Laugh Lines

Comedy depends on one word only timing, says theatre veteran Aamir Raza Husain,as he prepares to stage The Urge in Delhi today. Presented by ITC Mauryas WelcomTheatre Production,the play is loosely based on William Shakespeares Comedy of Errors.

Written by Dipanita Nath
May 13, 2012 02:46 AM IST

2 min read

Comedy depends on one word only timing, says theatre veteran Aamir Raza Husain,as he prepares to stage The Urge in Delhi today. Presented by ITC Mauryas WelcomTheatre Production,the play is loosely based on William Shakespeares Comedy of Errors. Aamir plays George,who aspires to become an opera singer but for a variety of reasons,is not able to perform. Things arent gung-ho on his personal front either: he is besotted with Anna Dickson played by Virat Husain but she wont commit to him. Into this walks an Italian star,an ageing diva and an ambitious starlet. Add a dollop of subterfuge,mistaken identities and lines alluding to modern politics,and the play twists into new directions a poor chorus girl turns into a diva,the understudy becomes the lead and the stagehand transforms into a star.

Aamir,who first came across the play 20 years ago,and has,over the past few months,travelled with it to various cities in India,says that making people laugh is a big challenge. If a line calls for a laugh,how do we lift it to get a roar,and how do we raise that to get shouts of laughter? It all depends on extreme commitment and conscientious rehearsals, he says. The fact that critics in other cities have given the play a thumbs-up indicates that The Urge has the lines just right.