A Twist in the Tale

Three months and several rounds of discussion later,they were ready with Famous Last Words. Roy gets the credit for the story and direction while Trivedi is credited with writing the new comedy thriller. Both of them are also part of the cast along with Amrita Puri and Sahil Jaffrey.

This is the third play,after Still Single and One Small Day,in which Roy and Trivedi are working together. Their partnership,however,goes beyond theatre. They founded Banyan Tree Communications in 1999 that creates audio and music products for mobile,internet,terrestrial and retail radio. But their passion for live entertainment based on original writing in English made them launch a theatre production unit seven years later.

Given Trivedi’s love for dark comedy,“particularly when writing for the stage”,Famous Last Words observes life in urban India through this genre. The story focuses on a critically-acclaimed writer who hasn’t written a word in five years and has been living off his fading fame. His angst-ridden existence is invaded by two young people and his former spouse,who offer hope and their somewhat bizarre solutions to his problem. Trivedi’s first novel Call Me Dan,which released last year,too was a hilarious look at new India,through the misadventures of a call-centre employee.

The play is touted as the directorial debut of Roy,a well known face in Mumbai theatre. “I have had the advantage of working with some of the city’s most respected theatre directors and actors. Observing them and how much they love what they do gave me the courage to be inspired,” she says. The task of directing the play has been quite challenging as “the responsibility of failure” will be hers alone. However,she can handle brickbats,if any. As for the bouquets,they have come in the form of working with a “dexterous playwright,moulding characters with actors and the excitement of experiencing light and sound design”. She even learned to design the look of the stage using BBM photos to choose props.

The major hiccup in staging the play was getting dates in theatres. “With theatre availability being a perpetual problem,getting dates becomes a nightmare when we produce a play,” says Roy. This nagging woe is likely to fade once the play is staged at NCPA’s Experimental Theatre on Saturday and Sunday.