Everything8217;s fair in love

It's a fervid discourse. Sony Razdan and Aly Khan are mulling over a cup of tea, deliberating an impassioned scene. What's better -- him ...

It8217;s a fervid discourse. Sony Razdan and Aly Khan are mulling over a cup of tea, deliberating an impassioned scene. What8217;s better 8212; him looking at her passionately as she stirs the cup, or she gazing him from the corner of the eye as he covetously puffs the cigarette he has been holding for long, trying to make it seem forever. And all this with director Raell Padamsee and her producer husband, Jehangir Chinoy, sitting at an arm8217;s distance making notes, whispering quot;hold onquot;, quot;bring that longing in your glancequot;, quot;look awayquot;.

The venue for the Sunday8217;s rehearsal of Games People Play 8212; Ace Productions8217; latest intrepid drama 8212; is Jehangir and Raell8217;s Cuffe Parade house, set to look like the final stage by Urshila Kerkar, with the overcast light from the door to the balcony doubling up for Kaiwan Mistry8217;s riveting lights. With Hello!! I Love You?? and Lovers, the two single-act adult plays to be staged this week, Raell has come a long way since she did her first play Interpreters 12 years ago with SabiraMerchant and mother Pearl Padamsee, and Acts of Faith in 1997.

Back to the makeshift stage, Soni Razdan is mopping up the floor and seeing her husband off to work. quot;Is your lover coming this afternoon?quot; asks Richard, played by Aly Khan. She is not taken aback 8212; he is no stranger to her afternoon escapades. You are startled at first and then shocked as the next scene drops you abruptly into her sex life that she shares with her lover Max, two to three afternoons every week. But then he8217;s not the only one to brighten up her mundane married life of 10 years. Andas the sun sets, she switches over to a quot;normal lifequot;.

with her husband, changing from the little black number to a casual long dress, forgetting to slip out of the high heels.

Richard knows Max came and questions her about the little details. She finds it disquieting. And the argument reveals he has a mistress. It8217;s an arrangement. He is not jealous, she is not resentful. quot;Good, for things are so beautifully balanced,quot; she remarks. Unfortunately,Max wants to end it. The usual lame excuses: his wife, his children and she is too bony and he likes them fat.

Richard walks in 8212; Aly bringing the character to life with quot;enough is enoughquot; look. He doesn8217;t want his wife to entertain her lover any more. He has also left her mistress. quot;She was too bony.quot; What8217;s the catch? Read Harold Pinter8217;s original or wait and watch the play. Though Pinter8217;s style is very difficult to work with, Raell has approached it fittingly. quot;Lovers is a visually charged play about the bizarre life of a suburban couple which reflects our feelings of jealousy and understanding that exist in a relationship,quot; says Raell.

Soni Razdan has matured much since her debut in English theatre with John Fowler8217;s The Collector and Hindi stage with Satyadev Dubey8217;s adaptation of Satre8217;s No Exit and Bund Darvaze. It is also evident in her role as Dilnavaz in Such a Long Journey. Aly Khan, on the other hand, is better than in Ghulam Qadir8217;s Begum Sumroo.

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The first one-act piece of Games PeoplePlay, Hello!! I Love You??, is a peep into love, life and relationships through a series of vignettes straight out of a couple8217;s life 8212; played by Soni Razdan and Vinay Jain. quot;Here I have played a lot with emotions,quot; says Raell. quot;So there are no peripherals. Except a bed which plays the third character.quot; In short, the evening will force you to think how far can you go to salvage your marriage.

Games People Play at the Experimental Theatre, NCPA. On August 28 and 29. Time: 6.30 pm.