Theatre Buffet

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Theatre Buffet

I was booked again and now I have to tell you how. This time it was a series of four plays. The plays were performed within an hour and a half.  10-minute plays, a theatre phenomenon which has taken the world by storm, has arrived in Goa.  

Very-short-plays are being performed by ‘Peas & Carrot Theatre Co.’, which was founded by Kyla D’ Souza in 2013. Their debut play ‘Sure Thing ‘, by the maestro of the short form - David Ive, ushered  high octane fun earlier this year. Kyla trained at ‘Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute’, New York.  Her co-director, Tavish Bhattacharya, is from ‘Dramanon’ (Dramatist Anonymous), which was touted by India Today as one of the emerging young English theatre troupes in India, with drama chapters in Manipal, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The genre of very short plays began as a quirky exercise in ‘Polaroid playwriting’ and had a debut in the Actors Theatre of Louisville’s 1977 Humana Festival of New American Plays.  What began as an experiment, opened a wild playfield of possibilities in the theatrical world and has since been taken up by prominent playwrights of modern theatre like David Mamet, Tony Kushner, August Wilson and others.  The time limit imposed by the form has enhanced the power of the genre. The structure of the play is tight, and as a result of this restraint, the impact is strong and explosive. Actors are impelled to showcase their talent and versatility, as if in a cameo, to take away the laurels. A popular anthology of 10-minute plays describes the genre this way: “A ten-minute play is a streak of theatrical lightning. It doesn't last long, but its power can stand your hair on end.”

The short form has morphed and appeared as an exciting format in literature, theatre, films and sports. TTT – Terribly Tiny Tales are doing the rounds on twitter and the short story has seen the light of day after a long period of hibernation.  Ever-shifting attention spans of the modern populace has propelled creativity in newer directions, giving birth to varied genres within the existing structures of the long form. 10-minute tales, plays, films and games are not a passing fad any longer. They are here to stay considering the high popularity that they have garnered from global audiences.

Therefore, last week in Mondovi Hall, ICG we were treated to a broad spectrum of theatre titled ‘Officially Speaking’. The plays mirrored contemporary office settings with heavy emphasis on sexual activity on and off office hours.  The four short plays showcased were: ‘The Business Lunch’ by Sean Slater, ‘The DMV One’ by Nick Zagone and ‘Fate’s Steady Hands’ & ‘Photocopy Love’ by Alex Broun.  Max Fernandes, who has appeared in some videos by the Indian comedy group ‘All India Bhakchod’, added a good punch with his acting skills.  Moksha Kumar debuted with a spicy affair in the last play. The stalwarts Kyla and Tavish both acted and directed the plays.

‘The Buisness Lunch’ is about a young businessman who is approached by his boss for a new pet project. He becomes educated in everything from buffalo sandwiches to bean bag chairs. The underlying message is that the boss is always right and a newbie must temper his own ideas and actions to his boss’s requirements. The contrasting high boom of the boss and the weak, timid voice of the employee encompass the entire sequence. The web byte that the playwright was raised by deer in real life in the Californian backwoods heightened the office drama in my mind during the play.

In ‘The DMV One’, the three unnamed characters are played by Kyla, Tavish and Moksha. The play proves that not every visit to the DMV is dull and boring. To liven up mundane bureaucratic procedures about filling forms and furnishing proofs for everything, the office goers have devised their own fun and sexual play to relieve the tedium.

‘Fate’s Steady Hands’ and ‘Photocopy Love’ by Alex Broun are sexual comedies again – out and out laugh riots. Alex is an award-winning Australian writer whose 10-minute plays have been performed the most in the world. Often referred to as the ‘Shakespeare of short plays’, Alex has had over 100 different ten-minute plays produced in over 1500 productions worldwide. His plays have been produced in theatres, universities, schools, colleges and community groups all over the globe. His most popular short play ‘10,000 cigarettes’ has had over 200 productions across the globe including 35 states of USA.  His site sells 10-Minute scripts on the web. Anybody can download his play for a fixed fee and perform it within 12 months of the download in any part of the world. He also conducts workshops on writing of short plays. ‘The Short and Sweet’ theatre festival in Dubai and other cities is his runaway success idea. For more information, visit www.alexbroun.com.

I look forward to many more productions in the future by the lively troupe ‘Peas & Carrots’. They also organize theatre workshops and would be ideal for any budding theatre-lover. Follow them on Facebook to keep abreast with their upcoming shows.