Bragging about my Theatre ventures

The theatre group that I am part of, called Theatre Brats, when we  came up with our first ever show “ 7 tales at 7 “ as part of our graduation mandate from a Theatre workshop that I attended through EVAM at Chennai, had an amazing response and our show ran a full house at Alliance Francaise.

I can’t believe I told you the story about how I got into theatre so crisply.  😊

That reminds me, I had done something similar to a Monologue of a middle class woman, who suffers at the hand of her husband and how she solves her problems – by killing her husband in the end. J came down to watch our show and my play was titled “The final blow”.  After the show, he came up and asked me, if he should come back home with me or he has to leave to Kochi the same night. 

Our first show was on December 9^th 2017 and exactly after 6 months, on June 9^th 2018, the group got together yet again, with the same director, Hari Ramakrishnan, aka the brat tamer with a bigger and a better show titled “Six fable cart”   with 6 short plays.   This time we were doing 2 shows one at 4 and  the other at 7 pm on the same day.   I was playing the role of a TV show anchor, which actually is a spoof of a Vijay TV serial and the first time I was trying out humour.  And the best was Dennu, got into Theatre along with me, after all those rehearsals that happened at home and we both did the play together.

Infact, Dennu was definitely a much better actor than me.  You see it is difficult to teach a old dog new tricks.

On June 9^th, Indian Express carried this article about our group and Ta-Da, my picture came in the papers! Yes. I am going to flaunt it here to you all 😊

That's me as Lalitha, in Final blow, after killing my husband Vikram.

This time for the Veshadaris show, I was only one invited from Theatre brats group, and on 5^th January, as usual after my morning walk, on my way back, my friend Kuttan’s wife, Nancy calls up and asks, Is that your picture in the paper?  I hadn’t even looked at the papers then.

This time, The Hindu carried, my picture and was talking about the show. Wonder why, they chose my picture over the other 6 actors, I thought this was a very hastily put together picture of the psycho!

January 5^th, Theatre brats were putting up a show at IITM park for the corporates and I could not join them due to this commitment. I was so excited and showed Dennu the paper and saw him taking a picture of it.  I almost thought he was so proud, and here is his Instagram status for that day.   

Caught in Action !!

This is a photo blog, aka Plog :-)

In the last post I had elaborated on my theatre venture as Leonarda Cianciulli, an Italian Serial killer at Allinace Francaise, Chennai on 5th of January 2019.  5.30 pm.

Sharing some pictures with you all before my own excitement dies down and will let the pictures do the talking for a change!

Finally the Curtain call

My Gangsta girls

The year started with a Theatre show on 5^th of January 2019 for which I have been on rehearsals during the holiday season.

I was trying out a completely new genre of Theatre, which resembles a monologue, but really is a Soliloquy, laced with physical theatre, a form of theatre which uses physical movements to convey the expressions and story.  The play was titled “Heroes and Psychos” where six theatre artists, were showcasing the real life stories  of 3 unsung heroes and 3 weird pyscho’s.

There you go.  No prizes for guessing that I got to do the role of a Psycho. 

Yes. Leanarda Cianciulli,  An Italian serial killer, famously known as the soap killer. You can read up about her here..

I had to pinch myself when the director Chandrasekhar, called me and said, Madam, when I wrote the script for this play, I had you in mind and knew you will fit this role really well.  I refused initially, saying I cannot take demanding rehearsal schedules, but he managed to persuade me to take it up.  Apparently Chandru and Sudharsan (both from the theatre fraternity and from a group called Veshadharis in Chennai) had seen one of my shows and wanted to work with me.   

After reading the script, I wasn’t sure if they meant to compliment me by that.  That’s another point of discussion.

After the first rehearsal, Chandru told me you sound like a anchor / Trainer and need to overact.  Overact 200 percent!!!  Really?  For heaven sake, yes I am in the Learning industry more than I have been in Theatre, and I am going to sound like a trainer!!

J told me “just be yourself Vincy”  merciless pun indeed.

Once I was committed, there was no turning back.  Rehearsals, practice at home, writing the lines down to get them really into my aging brain. Yeah I do all of that stuff.  The most interesting part is I keep practicing my lines while I am driving, and at a signal, scared the hell out of a guy who was staring at me, by the elaborate use of my hands.  Was I embarrassed?  No!!

I, Once went  to the rehearsals late and it was closing time at AF ( Alliance Franciase at Chennai) and the director wanted to wrap it up.  I wouldn’t budge, I wanted a rehearsal and did it in the open Amphitheatre at AF.  The whole place was crowded with people, and as part of physical theatre, I had to act like picking up an imaginary axe and kill a woman..  There was a mother and a 6 – 7 year old son sitting at the far end of one of rows I was acting, and I walked upto them and bent down to pick up the imaginary axe and swung it.  They looked perplexed and walked away from there much to the amusement of the audience who were watching me perform.  

It was hard work, but I was enjoying it, most importantly it gave me the most important distraction I needed.

The other 5 artists were all much senior to me in theatre experience and one of the guys had a 20 year experience in theatre.   I even stopped watching other’s rehearsals, so I wouldn’t get petrified looking at their performances.

I wasn’t marketing the play much, as I wasn’t sure of myself.  Anyway on the show day, my loyal gang of girls, Jay and Sudha came in, on their own, without any bit of persuasion.  Same was the case with Anita, my seafarer friend, who is on her short vacation from her work in a Cruise ship at Royal Caribbean,  yeah can you believe I have friend who works in a cruise ship as a learning consultant, a three stripe officer?

Onstage, it is a different story -  I forget myself and turn into Leonarda.

The curtain call over, I walked upto the girls, Jay and Sudha and the look on their eyes said it all.  Worth all the hard work.  Full of praises, they said I was convincing as a serial killer and really looked like one too on stage.  Then they added, next girls trip Vincy, we don’t want to share room with you.  We don’t want to be turned into teacakes and soaps.

Ashwani, a co-artiste and probably the best of all I have seen so far, came up to me and said, by the second killing I started hating you Vincy. That’s an amazing recognition of the role I played. I actually had a few girls who wanted a picture with me, after appreciating my performance.

I had to drop off Anita on my return and she explained how she always looked upto me about how I managed multiple stuff at home and office,  and asked me, how did you do that acting bit Vincy?  Visibly shaken by the act of Psychos, she told me she is so proud of me. The adrenaline rush after the show during the curtain call, and while these appreciations pour in, is worth every bit of hard work. 

The next day morning there was messages / calls from the Gangsta again.   Jay says she woke up in the middle of the night and remembered my murderous face.  Sudha elaborated on how I transitioned from expressions of happiness, anger, love, sadness and being a pyscho. I was on Anita’s WhatsApp status mentioning, she is in awe of me.

That’s when I realized how important it is to have your own Gang of Girls and this MEME made more sense than ever !!!!

The Mouse Trap

So as a pre birthday treat we went for this play titled “ The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie, premiered in Chennai for the first time, by the Madras Players and The Crea-Shakthi group.   I got to know about this play from my good friend and a famous multi talented and a well known public figure Karthik TM, TMK as he is known from the EVAM theatre group. 

I had the good fortune of working with this versatile personality in two of my earlier organisations, first while I was with DSRC and then while I was with Satyam Computers.   While at Satyam I have worked very closely with TMK in Organisational Development activities through the training team that I was part of, then.

I have earlier taken Joe and Dennu, while I was at Satyam, for a play titled HAMLET ( which is a hilarious take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet) by the EVAM Entertainment group.  TMK was the heroine of the play and he was just fabulous.  That was a first real life play for all three of us and initially Joe and Dennu weren’t very convinced about an evening of theatre,  then.  But I remember the play was a laughing riot and Dennu and J enjoyed it so much more than me, literally Rolling on the floor with laughter.  

That was the day, when I also saw TMK transform into an ethereal artist on stage, and from then on, I have been his big fan. I have always wondered how poorly he is utilised in Tinsel town, for the measly roles he gets in movies.  He has acted in the tamil version of 3 Idiots, Nanban, as the prospective groom of the heroine. 

So when I told Dennu about this play, Dennu was willing to make time for the play ( amidst his busy fourth year engineering schedule, that is).  The paly was staged at the Music Academy on a Friday and the 1400 seater hall was full to the brim. The crowd was elite, classy and very much the kind who would watch theatre.

The stage was set well, keeping up the vintage English charm of those days when Agatha Christie wrote the play, the costumes and accessories, the acoustics doing justice to the entire cast and crew. I loved the way the storm was blowing and the snow blizzard is depicted on stage. 90 minutes of pure theatrical bliss.  Theatre bigwigs like P C Ramakrishna who has been in the field for the last 40 plus years had a meaty role in the play.  It was amazing to watch him as Mr Paravicini, who acts with an Italian accent.  He enthralled the audience with his expertise in theatre.  That role just fitted him so well.

My friend TMK, was the villain cum hero of the play and presented to Chennai,  the role of Detective Sergeant Trotter, which he did so perfectly.  Didn’t expect anything lesser from him.  The players who portrayed Mrs Boyle and  Major Metcalf did their parts so impeccably that when the director introduced them and said this was their maiden stage, it was unbelievable.  In fact, every one in the crew did justice to their role,  leaving the artists with an astounding applause during their introductions towards the end .

That was the shortest 90 mintues in a long time and an evening well spent. ( Momma – Sonny bonding)

For those who are not familiar with the Mouse Trap, a murder mystery from Agatha Christie here is a little sneak peak. 

The Mouse trap is world's longest running plays and is now celebrating its Diamond Anniversary in its 60th year!

Story goes like this.. A group of strangers is stranded in a boarding house during a snow storm, one of whom is a murderer. The suspects include the newly married couple who run the house, and the suspicions in their minds nearly wreck their perfect marriage. Others are a spinster with a curious background, an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef, a retired Army major, a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift, and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone. Into their midst comes a policeman, travelling on skis. He no sooner arrives, when the jurist is killed. Two down, and one to go. To get to the rationale of the murderer's pattern, the policeman probes the background of everyone present, and rattles a lot of skeletons.  This story has another famous Agatha Christie switch finish!