MAAS Play Review

Divyani Rattanpal	Host-A-Performance \| Schedule

Direction : Jyoti Dogra Writer : Jyoti Dogra Cast : Jyoti Dogra

MAAS Review

"Look at me."

A woman, a packed hall, and Prithvi' Theatre's centrestage.

As Jyoti Dogra defiantly asks the audience to channelise their collective gaze at her, she also makes it a point to mention that for her -- this is political.

As bodies like hers are largely invisibilized once they step outside the theatre stage and have no stage lights giving them an air of prominence.

Throughout the 100-minute runtime of MAAS, Jyoti Dogra takes the audience through a raw and unfiltered journey of tackling bodily shame and aiming to somehow make the cut into society's unrealistic beauty standards.

Her weapons of choice are brilliant writing, an effortless performance, and some change of clothes.

There's sincerity reflected in every minute of Jyoti's on-stage performance.
In fact, the collective gaze -- that Jyoti had negotiated with the audience in the beginning of her performance-- never once leaves her because she is that good. In fact, how she astutely switches between different characters is a class in characterisation.

The narrative of MAAS is funny and biting.

It boldly addresses the shame and self-loathing that many of us feel because of our relationship to our body, but perhaps shy away from talking about it.

It also openly shares the inner dialogue which leads a person to inflict mental and physical torture on their own body.

The fact that the audience bursts out laughing practically every few minutes is testament to how relatable the writing is. But as Jyoti herself says, the subject matter of MAAS is not simply an elaborate gag.

"It's funny until it's not."
Because beneath the wit and the comedy, MAAS leaves the powerful message that inflicting violence and hatred on one's own body is nothing short of cruelty.

A rebellious play tackling the suffocating contours of an ageist and fat-hating society, MAAS is a celebration of the body, flab or not.

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