Like sitting through to the end of a film’s credits, walking in early for a play has its benefits. Anuj Gurwara sat on a commode in the centre of the stage, firmly turning his back to the audience. As the seats filled up, he began miming little vignettes, hitting on female attendees and warning their male companions off.
If this was an indication of things to come, 71 mm Productions’ The Open Couple would have been an irreverent take on Nobel laureate Dario Fo and his wife Franca Rame’s play. Instead, the opening play in Jagriti’s Season 2014 walked the line between audience engagement and cutting edge theatre, pandering more to the former.
The Open Couple is a two-actor and one hour play that takes you inside an open marriage. A husband convinces his suicidal wife to accept his extra-marital affairs and engage in an open relationship where infidelity is the norm rather than the exception. Reluctantly, she agrees and they plod clumsily through, him relishing and reliving his conquests to her.
One day though, she confesses that she may have met ‘the one’-a rockstar singer-songwriter Noble Prize-nominated scientist. In a role reversal, the man becomes desperate while Antonia flourishes as one in love.
The play is a more a series of vignettes with an overarching theme, a battle of sexes and sexualities in commedia dell’arte as it were. Strictly for adults, it has mature humour for the most part, though it pales in comedic comparison to Ashish Sen’s version of the same. Director Faraz Khan does take the play toward new directions though, and commendably so. He brings The Open Couple off stage and into the audience, engaging them before, during and after the play.
At one point during the production, Vaishali Bisht even implores Gurwara to not jeopardize the last run of their play in Bangalore.
71 mm Productions definitely makes this three-decade-old play relatable and relevant. Some flourishes though, stand out as unnecessary. Bisht’s accent drops and reappears for no apparent reason while Gurwara’s faux potbelly serves no visible purpose. The popular culture references are hackneyed and forced, diluting what could have been a powerful commentary on gender politics. However, these are minor infractions in an otherwise fantastic display of powerhouse acting. Both Gurwara and Bisht stay in sync with each other throughout, creating some dynamic chemistry and fantastic leaps in tempo.
Watch The Open Couple for Gurwara’s opening song though; his voice is a talent that should have been tapped further in the play. Bisht meanwhile, excels in the dramatics; look out for her monologue riling against her husband. If Khan knocked off the superfluous excesses, it would be easier to see why this production garnered four nominations at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards.
