Nazneen Madan Actor [English Theatre ] 1. Which is the last best play you saw and why? It has to be VAGINA MONOLOGUES. I’ll need to present a thesis on your ‘why’ part of the question! Then there was Divya Jagdale’s BANSURI. I liked the play for its unique stage design (one big sofa & lighting created different locations & scenes). I could also relate to the play’s theme that depicted the conflict between the modern and the traditional. The confusion that the play’s protagonist goes through about falling in love and finding Mr. Right is very real. 2. Your favourite adda to see a play… Definitely Prithvi. NCPA comes a second close but it too far from where I stay. But having said that, I will go anywhere to see the right play. 3. Your favourite playwright… There were many but now it’s only DarioFo. 4. Your favourite play-character… Tina, Tina & Tina –the character I play in our adaptation of Dario Fo’s THE OPEN COUPLE. 5. A play you would like to see filmed. Why? I think Jaimini Pathak’s ONCE UPON A TIGER should be made into an animation cartoon or film to teach our children to care about the environment. I think a play can have its limitations and not all the children I felt who had come for the play could get its message clearly. A film can be viewed often and if there are animated characters it is likely that the children will perhaps gain a better understanding. 6. A novel/short story you would like to see on stage? Why? Actually I plan to write about myself, about some of the incidents that have taken place in my life. Why? Because I am sure that out there there are many women who must have faced or are facing similar dilemmas as I have. There are hardly any plays about Indian women and not very many I’d think that have dared to touch areas that can be potentially very revealing and shocking. So it would be nice to have it all out in the open. 7. The most hilarious play you have seen… Most definitely NOT NOW SWEETHEART, adapted from one of the ‘carry on…’ movie series, which put us all in splits even while rehearsing (by CentreStage Productions – Dinyar & Roshan Tirandaz). We’ve done the play in English and Gujarati and I’ve acted in both. Even thinking about it makes me giggle.. Great dialogues (of course they’re all very slapstick), a lot of action and total madness. You can well fall off your chair laughing! 8. A play character you would like to “dialogue” with… Perhaps Tiger from ONCE UPON A TIGER… 9. A passage from an important play that you can recite… ‘To be or not to be’ – HAMLET. 10. A classical play that you should have read… OTHELLO. All of Shakespeare’s plays actually. 11. A play that changed your perception about the theatre… VAGINA MONOLOGUES again. The play introduced me to the nuances that an actor is capable of achieving. I thought the play was brilliant. I don’t have enough words for its praise actually. 12. How do you regard the Mumbai theatre scene? Great & getting better !! 13. Have you read any interesting books/articles concerning the theatre? Why did you find them interesting? May soon read ‘Shakespearewalla’… 14. 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 think each of my reahearsals, each play that I’ve watched or have been part of has been insightful in one way or the other. 15. Can you think of a foreign production that you found remarkable? Why? My co-actor in THE OPEN COUPLE, Jagdish Rajpurohit once recounted me his experience of a play called THE BLACK BIRD. He had seen it in Paris. I could almost imagine how remarkable the production must have been. No I haven’t seen one as yet that I can talk about. 16. Your favourite director/actor/music or set designer… Quasar Padamsee, Devendra Mistry and Sheikh Sami Usmaan 17. Life in the theatre without the humble batata-wada or the cutting chai or if you please brownies that are snuggling chocolate bits… or can you recall the best gastronomic experience you’ve had in the precincts of the theatre to date? I’m trying to be on a diet here please… no batata wadas, not too fond of the Prithvi cutting chai either. I do love the chicken rolls at the Sophia auditorium (my diet takes a break there) and I love the omlette sandwhich at NCPA. 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