: Dolly Thakore gives us an account of her recent visit to London where a number of plays with Indian themes were staged (Part II).
Up & Coming:  All the exciting plays happening in the city!
Great Stuff:  Auditions and much much more!
Curtain Call:  Robert Brustein talks about the purpose of theatre.

Tribute to Dr. Jamshed Bhabha

Dr. Jamshed Bhabha, Creator, Chairman and Trustee-in-charge of the NCPA, passed away on the 30th of May 2007, but his legacy will always be around to remind us of his greatness. He was 92 years old.  Dr. Bhabha had worked very closely with Mr. J.R.D. Tata for over 50 years and had picked up most of his managerial style from him.  Dr. Bhabha paved the way for the formation and development of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai. At its inauguration by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in December 1969 (observed to this day as 'founder's day' by the institution), JRD expressed his conviction that the NCPA would "play a powerful and unique role in the nation-building work under the dynamic leadership of my indefatigable and dedicated colleague, Jamshed Bhabha, who initially conceived the project, pursued it with formidable determination, and continues to be its moving spirit". Indira concluded her fine inaugural address with the following heartening words: "I wholeheartedly support the aims and objects of this institution. I think it is inspired by great vision and I sincerely hope that it will be sustained by a sense of dedication."  The importance of the NCPA was highlighted by Dr. Bhabha as “It was a tedious enough job to get the government to provide us this land. If it were up to them we’d be located next to the Ajanta Caves. Now that we are established, we hope to tie-up with the Indian tourism department and show the world the cultural heritage that India is capable of.”  A condolence meeting was held on the 20th of June 2007 at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre. Mr. K. N. Suntook, Vice Chairman of NCPA, started with the opening remark "this is the saddest day in this theatre's short history" a minutes silence was observed. A musical tribute was conducted, with Ashwini Bhide singing 'Kabir's Doha' and the members of the SOI playing Dr. Bhabha's favourite classical piece 'Bach: Air on G String" after which Vijaya Mehta, Executive Director of NCPA, paid homage to the life of Dr. Bhabha.  This was followed by tributes. Ratan Tata who worked under Dr. Bhabha talked of him as "hard taskmaster". Anupam Kher said how the awe that surrounded the man is still present in the buildings he created.  Coomi Wadia, conductor of the Paranjoti Academy Chorus, spoke about Dr. Bhabha as a great fan of classical music and how he would enthusiastically advise, scold and even congratulate their troupe. Her final comment summed up the sentiment in the room - " His presence in his seat in G row will be sorely missed"

Corno-Q-pia
The horn of plenty of QTP events and happenings.

To The Death of My Own Family: QTP regulars will remember Farah Bala. Almost a fixture in all our productions, who then went to New York to study and pursue a career as an actor. It gives us great pleasure to bring down her play from New York - To The Death Of My Own Family. TO THE DEATH OF MY OWN FAMILY is an intensely dramatic non-linear play about an Afghan-American woman who returns to the land she fled with her mother as a child to help her father escape, and then has to justify her journey, reclaim her citizenship, and relive lives lost, during an interrogation when she comes back home to the United States. A very intense, political and poignant show, its written by David Meth, and was currently directed by Peter Ratray. A one woman show acted by Farah Bala, who gives a mesmerizing performance for a theatrical experience unlike anything on stage today.

Khatijabai of Karmali Terrace: It is back with a bang. Khatijabai, is a play about an orphan girl who grows to become the matriarch of one of the more powerful families in newly Independent India. This one woman play is performed by Jayati Bhatia and is directed by Q. We will be coming with more shows of Khatijabai in August.   “The show started and what a show! One actress, Jayati Bhatia, a show stealer of the silver screen, kept the whole hall enraptured with her movements and dialogues. My heart went out to her. I wished so hard that I too could some day act like her. For one hour and fifteen minutes, we were mesmerized by Khatijabai of Karmali Terrace, a Q Theatre Production. And after the show, we all stood there and applauded for a whole 5 minutes, while Jayati just smiled back at us thanking us profusely with folded hands.” – The Assam Tribune   “Portrayed brilliantly…deserves applause” – NGAGE, Mumbai.   “Brilliantly layered…wonderful portrayal” – West Side Plus, Mumbai.   “Vivacious…Skillful…Innovative…Stimulating…Successful” – Time Out Mumbai.   “One of the most memorable acts in recent times…standing ovation…brilliant performance..” – The New Indian Express, Bangalore. For more information just email us on qtp@vsnl.com

Breaking new ground, the stalwarts of Indian theatre and new blood get together to give youth theatre a shot in the arm...Thespo at Prithvi!!! As part of our efforts to promote Youth Theatre, we introduce Thespo at Prithvi on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of every month, beginning from March, where young theatre-wallahs will get an opportunity to perform on the Prithvi stage. In 1999, Theatre Group Bombay (TG) approached Q Theatre Productions (QTP) to showcase younger theatre groups in a vibrant festive atmosphere and thus 'Thespo' was born. Thespo was created to give young performers an opportunity to hone their talents on a simulated professional stage. Through Thespo, TG and QTP hope to recognize and encourage new talent as well as create a new generation of theatre goers. Join us as we explore the stage anew with loads of cutting edge youth theatre, platform performances and workshops conducted by the who’s who in theatre. By the way we are still on the look out for platform performances.. For further details, mail us at thespo@gmail.com Thespo at Prithvi...it’s not just on. It’s full-on!!! Thespo at Prithvi in July    3rd July ’07    Tuesday     3 pm Workshop: 'Black Comedy' by Sunil Shanbag (PART I)         9 pm Play: Confessions ( English) A black comedy which tells the tale of a fiction writer living in a police state who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories.   4th July ‘07  Wednesday    3 pm Workshop: 'Black Comedy' by Sunil Shanbag (PART II)       9 pm Play: Confessions ( English) "grips the audience" - Mumbai Mirror 'unforgettable comic relief' - Bangalore Bias 'Fantastic story...Too precious to be missed' - Time Out                       Please Note:       ·    Workshops – Prithvi House. Entry Free. Limited Seats!!!       To register contact Vivek (98190 24757), thespo@gmail.com ·     Plays – Prithvi Theatre. Tickets rates for plays: Rs 50/- only ·     Schedule subject to change.   Playwriting Workshop : US based playwright, Alan Brody, is having an intensive playwriting workshop. The workshop is going to deal with the creative impulse, where it comes from, how it can be nurtured and what writing specifically for the theater means. This includes the use of time, space and living human beings performing actions that are witnessed - and that have some significance.  If  writers have material they would like to have read at the first session, they should bring enough copies of the material for everyone in the workshop. The workshop is not for first time writer's. For enquires, contact Vivek : 98190 24757 or email : thespo@gmail.com

India's premiere youth theatre festival returns for its 9th year!! The wait is finally over. After 8 promising and exhilarating seasons, its time for number nine. Any guesses?? Yes you are right, Thespo 9 is here to stay and rock the youth theatre scene. The movement is growing and this year it promises to bigger than ever. To spice up this years festival in addition to the regular plays, platform performances and workshops, we are introducing Radio plays and Documentary on theatre. All of it will be seen and felt. Don't miss it for your life. It's something worth being a part of! Get involved!!!!   So come join the buzz. Be a part of the India's most dynamic youth theatre movement. If you are under 25 and are interested and want to show off your acting, directing, writing, production talent, come on down to the Thespo 9 Orientation Meeting at 1st floor Prithvi House, Opp. Prithvi Theatre, Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road, Juhu on Sat, 14th July at 3pm. The orientation meeting will also be conducted in Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Pune. Dates of Orientation meeting : 12th July 2007 - Ahmedabad 14th July 2007 - Bombay 20th July 2007 - Chennai 21st July 2007 - Bangalore & Pune 28th July 2007 - Calcutta In 1999, Theatre Group Bombay (TG) approached Q Theatre Productions (QTP) with the idea of merging the oldest theatre group and the younger theatre groups in a festival like atmosphere. Thespo was created to give young performers an opportunity to hone their talents on a simulated professional stage. Through Thespo, TG and QTP hope to encourage and recognize new talent as well as create a new generation of theatregoers. The idea behind the festival is that Thespo takes care of most of the production hassles of the groups. The festival provides free lights, sound, make up, hall space and even gives the participants a percentage of the ticket sales. This enables the teams to prepare for their plays uninhibited and produce the best work they can. The festival also provides guidance in terms of technical and dramatic knowledge to the teams. The festival has grown from the humble beginnings of a one-act play festival to a massive week–long full-length programme with entrants even from Bangalore, Delhi and Calcutta. The hunt is on for new Thespians. So if you can write, direct, act, produce and are under 25 then Thespo is the platform for you. RULES & REGULATIONS:  1.   All participants must be 25 years of age or under as of January 1, 2007. 2.    Plays must be full-length plays and must have a minimum duration of one hour. 3.    The plays may be in any language. 4.     The plays need not have an original script. 5.     The Thespo Screening Committee will have the final say in all matters. 6.      At the time of registration a deposit of Rs. 300 will be taken from group planning to audition for Thespo 9 and will be refunded back at the time of auditions upon meeting the following criteria :        i. 3 copies of the script - one sided printing with no bad language and no stage directions.       ii. Age proofs of full team.      iii. The play shown is over one hour long.      iv. Members participating in the screening are all within the age limit.      v. A performance is shown - not just a script read by one actor/director 7.     A panel comprising of 3–4 judges will be present on all the days and will judge all the plays. 8.     The screening and selection of plays is September 2007 and the finalists will be announced by October 20th  , 2007. 9.      The Organizers will determine the order of performances. 10.      It is not mandatory for auditioning plays to present the Screening Committee with their final costumes, sets and props. It is important to provide 'as clear an idea' of them as possible though. 11.     The short-listed plays must give in their complete light-plan and cast and crew list etc. by October 23, 2007. 12.     Final participants will be given fixed number of tickets at pre-determined rates for their show-day as well as for the other days. The teams will keep and use the proceeds from the ticket sales to cover their production costs. 13.     Make-up, lights and sound will be provided to the participants. 14.     People operating light and sound consoles will have to be provided by the participants themselves. 15.     The Organizers will be available to provide assistance to all the participants in an advisory role. 16.     All participants will be awarded a Thespo Certificate. 17.     Winners of the awards will get the ‘Thespo’ and a certificate. 18.     Awards will be given in the following categories: Outstanding Actor, Outstanding Actress, Outstanding Supporting Actor, Outstanding Supporting Actress, Outstanding Production Design, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Play, Outstanding Original Script. (The judges have the right to withhold any of these awards) Please Note: Ø      The emphasis is NOT on competition but on coming together as a unit to provide a festival of entertainment for a paying audience. Ø      The Organizing Committee aims to accommodate everyone's needs and come to a compromise. Ø      If you would like to volunteer for the festival at any capacity please contact the Organizing Committee. Ø      If you have a talent, which you would like to put up at Thespo, please contact the Organizing Committee. (This includes playing an instrument, reading poetry, performing a monologue etc.) Also, if you know people from other cities who want to be a part of the festival, ask them to please get in touch with us. We are looking for volunteers to help organise and run the festival. For more details just email us at thespo@gmail.com

QL

Point of View:  
This month Scherazade Kaikobad reviews Kat-Katha's puppet play 'Almost Twelfth Night'. The views expressed in this article are those of the author. You are welcome to agree, disagree or comment by emailing us at qtp@vsnl.com.

Almost TWELFTH NIGHT

 With a dearth of a good home-grown culture of playwriting, how do we make a theatre that is definitively and vitally our own? While it’s sometimes worrisome not to have enough scripts around that talk directly about and to us, is it not possible to still have a theatre that’s recognisably ours – given our penchant for hybridization and chutnification – never mind if the play is set in Illyria and not India? What does it take to pick up a script that’s not ours, come to grips with it, and turn it into theatre that is ours?

 While there is no single, easy formula to achieve this, one couldn’t help but feel that this was something the Delhi-based Kat-Katha’s puppet production of Almost Twelfth Night tackled with a phenomenal degree of success. Retaining the plot and setting of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, it nonetheless created an entirely new play that spoke eloquently of the cultural location from which it arose and to which it was addressed.

 As the title suggests, Shakespeare’s play derives both plot and essence from the carnivalesque traditions of the Twelfth Night – a Christian festival/carnival (though it has its roots in several Pre-Christian cultures, and variations of it can be found in some non-Christian cultures as well today) marking the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, and popularly celebrated as the reign of the Lord of Misrule in which the normal order of things is reversed. Hence it is that the heroine of the play, Viola, separated from her twin brother Sebastian by a storm at sea and thrown onto the isle of Illyria, disguises herself in male attire and seeks employment as a pageboy to Duke Orsino. Her cross-dressing gives rise to hilariously disastrous consequences when she is pressed by the Duke into acting as his emissary and carrying tokens of his love to the aloof and icy Lady Olivia with whom the Duke imagines himself in love – for Lady Olivia, who hitherto had refused to accept any suitors while mourning the death of her brother who died seven years ago, falls suddenly and inexplicably in love with the lowly pageboy Cesario (who is, of course, Viola in disguise). In the meantime, Viola herself falls for the Duke. In keeping with the theme of the inversion of normalcy, Lady Olivia’s officious, bumbling manservant Malvolio is tricked by the maid Maria into believing that the Lady secretly loves and is willing to marry him, and starts giving himself airs above his station in life and acting in the most ridiculous manner.

 The humour and comedy in Kat-Katha’s Almost Twelfth Night, though, derives not only from this subversion of the perceived ‘normalcy’ and norms of gender, class, and heterosexual love in Shakespeare’s plot, but through transgressions of other sorts – for instance, in breaking theatre conventions of the primacy of plot, of the sacrosanctness of the original script (in fact, challenging the very notion of a fixed script, since the group was only compelled to put a script down in writing when, after, almost four years into the show, they performed for the first time in Mumbai and had to obtain a Censor Certificate), in destabilizing the boundaries between the world of the plot and the world of the theatre which creates the plot, between character and actor, between puppeteer and actor, between the world of the puppets and the world of humans. While all of these are very much in keeping with the notion of the carnivalesque and licensed subversion which informs Shakespeare’s comedy, yet one cannot help but believe that Kat-Katha’s transgressions are less influenced by this, and are more a product of an Indian group grappling with an Elizabethan text and conscious of having to create an idiom that would not only be suitable to the form of puppetry they employ (inspired the Japanese Bunraku puppet theatre where two or more puppeteers are required to operate each wooden or papier-mâché puppet in full view on stage) but also be able to engage with home audiences, especially young people.

 It is this consciousness that has distinctly shaped Almost Twelfth Night in several ways. Apart from the decision to eschew the archaic Shakespearean English and instead use the popular, Hinglish variation of the urban youth lingo that inundates our streets and popular culture (for instance, the maid Maria’s constant refrain of “My like sucks”), the dialogue is also undercut partially with narrative, but predominantly with a running commentary on the plot, characters and relationship between the puppets and the actors that sometimes takes the form of witty, sarcastic remarks (references to the characters acting ‘senti’, for example). With only five of the principal characters – the twins Viola and Sebastian, Duke Orsino, Lady Olivia, and Malvolio the butler – portrayed through puppets (other characters like Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are done away with), it is left to master puppeteer-director Anurupa Roy and her team of three other puppeteer-actors not only to manipulate them and serve as their mouthpieces, but also to play a host of other characters  in their world (including Maria and other unspecified underlings in the services of the Duke and the Lady). But not only do they enter as characters into the world of Illyria where Shakespeare’s plot of twisted love equations unfolds in ‘respectable’ upper class families, but they also stand aloof as actors on a stage, commenting on the sordid little lives they are manipulating. Thus, in constantly violating conventional theatrical boundaries between the world of Shakespeare’s Illyria, the world of the puppets, and their own roles as characters, puppeteers and commentators, there is a heightened degree of self-consciousness and self-reflexivity which is unique to Almost Twelfth Night.

 This self-reflexivity of Kat-Katha’s which manifests itself in the consciousness of the specific urban Indian location from which they negotiate both Shakespeare’s text and the specific art form of puppet theatre, increases the level of ideological interrogation and subversion while simultaneously hiding this under generous servings of Bollywood-style masala conventions. For instance, the anxiety of cultural colonization – in this case, the ‘Shakespeare is God’ syndrome which still dogs our theatre today, making the Bard’s writings a barometer for playwriting even out here – plays itself out in several ways in Almost Twelfth Night; when Viola transforms herself in to a man with the help of the others, she is informed quite frankly that she should rename herself ‘Cesario’ since that is the name of Shakespeare’s character and that she is in fact a mere character in his play, a puppet to further his plot (The viciousness of her identity being erased by this renaming is, of course, obscured by a joke made at her expense, since she, with her ‘PhD in Medieval Literature’ had never even heard of the Bard before). The question of who is who’s puppet arises in other ways a well, most famously in a humorous altercation between the cranky, hypochondriachal Duke Orsino and an underling who refuses to obey his command; the underling, played by one of the actors, tartly reminds the Duke that though he may be the latter’s servant, he is also his puppeteer and the Duke merely his puppet.

 Retaining elements of the plot and carnivalesque spirit of Shakespeare’s play, Kat-Katha’s Almost Twelfth Night boldly gave itself the license to transgress and subvert the original text to hunt for a theatre idiom that speaks of and to our times. Did they succeed in creating an essentially home-grown piece of comic theatre? Well, they certainly had both children and adults hooting with laughter – and good humour and comedy, as they say, are highly culture-specific commodities.

Scherazade Kaikobad
scherazade@rediffmail.com

QL

4 Corners:
Dolly Thakore gives us an account of her recent visit to London where a number of plays with Indian themes were staged.

An Indian Spring In London (Part - II)

 The next two plays evoked India again. Somerset Maugham’s popularity among readers in India remains unchallenged. I walked out of Leicester Square tube, and the Wyndham’s Theatre hoarding announcing THE LETTER starring Jenny Seagrove (who I had spent many weeks with during Pamela Rook’s shooting of MISS BEATTY’S CHILDREN in Ooty) decided what my play for that evening was going to be. And it was opening night!!!  THE LETTER set in a plantation of a Raj-like world of civil servants, rubber planters and tin-miners in the Malay Peninsula and in Singapore in a slowly declining world of the Empire in 1927 -- many of them falling apart through sexual jealousy, drink and boredom – could have been set anywhere in India of the Raj. But this was London theatre as I remembered it – with acting of a high caliber, and sets and lights which we in India still aspire to. The Malaysians were played by authentic South Asian actors.   It was like home because after the play I did go backstage and joined Jenny, her lead Anthony Andrews, and the biggest Producer of Plays in London Bill Kenwright for dinner.

 Peter Shaffer’s EQUUS at the Gielgud Theatre about a young stable boy blinding six horses was again closer to home. First staged in Mumbai by Pearl Padamsee, I have seen productions of it in three Indian languages and acted as the magistrate (with Shafi Inamdar as the Psychoanalyst and Feroz Khan as Alan Strang) in the Hindi EKSHUF directed by the late Mahendra Joshi, and years later in another English version directed by a young student Varun Khanna now turned film director in LA.

 What struck me first was the creatively imaginative poster of the torso of the young Alan Strang (DANIEL RADCLIFF) with arms outstretched to look like the head of a horse -- the Harry Potter of all the four feature films played an amazing Alan Strang.  It was Richard Griffiths as the Psychoanalyst Martin Dysart that I had a problem with…too overweight and lugubrious for someone with such an acute insight into minds. The nude scene with Joanna Christie as Jill Mason – the young girl Alan takes to the stables – was so sensitively portrayed it brought out the anguish and frustration of the young people.  But it was the horses –especially Nugget – that brought technical modernization into this production, and made it interesting for a Generation Next. Equus combined acting talent with superb lighting and sound.  It will remain an extraordinary powerful theatrical memory.

 I went to the Royal Court to see Anthony Neilson’s THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISSOCIA mainly because it had been part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and also because it bumped the DREAM off the top of the Time Out Critics Choice List…Certainly inventive and perhaps witty and unsettling with an intelligence distinctly its own, it was all ‘dissocia’ for me….about Lisa Jones on a colourful and exciting off-kilter trip in search of one lost hour that has tipped the balance of her life. The inhabitant of the wonderful world she finds herself in – Dissocia – are a curious blend of the funny, the friendly and the brutal. Apparently the playwright himself has admitted that “if you like Alice in Wonderland but there’s not enough sex and violence in it, then Dissocia is the show for you”.

 The last play I was able to catch at the Old Vic was John Osborne’s THE ENTERTAINER directed by Sean Holmes. My first feeling as it opened was that the theme and staging was a bit dated. Then I reminded myself that this production was celebrating the 50^th anniversary of John Osborne and sat down to enjoy it. Robert Lindsay and Pam Ferris lacked the magic of Sir Laurence Olivier’s original Archie Rice, and Joan Plowright’s Phoebe. But they along with David Baron as father Billy Rice and David Dawson as grandson Frank Rice soon transported one to the English coastal resort of the 50s; capturing the seediness and the pathos of the fading music-hall entertainer Archie Rice, and the events during the Suez crisis of 1956. When Egyptian President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, the British and French colluded with Israel to mount a retaliatory attack on Egypt but had to ignominiously withdraw under pressure from America and the UN. The fierce response it provoked divided opinion in England between generations. There were demonstrations – such as the one in Trafalgar Square attended by Archie’s daughter Jean (Emma Cunniffe). It is her arrival at her grandfather Billy Rice’s door that unlocks the main plot of the piece – namely the lives and tensions in the Rice family unfold.
 
 As my trip came to an end, I missed shows because of the May 1^st Holiday and also a Sunday when even the Fringe theatre took the day off.  Even after so many fantastic productions, I was hungry for more. Must plan my trip better next time!

Dolly Thakore is an emminent theatre and television personality.

QL

Up&Coming:
The following is a list of shows you should watch out for this month. The code to it's deciphering is as follows:
red is the Theatre Club show 
and in blue are QTP events. 
Those with an (R) next to them means that we have reviewed it, and if you require a review simply email us at qtp@vsnl.com asking for it. 
Those with an (PP) next to them means that it is a platform performance, entry free!