With Holi just around the corner, you would think that this week would be low-key as far as cultural events were concerned. On the contrary, the next seven days will be the best time for you to catch up with some very well-known plays in the city. To begin with, Rage Productions’ Class of ’84, which was written by Rahul da Cunha, celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Based on a tightly knit group of friends from St Xaviers College, Mumbai, the play opened to rave reviews when it debuted in 2003. "Honestly, when I first wrote it I didn’t think that it would run for even 10 days," da Cunha fondly reminisces. "The reason I think it worked so well was because it was plainly about friendship; that one gang of friends you can always count on", adds the writer-director. On the other hand, the week will also see some of Motley Theatre’s best plays, By George, Ismat Apa Ke Naam and Kambakhat Bilkul Aurat being staged at Prithvi. By George is based on three plays written by George Bernard Shaw, while the latter two are adapted from short stories by Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai.
“We’ve had trouble booking dates, and as you know that is a big issue in Mumbai since there are so many groups and so few theatres. But as it happens we haven’t staged these plays for quite a while here so we are looking forward to the shows,” says Ratna Pathak, who runs Motley along with her husband, actor Naseeruddin Shah. (She also stars in Ismat Apa Ke Naam). Motley’s other famous plays, A Walk In The Woods and Dear Liar, will also be staged in the first week of April. “We’ve revived Dear Liar after a while because we just can’t enough of that play! We’ve edited it some more and it almost feels like a new play,” says Pathak.
{{/usCountry}}“We’ve had trouble booking dates, and as you know that is a big issue in Mumbai since there are so many groups and so few theatres. But as it happens we haven’t staged these plays for quite a while here so we are looking forward to the shows,” says Ratna Pathak, who runs Motley along with her husband, actor Naseeruddin Shah. (She also stars in Ismat Apa Ke Naam). Motley’s other famous plays, A Walk In The Woods and Dear Liar, will also be staged in the first week of April. “We’ve revived Dear Liar after a while because we just can’t enough of that play! We’ve edited it some more and it almost feels like a new play,” says Pathak.
{{/usCountry}}Play right
March 26-28 at 9 pm:
By George, Prithvi
March 29 at 9 pm: Kambakhat Bilkul Aurat, Prithvi
March 31 at 7 pm:
Class of ’84, NCPA
March 31 at 9 pm:
Ismat Apa Ke Naam,
Prithvi
April 2 at 8 pm:
A Walk In The Woods, Swatantraveer Sarvakar Auditorum
April 6 at 8 pm:
Dear Liar, Swatantraveer Sarvakar Auditorum