Seriously Funny

The play,according to director Sukhmani Kohli,is an attempt to introduce clowns in a new light to an Indian audience,to go beyond the traditional idea of them as the white painted face and red nose that makes people laugh. A clown,to Kohli and her team,is an essential part of human soul,one that’s “naive,warm,accessible,eager for life”. The clown’s red nose,the smallest mask in the world,is the mask that unmasks the clown within us,in the core of our personality. “It’s like being in love. For we are closest to our real,honest self when in love. Clowning and loving have a lot in common. Being a clown requires acceptance and so does loving.” And that’s what Romeo and Juliet do in the play. When they meet and fall hopelessly in love,they find their clowns. But when Romeo acts out of his ego and kills Juliet’s cousin,he loses his clown for a while and struggles to find it.

The play is devised and evolved by the director and the cast through their own experiences of “clowning and loving”. “We are presenting you the clown’s perspective of Romeo and Juliet’s story,their emotions and their end. Culturally,we also connect to the clown as we connect with the Sufis,” says Kohli,adding that Baba Bulleh Shah’s poetry in the play underlines the unconditional love that the clown embodies.

This play’s journey,shares the 27-year-old director,has been insightful,with the actors going through a month-long workshop to help them find their inner clown. “We improvised incessantly,changing the face of the play many times. We had to find something that was honest to us,” agree the co-creators and actors of the play,which they hope will remind the audience of their inner clown.

The one-hour play,open to all,will be staged at 7 pm onwards at Tagore Theatre.