HYDERABAD: Another weekend has arrived and we got just the fix for you. Free up your Saturday or Sunday evening and catch up on some raw and rustic theatre. Storyboard Production Play is staging Table Manners at Rangbhoomi in Gachibowli on September 25-26, which promises to be a one hour 45-minute family entertainer.
Directed by Sandeep Tadi, Table Manners was written by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn in 1917. “The play is a part of a series called Norman Conquests. It is a set of three plays, where we can see things happening at the same time in different rooms,” says Sandeep.
The six artistes bring to the table, literally, their own twists to the characters. Originally a three-part series, the first part of the play unfolds in the dinning room, while the other two happen in the living room and the garden. “But, we are focussing only on the first one. What’s special about this act is that you can watch it without the sequels and still be able to understand,” says Sandeep, who has directed seven other plays -- Charleys Aunt, The Physicists, Good Answer and Ande Ke Chilke, to name a few.
Deepika Mahindhara, who play the character Ruth in the [play explains us about her character and says, “Ruth’s character to me is that of a woman who takes herself and the power of choice, seriously. Lives and let live. She is vulnerable but there is strength in her vulnerability too. She is well aware of what choices she opts out of to make the ones she does.
She owns them for better or worse, self-assured and unabashed. I am curious to know is how the audience will see her. As an actor, there sre sometimes characters we play, shades or ourselves, our lives, our interactions that we see in the character. Ruth’s relationship with Sarah and vice-versa is one such for me. What I find challenging is to bring both the fore. When in doubt, or not actually I simply follow directors advice.”
Aneesha Dama, who will be seen playing Annie, tells us more about her character. “Annie stays at home to look after her ailing mother. She is all by herself and has a lot of emotions to deal with because her sister and bother are off doing different things. She is left behind and has to look after everything. She doesn’t really have a social life and does not have a shoulder to cry on either,” she says.
The character wants to break out of her shell, but doesn’t know how. It is a chaotic play, there is a huge family but despite their issues with each other, there still is a strong bond between the characters.
Cast & crew
Aneesha Dama as Annie
Adity Roy as Sarah
Deepika Mahidhara as Ruth
Abhinav Rastogi as Reg
Harsh Garg as Tom
Jonas David, co-founder of Storyboard Production Play