Theatre Speaks

MD Pallavi
Actor
[English and Kannada Theatre ]
Which is the last best play you saw?
The last good one I saw was a Lebanese play called RIDING ON A CLOUD by Rabih Mroue at the Zurcher Theater Spektakel in Zurich.

Your favourite ‘adda’ to see a play

Rangashankara, Bengaluru.

Your favourite playwright

Many many many.

Your favourite play-character

Shilpa from C SHARP C BLUNT.

A play you would like to see filmed. Why?

Anupama Chandrashekar’s FREE OUTGOING. It is current, relevant, gripping and intense.

A novel/short story you would like to see on stage? Why?

Chronicle Of A Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The most hilarious play you have seen

SRI KRISHNA PARIJATHA, a Kannada play.

A play, which is over-hyped

Can’t think of one that fits into this slot.


A play character you would like to “dialogue” with

Dr. Stockmann from Ibsen’s ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.

A passage from an important play that you can recite

I can only recite passages from the last three plays that I’ve done. My brain refuses to retain more than that.

A classical play that you should have read

All our Sanskrit plays.

A play that changed your perception about the theatre

A performance called 27 GNOSIS that I witnessed at The Documenta. It was a devised piece. It questioned the ingenuity and artificialness of critical acclaim and popularity.

How do you regard the Mumbai theatre scene?

Alive and kicking.

Have you read any interesting books/articles concerning the theatre? Why did you find them interesting?

Prasanna’s book on acting has been sitting in my library. Need to start reading it.

If you have ever been a part of a theatre production/s, can you recall an event that was insightful, significant or simply humorous?

I remember once I was acting in a street play with my grandfather’s theatre group. About 600 people had gathered to watch the play. Mid-play, it started pouring. The audience immediately dispersed, except for one man. He stood there in the rain with an umbrella! So my grandfather insisted that we continue and finish the play with his ‘the show must go on’ argument. And we did. That was quite an experience.

Can you think of a foreign production that you found remarkable? Why?

PINA by Wim Wenders. Although it is a film, the 3D worked so well that it felt like I was watching real performances. Especially the ‘Rite of Spring’ sequence. For years Pina and Wim wondered whether the energy of the stage could be translated onto the screen. I feel that’s been achieved in PINA.

Life in the theatre without the humble batata-wada or the cutting chai… or can you recall the best gastronomic experience you’ve had in the precincts of the theatre to date?

Chitranna – lemon rice – has been the staple of theatre practitioners in Bengaluru for a long time. It is cheap, easy to make and extremely delicious!

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