A raging celebration

Three plays - Love Letters, Flowers, and One on One will be staged this weekend

A collage of plays on contemporary India

Rajit Kapur and Shernaz Patel will perform in one of India’s longest running English plays: Love Letters by A.R. Gurney. The play is one of the three plays that will be staged as part of Rage Festival in Ranga Shankara. The other plays include Flowers by Girish Karnad and One on One by Ashok Mishra, Farhad Sorbajee, Oliver Beale, Purva Naresh and Rahul da Cunha.

Love Letters follows the lives of Andy Ladd III and Melissa Gardner, who over 50 years, exchange letters. Over this period, their correspondence comprises of a bittersweet communication of boarding schools, marriage, children, divorce and missed opportunities.

The play is directed by Rahul Da Cunha. Says Shernaz, “

Love Letters opened in 1993; it’s almost our flagship production that we have been performing for years.”

Flowers , directed by Roysten Abel, is a Rage and Ranga Shankara production. It is a dramatic monologue and is about a devoted and pious priest who by falling in love with a courtesan violates both his ‘dharma’ and his ‘bhakti’. He tells the tale of his life, having been torn between his love for his God and his love for Chandravati; between his duty to his king and his duty to his wife and matters have come to its head.

As for the third play Shernaz says, “

One on One has never been performed at Ranga Shankara and so we included it in the festival.” One on One consists of a series of monologues and duologues in English and Hindi. Varied subjects such as the legalisation of homosexuality, inedible airline food, the politics of road naming ceremonies, Kasab’s trial and the experience of living in a big city are a part of this production. These are stories of modern India that affect each of us in some way. The directors include Akarsh Khurana, Arghya Lahiri, Nadir Khan, Rahul da Cunha and Rajit Kapur.

About One on One , Rajit says: “It is a collage of playlets in contemporary India.” Shernaz adds: “Each piece will bring something different to the evening.” Rage, established by Rajit Kapur, Shernaz Patel and Rahul Da Cunha, has had a successful journey since its inception in 1992. Shernaz and Rajit are all praise for Bangaloreans. “Bangalore has a thriving, positive, energetic and enthusiastic audience,” says Rajit.

“The theatre community has been growing,” says Shernaz. “Also the Bangalore audience doesn’t only want to be ‘entertained’, they are a discerning audience. During the performance of

The Djinns of Eidgah at the Hindu MetroPlus Theatre Festival, there was pin-drop silence.”

Flowers will be performed by Rajit Kapur and One on One will be performed by Anand Tiwari, Anu Menon, Amit Mistry, Neil Bhoopalam, Preetika Chawla, Rajit Kapur and Shernaz Patel.

Love Letters will be staged on August 23 at 7.30 pm, Flowers on August 24 at 3.30 and 7.30 pm and One on One on August 25 at 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm. All the plays will be staged at Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar. Tickets are priced at Rs. 200 and are available at bookmyshow.com, indianstage.in and at the venue. For details call 022-26730116.