Gary Richardson. Just as the greatest Indian epics have begun with a roll of the dice and a prayer to fate, Gary Richardson's latest acting endeavour is a risk that could play out into a great story. The American actor, best remembered as the villain in the serial A Mouthful of Sky, is staging an English play on a floating platform in the middle of a lake in Udaipur and Jaisalmer. Complementing the shows will be music, special lighting and effects. Brushing aside the financial risk, he is convinced that these are the most beautiful places in the world, and that is reason enough to stage a performance.Speaking of the play, Shikara, which he has acted, written, directed and co-produced with Ali Khan, Gary says "It has violence and humour, poetry and murder. I have yin-yanged the hell out of it." The story of two drifters on the run who arrive at a New Age organic farm near Poona, the plot revolves around their dream of owning a houseboat in Kashmir and the crazed boxer/farmer who stands in their way. Besides Gary, the cast includes Ali Khan, Mona Ambegaonkar, Vivek Oberoi, Joy Sengupta and Ashish Roy.A method actor from the Actor's Studio in New York, Gary has acted in a dozen odd Hollywood movies, including the Oscar-winning Missing. "Sometimes I have been poor, sometimes starving, but I have always been an actor," says he. After 20 years of wanderlust over four continents, which included the 1981 Vogue Man of the Year title, he came to India in 1994, close on the heels of the multinational invasion. "It's the coolest place and I am glad to be here," he adds.Getting his act together in India has been an obstacle course. At the opening performance at Sophiya Auditorium, the lights went out and the play had to be continued with candles and emergency lights. Other unpleasant experiences have included a performance commissioned by the Indian Navy, which was called off just days before the opening. But Gary insists that if things had been easy, he would not have learnt so much. "A producer has to be a hustler and a betmaker. There are so many landmines you have to drive over," he says. And the audience he is aiming at is the college crowd. "Everybody is after them. But, I am after them in the theatres and not the bars," he says. He believes that theatre is the best place to go for a date, followed up with a debate over a candle-lit dinner. And with Shikara, he feels the sparks will fly high. "You can't be neutral about my play," he says.Gary is confident that with Shikara, he has a winner. "You roll the dice and hope there is no disaster lurking around the corner," he says. Despite the fact that he is in a strange land, he has an almost missionary zeal. When asked about his plans to redefine Indian theatre, he quotes the late President John F Kennedy, "Some people dream and ask why, but I dream and ask why not."
