Noises Off , the second play in The Hindu MetroPlus Theatre Fest 2014, will be staged on Saturday at 7.30 p.m. at the Kerala Fine Arts Hall, Kochi.
Directed by Atul Kumar for The Company Theatre, Michael Frayn’s play can be said to be the ‘mother of all play-within-a-play comedies.’ It is about a misplaced director and a team of mediocre actors trying to put up a sex comedy.
Through the rehearsals and various shows in a run, the play and their interpersonal relationships go from bad to worse. Things reach a disastrous stage when the actors start getting injured physically, forget their lines, make wrong entries and exits, and find themselves improvising poorly to save face and probably the final show.
The festival will take the bow with Beyond Binary , an Indo-Korean theatre collaboration supported by the Korea Foundation, on August 10. This play in Korean, English and Tamil will be presented by Performance Group Tuida. It is produced by InKo Centre and AsiaNow Productions. The play is directed by Yosup Bae.
It explores issues of sexual orientation and identity, drawing inspiration from Indian mythology. The production aims to be a journey of discovery that links traditional and contemporary performance traditions. Through strong physicality, the performers explore the dynamic relationship between dance and theatrical movement with live Korean and Indian traditional music. The production aims to examine how sexual identity is collectively created, defined, reiterated and very often restrained by social, religious, historical, legal and political contexts. This production premiered at the Namsan Art Center, Seoul, in April 2014.
Bose is the title sponsor of the theatre fest. Associate Sponsors are Nippon Paint and Skyline Builders. The hospitality sponsor is Holiday Inn, Kochi, and the event manager is Live from Evam. Beverage Partner is AVT Premium Tea. Tickets are priced at Rs.300, Rs.200 and Rs.100 and Seasons at Rs.750 and Rs.500 will be available at the venue from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m and can be purchased online at www.thehindu.com/theatrefest, www.eventjini.com/ www.bookmyshow.com & www.ticketnew.com.
Correction: The venue of the MetroPlus Theatre Festival is Kerala Fine Arts Hall, Ernakulam, and not as published in these columns on Friday. The error is regretted.
