The whodunit returns to Chennai

PHOTOS: SHAJU JOHN

PLAY OR FICTION? At a rehearsal of "The Final Twist"

Finally. The whodunit returns to the Chennai stage. "We haven't done one in years," says Yamuna of the Madras Players, "I think the last one was "The Sound of Murder", which I did in the 1970s. Or early 1980s."

"The story has really got many twists," she adds, discussing the play they are now working on, which was first produced for BBC Radio in March 1996. "So one doesn't know where one stands at any time."

"The Final Twist" revolves around Merlin Foster, an aging demigod of stage and screen with a penchant for weddings: all his own. "He has six wives who he has discarded," says Yamuna. Then, he decides he's going to engage a playwright to write a script about the perfect murder — of his wife.

Charlie Nicholson, a young writer, is reeled in to write this script, which Merlin is convinced will be the perfect way to resuscitate his flagging career.

"He plans to stage it, and act in it," says Yamuna. "And he is convinced that it will be a great box-office hit. `Oh, they'll come in droves to see me,' he says, thinking it will be great money making, money spinning venture."

Merlin and his latest wife, the beautiful and young aspiring actress Eden Dundee, live in a cottage outside London. And when Charlie visits them, he ends up accepting this assignment, in spite of the massive writer's block he's suffering from, thanks to Merlin's enticing advance, which he plans to use to ward off his creditors.

In keeping with Merlin's plan, Charlie is to stay at the cottage and work on the script, which is to be a surprise gift for his wife-of-the-moment. The play, he insists, must have the perfect method and alibi for the murder, "to be theatrically convincing."

Charlie struggles with his project. A mysterious visitor, Slim T. Ferrone, arrives. Merlin goes on a trip. Charlie and gorgeous Eden are thrown together.

"And I'm not going to tell you the ending," laughs Yamuna. But it promises to be exciting. "Because we're going backwards and forwards, between truth and fiction. Somewhere down the line, you don't know whether it's the play or the plot."

The Director's Cut

Yamuna

Why did you choose a murder mystery and this one in particular?

In keeping with the festival rules, we needed a play that had not been done before in Chennai. I wanted one that could work with one set and a small cast, because I knew there wasn't much time, and everyone would be involved with other productions. The Madras Players has a very varied repertoire. We shouldn't be typecast. We have performed the works of so many local playwrights — sometimes it is nice to present something different. I had read "The Final Twist" some time ago, and thought it would be perfect. The language is excellent... it's really clever English humour.

Is the shortage of actors because of a shortage of talent in the city or the splintering of theatre companies?

I think we in Madras Players once had the first pick of actors (the theatre company turns 50 this year). But now, we are older and can't cast ourselves. So we have to look at the younger actors, and, although they aspire to work with the Madras Players, obviously their first loyalties are with their own groups. We need to pull together to make some kind of theatre happen in Chennai, rather than this splintering of talent. That way, this festival is a wonderful thing.

SHONALI MUTHALALY