Nishtha Juneja speaks to Akarsh Khurana, Salim Arif, Jayant Pawar and Utpal Bhayani about their top three plays in Mumbai this year.
As we approach the year-end, we ask well-known theatre people and critics of their three favourite plays this year.
Akarsh Khurana (for English plays) Akarsh Khurana heads the theatre group, AKVarious Productions. When I posed him the question, his immediate response was, ''Limiting my selection to English plays has made it quite tough,'' and mentioned that he ''loved KAUMUDI and saw it twice.'' KAUMUDI is written and directed by Bangalore-based Abhishek Majumdar who is part of the theatre group The Indian Ensemble.
ILA, GOD OF CARNAGE and THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR
Akarsh's picks were: 1. ILA, directed by Puja Sarup and Sheena Khalid : The play made devised theatre accessible, even to me.
2. GOD OF CARNAGE, directed by Nadir Khan: Fantastic performances, particularly by Zafar Karachiwala. And a very intelligent design. I appreciated it more because I have spent time with the text, and they navigated its challenges exceptionally well.
3. THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR, directed by Akarsh Khurana: It is a funny take on the theatre process itself. The ensemble is to die for, and the actors'' comic timing is unparalleled.