Of power, fruits andvegetables:Ubu

MUMBAI, Nov 7: Most of the crowd at the opening of Ubu, the French play by Nada Theatre, had passed sometime or the other, through the classrooms of Alliance Francaise. But the rest, on whom all the scripted jokes were lost, had two choices–to yawn and wait for the hour to pass, or to soak up the strange visual spectacle playing out in front of them. There were two people on stage, Babette Masson and Guilhem Pellegrin, but the cast comprised of at least half a dozen more — two of whom were cleverly-made figures of fruits and vegetables and the rest mere undressed vegetables– the onions being conspicuous by their absence. The play is an absurd theatre piece on `Ma and Pa Ubu‘ who symbolise power for power’s sake. The fruity marionettes were very skillfully manipulated and voiced-over by Masson who is one of the founders of the group and a virtuoso puppeteer. Ubu is a fantastic and a ridiculous play and makes interesting watching, even if French is Greek and Latin to you. Also lined upthis week, are some interesting platform sessions. On November 8 is Nayak, written and enacted by Makrand Deshpande, who is perhaps the most talented theatre personality in the city. A one-man natak mandli, he writes, directs, acts, sings, dances, entertains and galvanises the viewers into thought. You come out of his performance buzzing with energy.

The November 9 platform, Not Quite There, too seems interesting. Based on a piece by Samuel Beckett, it has been directed by Ramu Ramanathan. But more on that, tomorrow.

Platform sessions, open for all with no entry fee, are at 8.00 pm at Prithvi Theatre, Juhu.