The Hindu praises the strong performances in Just Theatre’s production Hedda Gabler, but does not find much else to recommend.

The use of adaptation is not so much about indianising a play as it is to allow for a different register.

In that sense, with their period costumes and forced accents, the talented cast would have certainly have been able to deliver less restricted performances…

They are also not impressed with the device of actors standing outside the marked territory, or using the stage area to change. Read the Hindu’s full review on Hedda Gabler: Propelled by Performances.

Read more…

A Henrik Ibsen play, Hedda Gabler (1890) carries all the trademark Ibsen effects – a hard look at Victorian values, psychological conflicts, and a powerful, "scandalous" female protagonist.

Hedda Gabler is a most fascinating, puzzling heroine. Watch the entire play and you will still not be able to bracket her into a type. Is she completely off her head or  devilishly cunning? Is she to be condemned for her pettiness and jealousies, or to be pitied for being a victim of nineteenth century social norms?

Read more…

Is language, color, hair style, build, sexual preference, eating habits enough for us to draw walls? Is the quest for supremacy borne out of ambition or an inherent fear of servitude? How long and under what conditions do we get over our xenophobia? Nino D’Introna and Giacomo Ravicchio’s Robinson and Crusoe is the type of play that takes a simple situation and explodes into asking questions that are true and basic to human nature. When two soldiers from different lands find themselves wrecked atop a roof on an island, they do what seems only natural at first – fight for survival, be suspicious of the other and be on a constant vigil. Whoever loses track loses this Russian roulette.

Read more…

It is rare for an enactment of a novel to match up to the source. Nuances of writing – passages about atmosphere, insights into characters’ motivations, the artful arrangement of words – do not translate well to the visual medium.

Chetan Bhagat’s novel, in that sense, is a delight for the play/film-maker – a story of mass appeal told in simple, flourish-free language.

Evam does a very decent job of the stage adaptation. This doesn’t happen often but I enjoyed the play more than the book.

With a 2+ hour run time (long for a play, yet I didn’t feel it) Five Point Someone follows the plot of Chetan Bhagat’s novel faithfully, adding some distinct Evamish touches along the way.

Read more…

[sic] was like watching a leisurely version of Seinfeld on stage.

Three 30-something characters – Theo (musician trained classically, he takes pains to tell us), Babette (author prone to borrowing money) and Frank (training to be auctioneer by reciting tongue-twisters) – share the floor of an apartment. These are the people we see; others exist in the framework but don’t make a stage appearance. There is a squabbling couple visible only through a silhouette in the window, a mysterious ‘Mrs. Jorgenson’ who is much talked about but never seen ‘live’, and Larry of course, the friend who affects the lives of all three.

These are grey characters with flaws obvious to the audience, if not to the characters themselves. Theo has no talent for composing, Frank doesn’t seem cut out for auctioneering and Babette’s book about "20th century outbursts" is clearly doomed. They are drawn together more out of locational proximity than because they trust or care about each other.

Read more…

Book tickets in advance, so we said.

How? Let me count the ways.

Over The Counter

Tickets can be bought at Ranga Shankara (36/2 8th Cross II Phase J P Nagar Bangalore 560 078), at their ticket counter right at the entrance. Tickets are usually available for the entire month, soon after the month’s schedule is announced.

Payment mode is cash only.

The ticket counter timings are: 10AM-12.30PM and 5PM-7.30PM; Monday is a holiday.

Read more…