CHENNAI: With just one production experience, a new web-series surfing and a bunch of amateur theatre aspirants, Ensomneacks are back with their second production — Funny Money. Rehearsing at a play school in KK Nagar, we had a chat with Vikram Dhanasekar (founder) and Funny Money director Anantharaman Karthik about the theatre group and their upcoming play.
Stressing on the fact that the group is all about promoting young talent onto a bigger stage, Vikram says, “We are open-minded about the platform and will delve into any genre and explore as a team. Apart from stage productions and our YouTube channel, theatre workshops by professional personnel are also in the pipeline.”
While workshops are in the making, they consider their rehearsals an actor’s workshop. Choosy about their directors, they make sure the chosen one gives the necessary teaching, insights and also allows the actors and technicians the freedom to explore their ideas.
Karthik, an upcoming director himself, has directed two plays in the last two seasons of ‘The Short and Sweet Theatre Festival’. Talking about his third directorial experience, he says, “Funny Money is a challenging script for me because it’s a comedy. I have always been a fan of serious human drama. So I’m looking forward to the end result!”
With a cast of full-time, part-time and fresh out-of-the-oven actors, their rehearsals are usually late in the evening, taking place about five times a week. Over two hours of training, correcting, and improvising, Karthik keeps his cool no matter what. “I give them time. I believe in continuous rehearsals and well, I always say, the show is another rehearsal, and every rehearsal is a play!” he smiles.
Being a comedy, there might be a favourite scene or character from the play. “Honestly, the jokes have stopped working on me. These days, every scene is just a scene. I have seen the play so many times that I have stopped connecting emotionally,” he says, exasperated.
Funny Money is basically about a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who accidently picks up the wrong briefcase that’s full of money. He decides to keep it with him and forces his wife to run away to Barcelona with him but, of course, their plans are halted when a policeman arrives. The man’s inept attempts to extricate himself from this impossible situation lead to ridiculously hysterical situations.
The play will be staged at Alliance Francaise of Madras on November 12. Already working on their next production, Vikram adds, “It is titled An Ensomneacks Anthology, which is a collection of eight short plays. It is scheduled for January 7.” What’s special about this production is that they have theatre professionals from different groups working with the amateur artists.
For details, check out their page — Ensomneacks, on FB. Tickets for Funny Money are available at eventjini.com