Stage for Seven

LAST November,Manasi Parekh performed her first monologue for Radha as part of the day-long Prithvi Carnival. When the show was received well and the makers decided to extend it into a series of seven monologues,titled Bahot Nacho Gopal,Parekh was handed over the charge to direct “Rukmini”,one of the seven monologues. Part of the ongoing “Vasant: Gujarati Natya Utsav” at the National Center for Performing Arts,the play will be performed on Saturday. It will then move to Prithvi Theatre,Juhu,on March 30 and 31.

The monologues are based on significant characters in the life of Hindu mythological deity lord Krishna,namely Sudama,Rukmini,Arjun,Yashoda,Draupadi and Radha. Produced by Manhar Gadhia,the monologues have been written by Mihir Bhuta who has also directed the other six. “Telling the story in 15 minutes is more challenging than doing a full-length play where you have two hours,” says Gadhia,who has produced several monologues over the last few years.

According to Parekh,the monologues will help the story to be told from the perspectives of characters who are otherwise supporting players in Krishna’s story. The play will be interspersed with live music by Uday Mazumdar and dance choreography by Trupti Thakkar.

The Gujarati theatre festival,which opened on Friday,will showcase several offbeat plays from theatre artistes based in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. While Manoj Shah’s Karl Marx in Kalbadevi was the opening act,Nimesh Desai’s Hu Chhu Mohandas will be performed over the weekend.