The Company Theatre's PIYA BEHRUPIYA - incredible transformation of a Shakespeare script into a production that everyone can love, understand, identify with and laugh with.
Your favourite adda to see a play
Gyan Manch in Kolkata
Your favourite playwright
Harold Pinter
Your favourite play-character
Among those I've read but never seen performed - Albert Camus' Caligula. Among those I've seen onstage - Jerry in THE ZOO STORY.
A play you would like to see filmed. Why?
HAYAVADANA by Girish Karnad - wonderful story. Would be lovely to see its art and production design and the way it's played out as a saga over time.
A novel/short story you would like to see on stage? Why?
The Dead Past (short story) by Isaac Asimov. Science Fiction isn't often produced on stage, and it's a lovely, human story, very easy to identify with.
The most hilarious play you have seen
THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND by Tom Stoppard. Directed by Dhruv Mookerji.
A play, which is over-hyped
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE - good story, but could have been so much more than what it is - and some really ordinary writing of characters, apart from Shylock.
An important play (but ignored)
Ibsen's THE DOLL's HOUSE seems to have fallen out of fashion as the choice of production, but its themes are very relevant and important, especially to re-visit and re-adapt if necessary.
A play character you would like to "dialogue" with
Werner Heisenberg in Michael Frayn's COPENHAGEN
A passage from an important play that you can recite
From HAMLET:
Aye, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause.
A classical play that you should have read
ANTIGONE
A play that changed your perception about the theatre
RENNEN by the Belgian group Kopergietery
How do you regard the Mumbai theatre scene?
I haven't seen anything in Gujarati or Marathi theatre, which is the key chunk of theatre in Mumbai, so my opinion is restricted to English and Hindi productions. Barring a few productions, most productions have uneven talent; some super performers alongside some ordinary. However, I appreciate the productions by Motley and by Sunil Shanbag.
Have you read any interesting books/articles concerning the theatre? Why did you find them interesting?
'An Actor Prepares' by Stanislavski - it's fascinating to simply read about such an approach to acting.
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've worked in THE COMEDY KITCHEN, and each time a focussed actor breaks character and laughs/stifles a laugh on stage (what is known as corpsing), it is humorous, and very, very insightful into the art of acting.
Can you think of a foreign production that you found remarkable? Why?
THE REDUCED SHAKESPEARE. The core idea, its execution and its simplicity were another perception-changers.
Your favourite director/actor/music or set designer
Shadab Kamal
Which is the last best play you saw and why?
