Delightful Healthy Recipes: When Life Is A Tragedy...

When Life Is A Tragedy...

REVIEW OF THE WEEK Play: The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man Directed by: Munish Sharma Duration: 100 minutes Cast: Munish Sharma Language: English
    Unless you’re a theatre fanatic, lengthy monologues, especially those which tend to move along a philosophical trajectory can be sleepinducing and simply speaking, boring to the average mind. You might get that feeling once The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man starts off. But the superlative performance and certain engaging segments save the day.
    The play has been compiled using the works of four different philosophers — Fyodor Dostoevsky, Albert Camus, Friedrich Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer and Oscar Wilde. The protagonist (the ridiculous man) is trying to resurrect his lost identity, by confronting the truth that is usually dictated by logic and reasoning.
    The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man has been divided into two acts. While the protagonist poses questions (which he eventually answers himself) on life, existence, hope etc, there are several amusing anecdotes and stories you hear in the process, especially in the first half, which is what makes it more enjoyable than the second. The character’s obsession with being the centre of attention leads to a hilarious narrative. And the story from Greek mythology about Sisyphus, a king who was punished for chronic deceitfulness, by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down (he has to repeat this action forever!) is another one of the little gems the play comes up with.
    The second half is somber, intended to be thought-provoking, as it chronicles his experiences where he believes that there is nothing worth living in this world and so is determined to commit suicide. Amidst this, through a dream, he enters another planet where the people are happy, blissful and sinless, reminding you of Robin Cook’s famous novel Abduction (where five people are abducted into a secret underwater world, whose inhabitants are happy and don’t know what suffering is, until the abducted people ‘corrupt’ their world too). Eventually, he wakes up a changed man.
    Director-actor Munish Sharma infuses life in this monologue, as his character, the underdog, is humorous as well as tragic at the same time, making for a brilliant combination. Definitely worth a watch.
Blame It On Yashraj (English), Sophia Hall, Breach Candy, Feb 17, 6:30 pm; Directed by Bharat Dabholkar; What happens in a mixed Punjabi/ Bengali family when their only darling daughter falls in love and decides to marry a Muslim guy? This play is a comical portrayal of a family caught up in the whirlwind of their daughter’s wedding, which gets bigger and bigger by the day as D-day arrives. Starring: Ananth Mahadevan, Jayati Bhatia, Anchal Sabharwal, Punit Tejwani and others.
Bairi Raji To Duniya Raji (Gujarati), Zaverben Sabhagruha, Ghatkopar, Feb 17, 9pm; Directed by Imtiaz Patel. Keeping your wife happy at home is the theme of this play which contains a triple doze of comedy, suspense and thrill. Starring: Hemant Jha, Chhaya Vora, Shruti Gholap and others.
Hello Pakistani, Hun Gujarati (Gujarati), Tejpal Hall, Gowalia Tank, Feb 17, 7:45 pm; Directed by Vipul Mehta. Simran is a brave woman whose life’s mantra is ‘life is an adventure’. This Punjabi girl is to be engaged to Ankush, a Gujarati software engineer. Prior to their enagagement both families embark on a pilgrimage to the Kutch region. A bomb blast takes places in which Ankush is feared dead. But shockingly he turns up in Pakistan. Will fate bring the two lovers back together? Starring: Krishna Gokani, Amita Rajda, Parth Desai, Haresh Panchal and others.
Prem No Password (Gujarati), Prabodhan Thackeray Auditorium, Borivali (W), Feb 17, 9 pm; Directed by Nimesh Diliprai Desai; Life is a journey of love, live life kingsize. Make the most of it with a gripping story. Life indeed is beautiful. Starring: Amee Trivedi, Bakul Thakker, Nimesh Diliprai, Sharukh Sadri and others.
Juth Bolo Jalsa Karo (Gujarati), Bhaidas Auditorium, Vile Parle (W), Feb 17, 4 pm; Directed by Jaideep Shah; Jignesh Raitatha has lost a lot in life by speaking the truth. So now he only believes in telling lies. He has become such an expert in telling lies that it has now become an integral part of his life. But what happens when the lies go out of control? Chaos, of course! Starring: Shachi Joshi, Samir Rajada, Titikshah Pandya and others.
Bhamashah (Hindi), Rangsharda, Bandra, Feb 17, 7:45 pm; Directed by Manoj Shah; The word ‘Bhamasha’ reminds us about a remarkable charater in Indian history who was a philanthropist, warrior, intelligent and a Jain shravak. But little is known about his contribution and sacrifices for our country. Starring: Dayashhankar Pandey, Dharmendra Gohil, Ahlam Khan, Aishwarya Mehta and others.
Santu Rangilee (Gujarati), Zaverben, Ghatkopar, Feb 17, 3 pm; Directed by Dinkar Jani; A Gujarati adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s famous play Pygmalion, the story concerns a low class flower girl takes speech lessons from a language expert a phoneticst, so that she can alleviate herself in the society. The play is a comedy of manners. Starring: Sujata Mehta, Darshan Jariwala, Sameer Khakhkhar and others.
Bade Luchhe Lagte Ho (Gujarati), Chavan, Sachivalaya, Feb 17, 7:45 pm; Directed by Jaideep Shah; It is difficult to handle one oversmart (luchho) person but how do you handle a family full of oversmart (luchha) people? Starring: Rupa Divetia and others.
Maro Piyu Gayo Rangoon (Gujarati), Prabodhan Thackeray, Borivali, Feb 21, 9 pm; Directed by Sunil Shanbag; This musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well is set in Saurashtra, Mumbai and Rangoon of the early 1900s. The play is a heady mix of live music, dance and drama. Starring: Meenal Patel, Utkarsh Majumdar, Archan Trivedi, Manasi Parekh-Gohil, Chirag Vora and others.
The Bureaucrat (English), St. Andrews, Bandra (W), Feb 17, 7:30 pm; Directed by Rahul Da Cunha; A senior bureaucrat, Raghuvir Gupta, is called upon by the Home Minister, to solve a national crisis — to prevent Dishoom, a young MTV VJ, from starting a massive protest, called Kapre Utaro Middle Classes, against the government. Why? Because the young VJ is the bureaucrat’s son! Starring: Bugs Bhargava Krishna, Neil Bhoopalam, Shivani Tanksale, Jaswinder Singh and others.
Pritam Pyare Pappuji (Hindi), Prabodhan Thackeray Auditorium, Borivali (W), Feb 19, 9 pm; Directed by Vipul Mehta; Pritam Pyare Pappuji is an uncommon love story of a common man. Pappuji is an estate agent with a flair for winning over anyone with his talks. Money is everything to him. To earn money he can deceive anybody. One day Pappuji meets Dimple. And suddenly his happy world turns upside down. Starring: Rakesh Bedi, Moulli Ganguly, Mazhar Sayed and others.
    — Event supported by Times Card.