Short Cut

Both One on One and Classic Milds have been designed to bring on board more than one director,and hence a range of flavours. “We have been doing collaborative works for some time now and One on One is a continuation of that,” says Shernaz Patel,one of the founders of the theatre group Rage. Patel,who acts in two shorts,says that the idea behind the production was to offer a mix of theatrical experience.

Similarly,Tahira Nath,producer of Classic Milds,says,“We wanted to do something with classics and different directors. Each one brings in his or her own sensibilities,thus giving a play multiple flavours.” Her production packs six classics by Anton Chekhov,Noel Coward,Harold Pinter,Neil

Simon and Tom Stoppard in less than two hours. It’s gearing up for its second run in the city on April 17 and 18 at Experimental Theatre,NCPA.

Celebrating Pearl,however,is a more personal work. This will have the city’s theatre personalities including Alyque Padamsee,Bugs Bhargava Krishna,Ronnie Screwvala,Soni Razdan and Vijay Crishna presenting excerpts from some of Pearl Padamsee’s best loved plays on April 23 at Experimental Theate,NCPA.

Interestingly,One on One and Classic Milds too have managed a good cast. While the former has Patel,Krishna,Yashpal Sharma,Rajit Kapur and Amit Mistry,Classic’s cast includes Benjamin Gilani,Hidaayat Sami and Ratnabali Bhattacharjee among others. Gilani,who performs Chekov’s On the Harmfulness of Tobacco,says “A script such as this,is an irresistible one for me because I could spend a long time discovering fresh possibilities—much as I have done with Waiting for Godot.”

However,Rajit Kapoor,co-founder of Rage,who has directed a short called Kachre Ki Hifaazat and acted in another,says that in the case of theatre shorts,the challenge lies in co-coordinating with a host of artists. “It took us a long time to put the production together,” says Kapoor. In fact,it’s nearly a decade after doing Going Solo that Rage has come up with another bouquet of shorts. “Going Solo was easier as we had three directors doing plays of their choice. With One on One we wanted to explore fresh new writing set in today’s India,” he adds.

Production of theatre shorts has been sporadic so far. But,Mumbai’s theatre artists are probably becoming more aware of this genre now. Though Patel loves doing shorts,she confesses that there is “nothing more beautiful that doing a two-hour play”. Kapoor,however,dismisses any comparison. “You can’t compare the pleasure of reading short stories with that of reading novels,” he says.