Clowning glory

A clown is a metaphor for a performer,'' feels theatre and film director Rajat Kapoor, former student of FTII. He and his troupe of act...

8220;A clown is a metaphor for a performer,8221; feels theatre and film director Rajat Kapoor, former student of FTII. He and his troupe of actors staged their play C for Clown, based on a day in the life of a clown, at Hotel Le Meridien on Saturday evening, brought to Pune by Sakshi Events.

The well-attended play initially took some time to warm up, since the unconventional theme and the unusual style of narration had them donning their thinking caps. The play certainly took the beaten path, since it had no dialogues. The performers spoke, or rather uttered gibberish which sounded like Russian and sometimes Mexican, interspersed with the right English dialogue when necessary.

A set of sequences featured the different facets of a clown8217;s life. Popo, Soso, Bozo and Fido are four male clowns who go about their chores with gay abandon, playing pranks and clowning around. Their life centres around showtime, where they put up their act with ease well essayed by Vinay Pathak, Atul Kumar, Joy Fernandes and Rajat Kapoor himself.

The sequence of reading the press review by Popo and Bozo, followed by the suicide attempt by Soso were pure entertainment. The two clowns scan the newspapers with eagerness and trepidation, to see if their show gets a good review. They breathe a sigh of relief when both get good reviews, a delightful take-off on how the press can make or break a performer8217;s career. However, Soso is not so lucky and he gets a 8220;so-so8221; rating. He attempts to commit suicide, while there8217;s a mad scramble to save him. Soso gives in after conveniently blackmailing the rest.

The next few sequences introduce the female clown, Fifi played by Sheeba Chada, who8217;s presence makes the male clowns go in a tizzy 8211; they all try to woo her, showing that clowns have deep feelings like anyone else. The play ends on a semi-comic, semi-tragic note when Popo dies, after he pretends to have a heart attack, and actually succumbs to a fit of fatigue. The other clowns try to put up a brave show thereafter the show8217; must go on, after all.

In all, an entertaining and interesting play, which some enjoyed immensely, while others cried out for more depth. The lighting and costumes were adequate, but the highlight was the music and the excellent performances by Atul Kumar who played Soso, but was not so-so, after all and Vinay Pathak who played the charming Popo.

The group performed two shows at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on Sunday, for children. 8220;Though, it8217;s not a children8217;s play, they react spontaneously to it,8221; says Kapoor, who has national awards for his films Tarana and Hypnothesis. He8217;s recently concluded a feature film, Private Detective, that8217;s awaiting release. However, he8217;s the familiar face as the harried executive in the advertisement for Ayurvedic Concepts.