The Blue Mug play review

Given the cast, the audience would expect to be treated to a novel theatrical experience. THE BLUE MUG is indeed a play with a difference, but whether the audience would like the difference - is the moot question. A straight answer would be unfair to the creators of the play since it is unstructured and it has no set or props for distraction either. The play, directed by Atul Kumar and based on Oliver Sacks' 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat', relies totally on a series of disjointed monologues that the cast brings forth with a becoming flourish.

Childhood reminiscences of family vacations, paternal funerals, joint family anecdotes and pubertal terrace romances are strung together in the form of monologues. Superimposed between these random memories is a middle aged psychiatric patient (Ranvir Shorey) who has no memory beyond his early youth and his lacklustre lady doctor (Konkona Sen). The play in itself rather stark and the director chooses a bare backdrop to add to its edginess.

Barring some unrelated graffiti that the actors use to rewind to their childhood by drawing hop-scotch squares and etching out a flight arrival and departure chart - the stage is mostly bereft of any other props. The actors themselves are sans make-up and are dressed in their own clothes. Rajat Kapoor in his patent distressed jeans with a gaping hole that reveals his scrawny leg, Sheeba Chadha in her favourite black 'n baggy salwarsuit, Munish Bhardwaj dressed like a bank clerk and Konkona in her sleepwear - yup in white pyjamas!

Despite all this, the audience remains glued to the spot owing to a series of inspired, energetic performances. Vinay Pathak's joie de vivre, Ranvir's authentic Punjabi speak, Rajat's nonchalant act and Sheeba's uninhibited skipping through the play keep the proceedings lively. However, Konkona fans are bound to be disappointed by the length as well as the depth of her role. The makers of the play seem to disregard her star appeal altogether. Konkona seems to be sleepwalking through her role in those ungainly pyjamas!

Towards the end, the jumble of monologues begins to get somewhat interlinked but never clearly enough to lend it that dramatic grandeur. On the whole, the strains of memory are rather too personal and not worthy of public sharing. But it is a free world and creativity is a manysplendoured thing. THE BLUE MUG is best watched for its rock solid cast whose spirited performances sadly fail to save the mug from cracking up.

*Deepa Ranade is a film and theatre reviewer. She has been an entertainment journalist for over fifteen years.