Colour Blind

                                                      


"I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument while the song I came to sing remains unsung or probably, unheard.This defines the relation between Rabindranath Tagore and us - " the lesser mortals". This is because we refuse to see beyond the greatness of Gurudev. Well, for a man who was a poet, novelist,playwright, painter as well as a musician in one lifetime , it isn't tough to understand why. But then, he was also just another man ( which is not necessarily such a bad thing to be). Colorblind is an attempt to introduce the world with this other shade of his life. Shades of the ordinary ,which we have turned a blind eye to.


                               


It begins with Kalki doing a research paper on the life of Tagore. She attempts to break away from the usual thesis of glorification of Tagore and his works and discover more about Rabindra, the man. The play oscillates between different time zones. Kalki dons the role of the research student in the present and that of Victoria Ocampo, the Argentinian writer, in the past while Manav Kaul plays a scholar on Tagore and his works and her guide in the present and Tagore in the past. The play also has parallel stories depicting his childhood and his youth. The loss of his mother during his formative years and his yearnings for her . His stoicism over the loss of his two young children. The fact that despite facing so many personal losses, the only way he unleashed his pain and agony was by writing more and more, makes you see Tagore in a very different light.

Tagore stayed on Ocampo's farm in Argentina to recover from his illness on her behest. While Ocampo already admired Tagore's work, he developed feelings for her during his stay. I think the bond between the two was based on the fact that she challenged the intellect in him than just blindly revering him and his works . Ocampo ignited the vulnerabilities of a lover in him in her own ways. The strong , independent woman that she was she refused to accompany him to Santiniketan for she had other things to tend to. He besieged her like an ordinary lover but she stood her ground. This is where the vulnerability in Tagore's characters are showcased. In his planning of meeting her in Europe and writing of letters, the boy caged in his old body comes out. The play also attempts to look beyond the traditionally conceived notion of the platonic relation the two shared, with subtle rawness. The two were in love, in their unique way and the existence of amorousness between the two, doesn't take away the greatness of the man. I like how while demystifying his greatness , the script celebrates the purity of his vulnerabilities.

Towards the fag end of his life, Tagore is shown battling the fear of death like any other ordinary man. The man who celebrated death during his lifetime, succumbs to the charms of the mortal life when death comes knocking on his own door. 

You need to see this play to see the veil behind the greatness of the man being lifted and yet see him rise and not fall.

Noises Off

Directed by Atul Kumar, Noises off is a play within a play. Executed in the form of comedy of errors, it is probably the most humorous performance I have witnessed. With quite a handful of characters and props and challenge of enacting errors nonchalantly, the execution of the play is nothing short of a herculean task. It is about an egotist director and his mediocre cast on the sets of his new play " Nothing On". The "well-read" director ,Lloyd, does not think highly of his actors and shoots down any suggestion of improvisation by his actors. His script , he believes, is as sacrosanct as the holy Bible. Some of his actors, nevertheless, try to bring their own ideas to get into the depth of the character while the others move around aimlessly.

The play is divided in to three different acts :

Act One : On stage during dress rehearsal

Dotty plays " Mrs Clackett", the care taker of the house. She looks after the house , when not obsessing over her Sardines, in the absence of the owners (who are holidaying in Spain to ward off the tax collectors). Her body language was so English, that from the very onset of the play, you feel like you are in a British household. Next walks in Gary, the house agent with his girl , Brooke. Assuming the house to be empty, the couple walk in for some quick action. Brooke as the dumb hot girl  is a visual delight. Her provocative gestures will keep you glued in. But she does it with elan without crossing the thin line between vulgarity and oomph. Gary, though, is a little dampener and looks a little desi in a Brit household.

Then walks in the owner of the house - Belinda and Freddy on a sly visit to the country. The laugh riot continues with the two set of couples unaware of each others existence in the house but confused over things moving around the house on their own. 

Selsdon, the incorrigible drunkard on the set, plays the bugler who never breaks in at the right time. Confusion escalates when walks in the Sheikh, a prospective buyer, and a Freddy look alike. 

Amidst the confusion and the characters forgetting their lines a night before the D-day, Llyod isn't the only one breaking a sweat. He is helped by his two back stage managers  - Poppy, who is also in love with him, and Tim , who is extremely over worked and subservient. 

Act One : Backstage during a matinee performance

The actors bring their strained and entangled relationships to the backstage of the opening night performance. Miffed with Gary, her lover, Dotty locks herself in a room and refuses to go on stage for the opening act. After much coaxing, she does finally agree. She, then, uses Freedie to make Gary jealous. Gary doesn't take it lying down and tries to get rough with the clueless Freddie. Dotty, on the other hand, continues to get cosy with Freddie much to Belinda's annoyance now. The Dotty-Gary-Freddie-Belinda love quadrangle leads to insanely comic moments. Meanwhile, the Lloyd-Brooke- Poopy love triangle is materializing at the other end of the room.

The actors barring a few minor hiccups and skipping of some thirty odd pages from the script do manage to finally take a bow. And blows.

Act Three : On Stage during a delightfully ruined performance

The backstage furor spills onstage. Wounded and wrapped in bandages after last night's backstage performances, the actors just can't get it right. They start fumbling and forgetting their entries and exists. Poor Tim even has to stand in for a few actors, on stage! The play finally ends , albeit a comical catastrophe.

This is probably one of the toughest scripts to just be executed. But the brilliant performances by all the actors made it look like a cakewalk. Another thing I really liked about the play was the way the props and the set was used. Usually, props are considered of secondary importance and it is usually the script which is stressed upon more. However, in this play, the set played an extremely pivotal role and was used beautifully. I, especially, liked how the sets were actually reversed for the second act to potray the backstage arena. 

Noises Off certainly takes the Indian theater scene to a new level altogether. Atul Kumar, please take a bow.