DT & Q at Hyderabad

Today, i went to a play, after failing the last few days in motivation. The play today was staged by the Evam theatre group, a bunch of young and talented gals and guys who pretty much packed the house on a monday evening. The Hindu, the sponsors of the event, blurbed it this way:

Evam’s ‘Doubles, Triples and Quadruples‘ is a new production. A pastiche of monologues and short sketches, it raised many laughs when it debuted in Chennai recently in Chennai and is guaranteed to raise many more.

Well, it was an interesting collection of sketches that centered on the evergreen themes of love, growing up, marriage, old age, personal happiness and the mexican standoff(though not necessarily in that order). The actors shone in their respective performances, but the highlight of the evening was elsewhere. In what was to me a new and deft touch, the actors and the directors showcased themselves through witty, personal – and in one case nervous – personal monologues in the breaks between the sketches. these ranged from a matrimonial ad to a philosophical discussion of wine. this saved the energy of the performances from ebbing away due to frequent re-arrangement of the stage props, and the candour of the artistes in this section was great. This human element enhanced the connection of the audience to the performance and made it a performance to remember.