An unusual one-act play competition, ''Draame Baawas''...Encouraging Parsi theatre practitioners...
January 7, 2016 2:16:46 PM IST MTG editorial
Theatre doyen Adi Marzban was undoubtedly responsible for changing the face of Parsi theatre in the 1900s. He revolutionised the way Parsi theatre was perceived and brought a wave of young people to the medium. Sadly, around the turn of the century, Parsi theatre suffered some setbacks. In an effort to revive interest in Parsi theatre and to give a platform to people interested in Parsi theatre - age no bar - a new theatre competition has been organised.
"Drame Baawas" is an initiative by theatre personalities such as Shernaz Patel, Burjor Patel, Sam Kerawala, Meher Marfatia and Jim Vimadalal in collaboration with the National Centre for thePerforming Arts (NCPA) and Jam-e-Jamshed.
"The idea came to my dad as he felt that when he was doing plays between the 60s and 80s in the city, theatre was full of Parsis doing both English plays and Parsi ones. But most of them seem to have disappeared," says Shernaz Patel. She further adds, "We have been working on this for the past few months. We had 13 plays for the eliminations and we now have the finals on January 13th".
The competition is in memory of the veteran theatre personality, Adi Marzban, and will kick-off at his birth centenary. Apart from awards for best actor, best actress, best director, and the best original script in Gujarati and English, the winners will also get a chance to be part of LAUGHTER IN THE HOUS (Part 2) that will premiere in March next year.
Here are the five plays that will be showcased at the competition on January 13th 2016:
THREE MUSKETEERS, directed by Huzan Wadia
About the play: The story revolves around three youngsters; one is a visually impaired girl; the second is a hearing impaired male, and the third is a man unable to speak. The plot is set in a boys' hostel where this young, visually impaired girl, being the only girl allowed entering the boys' hostel, witnesses a murder that takes place in her presence. Unable to understand what exactly transpired, the story takes a turn when the mute and the hearing impaired youngsters find the body in a passage in the hostel. These three decide to trace the killer and bring him to justice in spite of their handicap.
CHEES, directed by Vistasp Gotla
About the play: A couple gets together to celebrate the girl's birthday. Certain unfavourable circumstances lead them towards a horrifying incident when they travel by public transportation.
DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY, directed by Rustom Irani
About the play: Fed up of the injustice that life has thrown at Freddy, he decides to end it all. He meets 3 strangers who volunteer to help him carry it out. Who are these characters? What are their intentions? Why are they helping Freddy? Will they succeed?
SORRY WRONG NUMBER, directed by Huzan Wadia
About the play: Mrs Faranaz Warden is a bedridden woman who completely depends on her husband and her medicines. One day, while listening to what seems to be a crossed telephone connection, she hears two men planning a woman's murder. It is scheduled for 11:15, when a passing train will mask any sounds. She tries to call her husband but can't get through so she tries through the telephone operator. When all her efforts fail she calls the police, but with few concrete details, the police officer thinks her to be crazy. Complicating matters, her husband is working late and the servant is on leave, leaving her all alone.
DEFENCELESS CREATURE, directed by Farah Nesargi and Umeed Kothawala
About the play: THE DEFENSELESS CREATURE is a play from Neil Simon's series, The Good Doctor, which is based on short stories written by the famous Russian writer, Anton Chekhov. This hilarious story revolves around a woman who goes to a bank, and does her best to extract some money from the hapless bank manager. Is the woman capable of doing what she has set out to do? Will the bank manager oblige?
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