The Importance of being Earnest

Last Sunday, me and Ramya went to watch the play “The Importance of being Earnest”, by Evam group at the Rangashankara. It was wonderful!

 

First, about the place, this was my first visit to Rangashankara. Well, for that matter, this is the first time I am even watching a play live in Bangalore! Rangashankara was built by Arundhati Nag, in memory of her husband Shankar Nag. Built on the models of greek amphitheatre, this place is famous for staging about 300 plays every year and promotion of local talent. I also hear that the auditorium is very strict in their policies, especially the ones related to closing of the entry door once the play starts. Once, even a minister was denied entry as he was late to the play by 5 minutes!

 

I did expect a good crowd for the play, considering the fact that the troupe performing was quite famous in South India and the South Bangalore generally adores such plays. Moreover, this drama had been in CBSE class 8 (or class 9?) English course some years back, so the present 25+ age group junta would definitely remember this wonderful drama by Oscar Wilde! As expected, most of the crowd were spotted with jeans and kurta (Why do theatre enthusiasts/critics always wear jeans and kurta?), with stylish sun glasses and a sling bag, popularly known as “jolna pai” in Tamil. There was a huge queue outside the auditorium, as the doors open only 15 minutes before the play. Also, I was also told that there was a “free seating” policy, which means you get the best place if you are ahead in the queue! Thanks to an elderly gentleman, we got the best seats possible- second row from front, bang in the middle of the row, right across the center of the stage!

 

Now to the play, it was a wonderful performance by the Evam team. The only person I could recognize in the group was the cine artiste Karthik. Karthik is famous (or rather infamous) for having played the role of a Indian version of Ben stiller, well, he loses his girlfriend/fiancee to the hero almost in all cases, such as in “Kanda Naal Mudhal”, “Yaaradi Nee Mohini”, “Alaipayuthey” etc. As expected, he did a good job! The artistes who played the role of Jack Worthing and Lady Bracknell were too good! The face expressions of “Jack Worthing” were awesome! Especially his expressions while giving a reply to Gwendolyn on why he lied in the first place. Is the lady who played the role of “Lady Bracknell” really British? Her accent was perfect! The other lady artistes need a lot of practice I guess. But overall, it was a wonderful performance by Evam team. After the play, there was the usual “Thank the sponsors” and applause for the entire team. There could have been a Cast and crew introduction too, just like what we used to see in Pilani.

 

At the end of the day, we felt good for having spent 400 bucks for a wonderful play! Looking forward to attending more such plays at Rangashankara!