Bittersweet!
Have you ever been to a play where you enter a world through food? Stand on the Street , by Aruna Ganesh Ram’s Visual Representation, recreated all the finer points of standing on a street and watching life unfold, as all senses come alive. The smell of street food, the signs and billboards, the songs from yesteryears’ artistes, the taste of roadside bhel poori . There was something about watching Rani’s heartbreak on a beach, as I ate thesundalshe gave me just minutes earlier, the sound of the waves reflecting the joy and sadness of her narrative. What about Yadav, thelitti chokheman, who is forced to shift repeatedly, be it between his stalls or emotions, because life is hard and unpredictable.What about Sangeetha, themomolady? Ban theajinomoto,not themomo, right?
These were real lives. People whom we barely notice ; who live their lives in the best way possible, with the best that they have. I was reminded of the man selling sugarcane juice down the road, who was telling me his stories the other day.
Rachel Pamela Joseph, Anna Nagar West
Reality check
Stand on the Street paints a unique canvas of street-filled shenanigans, with a dose of harsh reality. Featuring only two actors, this play takes you through the streets of Mumbai, Chennai, Bihar, Delhi, and Banaras. Using the form of commedia masks, performances ranged from fiesty to flamboyant; flower vendors of Chennai to paanwalas of Banaras, interacting with the audiences who shift between streets. What begins as an amusing and hilarious interaction, soon becomes quite real as we learn the trials and tribulations of the street vendors in India.
Munching on real street food with the audience quite literally standing on the street; this performance doesn’t miss a beat!
Arushi Dutt, Virugambakkam
