It’s a rare occasion when a stage production genuinely leaves
you laughing in splits, and Play On
was one such exception. This is a play about many things, of the comedy of
errors involved in the production of a play,
of the friction between an actor’s hubris
and a director’s vision, of the
creative differences between a director
and a manic-obsessive playwright, of a
dedicated crew’s yearning for
appreciation from the cast, and
everything in between. In the first and second acts, Murphy’s hand seems to play
a significant part, as everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. The actors carrying an air of authority,
seeming to know it all (except their dialogues), the director’s constant struggle with the actors to extract immaculate
performances and his race against time to do so, the back-stage crew’s intermittent interruption of
rehearsals and the production manager’s continuous
frustration with everything, it’s a complete mess. To top it all, an obsessive,
erratic, and cringe-worthy playwright
arrives on the scene, squealing her opinions on the play’s current state of
affairs, suggesting amended dialogues and plot-points, only adding fuel to
fire. Things are a dead-end even up until the night of the play. In the third
act though, during the premiere, the actors’
performances digress even more so, a fact oblivious to the audience savouring
the antics on stage, and the drama originally envisioned by Gerry takes the
form of a hilarious situational comedy.
The performances were memorable and outstanding by all
members of the ensemble, something that has come to be expected of Rotoract
every year. Nothing seems to go wrong for Ameya, who plays Gerry, with yet
another excellent performance. Jashan was amazing as the sardonic Saul, with
his snide comments and a drunken persona reminiscent of Bachchan’s in Amar
Akbar Anthony. Elisha, as Polly, and Prasanna, as Henry, were hilarious as the
elderly couple. Even Shantanu and Devika were relatable as struggling, insecure
actors, and their affair is very convincing (wink wink). But the performance
that took the cake was Sameera’s portrayal of the mercurial Phyllis Montague.
The little nuances in her performance like her sudden changes in tone, the
shifting of her eyeglasses, the constant nodding, and even staying in character
while seated below the stage made this portrayal indelible. What is admirable
in the screenplay is that the audience may easily confuse an error committed by
the actors as an accident, though it is well within the script, and is integral
into making the audience believe that the actors
(played by the actors) were incompetent. Also, the inclusion of the audience
ourselves as a character in the third act is subtle, and crafty. The costumes
set the tone for each act, especially in the final one; the pieces worn by the
actors were impeccable. The only complaint this time was probably the
production design, which is only rudimentary and is a little less impressive this
year. Another concern was the lighting (or the lack of it); the shadows cast on
the screen at the back were a little distracting. Blemishes aside, all credit
goes to the director Aayush for his vision and execution, and for bringing it
all together and making it work, just unlike Gerry.
The parallels that Play
On draws from Alejandro Innarittu’s Birdman
(or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) are unmistakeable. The relationship
shared by the actors, directors and crew is reminiscent to that shared by the characters in the Oscar
winning movie. Like the film, this play is an ode to the stage, to the joys of rehearsing
and its pains thereof, to the night of the premiere and the thunderous applause
that follows, and to the dedicated people involved. Congratulations to everyone
from the production of Play On, and I
can’t wait for what’s in store next year.
