What Others Say: Dreams Of Taleem

Links to the best writings elsewhere on the net about Dreams of Taleem.

This review posted on YahooGroups brings out an interesting subtext of the play – that of motherhood.

…if you look at the play in another way – not about being gay (or not just that), but about being a mother. Ek Madhavbagh is a mother’s monologue, the actress who delivers it reacts as a mother, the actress in the play that Aney wants to act Ek Madhavbagh speaks about her own ambiguous experience of motherhood, towards the end Aney has a long, anguished phonecall with his mother – and right through it all goes this potent image of the mad mother, to who Sita must take on a mother’s role.

The Mumbai Theatre Guide review says of "Dreams of Taleem", that "all good things are not necessarily great". For Pooja Goutam, the good intentions of the play did not translate too well on stage.

…although the concept seemed honourable enough, the execution wasn’t so convincing. The emotions needed to be explored a little better as did the different facets of the characters. Yash played by Anand Tiwari seemed completely wasted as the depth of his character was barely approached.

Annie Zaidi on the blog "Known Turf" writes eloquently of the nature of art, about tragedy and humour, absolutes and greys, closure and possibilities – and applauds Dreams of Taleem for not shying away from venturing into uncomfortable territory. She says:

I don’t think I have seen anything like that in theatre in Bombay over the last two years. To be able to weave grief, absurdity, fear and laughter so simply, and so naturally that the words themselves aren’t very important- that was some really accomplished writing.

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Article by Shuchi

Shuchi lives in Bangalore (mostly), when she isn't traveling out of town for work. She adores theatre and writes about plays she watches whenever she gets a chance.

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