On a rainy Friday evening, at 7 pm, dinner is to be served as usual at the Ying Yang Bistro. As the waiters set up tables and prepare for the evening ahead, they accidently trigger a series of events that involves the diners. Though unrelated to one another, the diners find themselves on a twisted journey of time, and stories of love and life unfold in the play, Where Cookies Tell Fortunes .
Written and directed by Puneet Gupta, Where Cookies Tell Fortunes is experimental theatre at many levels. “We are using time and space travel. The play moves back and forth in time. In terms of space, for example, if chairs are changed, then your perception of the characters changes completely. This is the first time that something like this is being done in the city’s theatre,” says Puneet, who is director of Mad Hats Theatre, a Bengaluru-based theatre company founded in 2006, that has staged productions such as Snakes-n-Ladders and Guilty As (Not) Charged .
The characters are three friends who have one story, a couple who are dating, two people who are there by chance and two people who are planning a wedding. The idea for the play, says Puneet, came while he was at a restaurant. “I was having dinner with my friends and I looked around and saw at one table, someone was laughing, at another table, there was a boy and girl, when the boy got up to take a call, the girl was sitting alone. I wondered what she might be thinking while sitting alone. I then thought this would make an interesting play. I decided to write a play that would be interesting and be real.”
Fortune cookies, small cookies which come with slips of paper with a message or prediction written on it, form an important part in the play. “It plays a symbolic role. It is rumoured that fortune cookies are a Chinese tradition, but they were actually invented in USA. So in the play too pre-conceived notions about things are broken.”
The play, adds Puneet, is a light-hearted comedy. “There are multiple stories tied together that have a bigger story.”
Puneet, a software engineer by profession, has kept his passion for theatre alive. “I was always full of drama as a child. It was when I was doing my masters that I realised that I had to do theatre. I have always been able to balance both my job and theatre. I have learnt a lot over the years. I worked backstage, travelled with theatre groups, wrote and observed. The Mad Hats team has a combination of working professionals, students and people who work part time. We believe in telling original stories in new styles.”
The cast members include Dhanya Menon, Gautham Narendran, Mohammad Saif, Nevin Pearl, Neeraj Baji, Prateek Gantayat, Soham Rai, Swagata Saikia, Sweta Garg, Varun Kumar and Vijay Ashok Sharma.
The play will be performed on March 13 and March 14 at 8 pm and on March 15 at 3 pm and 6.30 pm, at Jagriti Theatre, Whitefield. Tickets are available at bookmyshow.com and at the venue.
