"Irish coffee and rich talk made our days"

MUMBAI, NOV 22: The Prithvi Festival was designed in such a manner so that in the end the sum of its parts is more than the whole. And in that sense, it has been a great success as it closes today. Sanjna Kapoor and Divya Bhatia seem to be deft hands at conjuring up just the right atmosphere which separates a good theatre festival from an interesting itinerary of plays. People came just to soak in the feeling in the air. Says writer Prabhat Kumar, “More than the plays, I am going to miss sitting in the cafe talking to people, which is what really drew me to Prithvi almost every day after work. The talk is rich here.”

The total of seven plays, from Britain, Italy, France, Hungary, Poland, Germany, which were put up did not live up to expectations most people had, though each show was a sell-out. Said Rohini Hattangady, who managed to catch only Carmen Funebre, “It was interesting but the concept of actors on stilts wasn’t new to us. I remember seeing a tribal dance near Thane which was doneentirely on stilts though not on as large as the ones these people had. At least, we are not behind”. And The Quest, the play which closed the festival, too didn’t prove to be something to remember. Based on what is considered the most poetic Hungary verse drama, it was enjoyable fare but besides the superb lighting, nothing which will stay long in the minds of the audience. But as Bhatia had outlined at the beginning, “We are not saying that this is the best contemporary European theatre. Our intentions is for people here to see the kind of theatre and trends that are taking place in Europe right now.” Still, except Carmen Funebre, Commedia Dell’ Arte Galore and Underdogs, it disappointed a little.

Theatre buffs say that Prithvi’s festival of Indian Theatre last year, was much much better. And some say that plays from all over India which were staged at the Nehru festival which ran concurrent with Prithvi this year, were richer in substance. But what Nehru didn’t have were the dailyPlatform Sessions where some really good local theatre like Makrand Deshpande’s Nayak, Zubin Driver’s Metamorphosis and Ramu Ramanathan’s Catastrophe came up. It also didn’t have the film screenings, the documentaries, the great talk accompanied by that perfectly mixed Irish Coffee and good food that Prithvi’s overworked kitchen constantly churned out. It was a good 21 days.