After a decade of bringing a taste of global theatre to Chennai, The Hindu Theatre Fest is back for its 11th edition. Bringing some classic comedies, some avant-garde new plays and even some local flavour to the table, this year’s festival promises to be an interesting one that will appeal to a variety of palates. Spread over two weekends — with a mid-week special as well — the defining event of Chennai’s theatre scene is back in town.
The Siddhus of Upper Juhu (August 14)
Starting off the fest on a funny note is The Siddhus of Upper Juhu , a comedic take on the woes that city life brings. Mumbai, the much beloved Bombay of director Rahul da Cunha’s growing up years, is the inspiration behind the play that stars veterans Rajit Kapoor and Shernaz Patel who play Balvinder (Bubbles) and Behroze Siddhu. The Siddhus are going through a rough patch as everything “civil and civic seems to go wrong” and things get decidedly worse when Bubbles get fired and the apartment burgled, all in one go. A hilarious, honest take on urban living, this one is sure to strike a chord with city-dwellers everywhere.
Chennai Plays (August 15)
Day two has three one-act plays by three home-grown theatre groups to add some local flavour. Evam’s Timothy is an adaptation of David Barnes and Michael Milne’s light and layered play that is reminiscent of the three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth . Three women gather in the cellar and a man makes cocoa, while accusations of murder fly about. What is fact and what is fiction? Watch to find out.
The first Tamil play to show at the Fest, Grand Rehearsal is an adaptation of Or oththigai written by Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar and is a farcical representation of a drama troupe. Directed by Vinodhini Vaidyanathan of Theatre Zero, it promises to entertain and bring back the pre-Independence era of Tamil theatre.
The Radiopotti , by Stray Factory, is a multi-lingual play set in 1983, when a group of youngsters find an old radio. According to the director Mathivanan Rajendran, the play “celebrates the beauty in the imperfections of fading stations and unreliable machinery”.
Government Inspector (August 16)
Considered one of the best satirical plays, this adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s original by the same name, is by Akvarious Productions from Mumbai. When a group of corrupt officials in a small town find out that a government inspector is being sent incognito to investigate their town, they rush to cover up their dealings. Adapted by Akarsh Khurana, who believes this play is the perfect comic tribute to the group’s 15 years of production, this comedy of errors is taken a step further from a “madcap satire about corruption in a small town” to a commentary on theatre itself.
Ila (August 19)
A piece of devised theatre inspired by a reading of Devdutt Patnaik’s The Pregnant King , Ila explores the fluidity of gender and how we boxed ourselves into the categories of male and female. Finding the grey areas between these two binaries, the play has four women and a man who find themselves co-passengers on a local train. For the young Patchworks Ensemble, Ila started out as a workshop and soon evolved into what has become their first full-length play. They hope to take the audience through “provocative, playful and exciting journey that questions what it means to be a woman/man and everything in between.” Staged in the more intimate setting of the Museum Theatre in Egmore, this Hindi play promises to be a journey worth taking.
Hamlet Avataar (August 21)
Hamlet Avataar is an Indo-Korean collaboration between The Seoul Factory for the Performing Arts and InKo Centre, India, with support from Arts Council Korea. A dramatised interpretation of Shakespeare’s timeless classic, Hamlet , the play is entirely in Korean with English subtitles. Featuring poems, dances and songs from traditional Indian and Korean cultures, it is a musical take on the classic question of ‘to be or not to be’ and stars contemporary dancer Astaad Deboo and Baul singer Parvathy Baul.
Two to Tango, Three to Jive (August 22)
Marking veteran actor Saurabh Shukla’s return to the stage as director and actor, Two to Tango, Three to Jive is a comedy of errors that follows Parminder Singh Sethi (played by Shukla) as he attempts to bring some spice back into his mundane life by attempting to have an extra-marital affair. According to Shukla, “In their desperate attempt to defeat a sense of loss, fear of being incomplete and the confusion arising through the so-called settled life, the characters are trying to achieve a state of togetherness, without sacrificing their own personal lonely space.” A humorous take on modern life and relationships, the play by Ashvin Gidwani Productions promises to tickle the funny bone.
Between The Lines (August 23)
Ending on a glamorous note, the last play of the edition is Nandita Das’ Between The Lines , produced by Chhoti Production Company. Written along with Divya Jagdale and directed by and starring in it herself, the play is one that Das wrote as a means to channel her frustrations at playing multiple roles (as most working women do) into a creative outlet. Das plays the lead role along with her real life husband Subodh Maskara, of a lawyer couple who find themselves on opposite sides of a criminal trial. When the work-life balance is thrown and the lines between personal and professional blur, what happens?
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Play | Date | Venue |
The Siddhus of Upper Juhu by Rage Productions | August 14, Friday | Sir Mutha Venkata Subba Rao Concert Hall |
Three one-act plays by Stray Factory, Evam and Theatre Zero | August 15, Saturday | Sir Mutha Venkata Subba Rao Concert Hall |
The Government Inspector by Akvarious Productions | August 16, Sunday | Sir Mutha Venkata Subba Rao Concert Hall |
Ila by the Patchworks Ensemble | August 19, Wednesday | Museum Theatre |
Hamlet Avataar by Seoul Factory for the Performing Arts | August 21, Friday | Sir Mutha Venkata Subba Rao Concert Hall |
Two to Tango, Three to Jive by Ashvin Gidwani Productions | August 22, Saturday | Sir Mutha Venkata Subba Rao Concert Hall |
Between the Lines by Chhoti Production Co | August 23, Sunday | Sir Mutha Venkata Subba Rao Concert Hall |
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