Play for work and work for play

Play for work and work for play

This is just a weekend roundup of interesting performances and needless to say, there are a lot of places I want to be this weekend but can’t. Anyway, for the sake of a second post, I’m going to list some of the most interesting happenings for this weekend.

Rambo Circus, Reclamation Mumbai: Haha. I went to this as a child, maybe 15 years ago? My friend Leo was there too and so was my sister. We hated the popcorn and loved the elephants. I don’t remember much more, except how petrified I was of clowns and the anticipation of watching the acrobats at play. They floated through the air, with the greatest of ease… and all that jazz.

Draupadi, NCPA: Gosh, I love a good experimental. Especially one sparked by a myth, an epic like the Mahabharata and the whole concept of it being “the lot of women to be used, abused and to suffer”. What can I say? We just have a higher threshold for pain, and the kind of patience the Buddha had to sleep (upright) under a banyan tree to attain.

30 Days in September, YB Chavan Hall: I’m actually going to this so watch this space for a review. The play revolves around a sensitive issue…  one that inspired a feature I once tried to write… I wanted it to be about Mumbai being a city where it was “the lot of women to be used, abused and suffer”. It somehow led to where I think I wanted to go to begin with. Child sexual abuse . Anyway, 30 Days in September is a play I’m really looking forward to.

The History of India VIRitten: A stand up comedy, not mocking Indian history but parodying the events that led to us being, well us. Another show I’m going for so watch this space for a review or at least a link to the review.

Bon weekend.

A theatre bug

New day, new blog and a million
more reasons to write

I’m a play reviewer who, for the longest time tried to keep my copy positive and balanced. In short, I wanted to be a writer whom everyone liked. They’d look at me and say, oh her, yes, she reviewed our play with such insight that it enlightened us to our own production and made us realise where we went awry.

Feigning this balance worked for some time. But then I realised, what the hell is going on here? It’s bad enough that I review almost every damn play in production, and all of them can’t, nay, aren’t good. In fact, only five odd productions actually stand out. So I decided, the time had come for me to word my views to represent what I truly thought, not what the audience’s laughter and claps make me think I should believe.

In shot, I decided to grow a pair, get me?

I’m a theatre reviewer on my way to becoming a theatre critic goddamnit. I’m not in the running for a Lifetime Popularity Award. I have the expertise, I have the knowledge and I have a goddam point of view. I guess the best that can be done is to put my thoughts out there without being too harsh, or forceful.

So welcome to my new beginning at the Caterpillar Cafe. I’m Afsha Khan, writer, theatre addict and book bug. Why don’t you check out one of my most recent play reviews?

Sigh, the actor just texted me to say thank you, and enquire whether I’d help him get a refund from New York Film Academy and The Barry John Acting Studio. Damnit…. Gracious actors who can smile in the face of criticism aren’t good for your conscience. The ungracious ones, you know the kinds who chase you with pitchforks and stakes are so much better because nothing builds more character and resilience than adversity.

On the brighter side of things, if this be the humility and sense of humour of thespians, I might have picked the right trade to write about. It also helps that I love what I do, no matter how many crappy plays I have to go for. I’m really passionate about sharing the Mumbai theatre scene with the world, and keeping it alive for an audience, many of who believe that theatre is considered fit only for the articulate “intellect”.

If it helps, I’m not articulate. Neither am I an intellect.