'Motley' Festival at Prithvi Theatre this month

Naseeruddin Shah is one actor who is a treat to watch – whether on stage or in a movie, and this month Prithvi has a sumptuous feast in store for me and all his other fans. The second half of May sees many of the ‘Motley’ group’s plays being performed at Prithvi. Unfortunately, I missed ‘Dear Liar’ and ‘Manto Ismat Hazir Hain’ which were staged last week, but am hoping to watch the others.

The schedule for the rest of the month is as follows :
18th and 19th May – Ismat Apa Ke Naam (I managed to watch this yesterday and will be posting a review soon)
20th May – Katha Collage Part 2
21st and 22nd May – Antigone
23rd May – Kothri No. 42
(Note : Naseeruddin Shah is not acting in Katha Collage Part 2 and Kothri No. 42)

‘Dear Liar’ is an adorable comedy centred on the relationship between the playwright George Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patricia Campbell. Both Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah turn in great performances as they tell the love story through the medium of reading the letters exchanged between Mr. Shaw and Mrs. Campbell. Apart from the great acting and witty dialogues, I enjoyed listening to a rare, pure form of English being spoken with perfect diction. (One of the reasons I love watching plays staged by ‘Motley’ is for the sheer pleasure of listening to the language – be it Urdu, English or Hindi. Am sure I would have got either bored or frustrated ploughing through the same stories in text form, but the plays bring them alive and make the language approachable and fun.) A play I thoroughly enjoyed watching last year and one that I want to watch a second time. Unfortunately, I did not book tickets in time to catch last week’s show, but am hoping that it will be staged again soon.

‘Manto Ismat Hazir Hain’ and ‘Ismat Apa Ke Naam’ are both plays I have heard a lot about. I watched ‘Ismat Apa Ke Naam’ yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I shall not write more about in this post – separate review follows.

Jean Anouilh’s ‘Antigone’ is an adaptation of Sophocles’ play by the same title, adapted once more for current performances by Satyadev Dubey. The story revolves around 16 year old Antigone, a brave, idealistic, reckless young girl who defies King Creon, who is also her uncle. An interesting story, it explored the concepts of power/authority and individual will, the changes wrought by power on the person wielding it, and the struggle between the establishment and those ranged against it. Power-packed performances by the trio of Naseeruddin Shah*, Ratna Pathak Shah** and Benjamin Gilani. Benjamin Gilani plays the narrator in this play and (in my humble opinion) he has some of the best lines in the soliloquies he delivers.

*Why wasn’t his name shorter ? It is a pain to type over and over again, but I feel calling him Naseer – even in a blog post – would be sheer impertinence.
**I did not find Ranta Pathak Shah’s age an impediment in essaying the role of 16 year old Antigone

By,
Zenobia D. Driver