Come this weekend, and Kochiites will be treated to three popular plays that will arrive to J T Pac. Each play boasts of some very popular names from the theatre circuit.
Friday evening, September 28 will stage the play ‘Me, Kash & Cruise’, a roller-coaster ride involving three Bombayites and their attempts to deal with the city’s ever changing social, civic and political landscape - over the last twenty five years from 1984 to 2008.
The play opens with the death of Indira Gandhi, while the three protagonists - Pooja Thomas (unabashed Bombay lover), Rajesh Kashyap (true blue South Bombayite) and Cruise (A Delhiite, and named after the Hollywood star) traverse their way through the 1992 riots, the 1993 bomb blasts, the moral police and Bollywood mania, as well as the age of marketing and hype - among other dramatic events that have shaken and influenced our city. Also included are man made disasters such as dug up roads and festival band baaja. And of course, Himesh Reshammiya!
‘Me, Kash and Cruise’ is the story of every Bombayite, and is written and directed by Rahul da Cunha.
Saturday, Sept 29 will see the play ‘Pune Highway’, about three friends holed up in a seedy hotel room, off the Bombay-Pune highway. They have just witnessed the stabbing of a fourth friend, in a robbery attempt by thugs. They desperately need to get back to Bombay, but are constantly thwarted by obstacles.
A comic thriller that explores the survival of friendship in extreme circumstances. The play is filled with tension, nostalgia and humour. The play premiered at the Writers’ Bloc festival in 2004 and has since performed over a 100 shows all over the country and abroad. It played at the prestigious Biennale Bonn festival in Germany, as well as toured London, Korea, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Malaysia.
Written and Directed by Rahul da Cunha, the cast includes Rajit Kapur, Ashwin Mushran, Yamini Namjoshi, Shankar Sachdev and Bugs Bhargava Krishna.
The third play to be staged is ‘The Bureaucrat’ (Sunday, 30). Written by the talented Anuvab Pal, the man behind the cult comedy ‘Loins Of Punjab Presents’, and directed by Rahul da Cunha, the satiric comedy is about a young MTV VJ who has launched a nationwide campaign with a catchy tune to start a massive protest called ‘Kapre Utaro Middle Classes’ It involves taking off pants to show unhappiness with the government. The nudity is about to occur on Janpath at the exact time our PM’s convoy is supposed to pass with the visiting dignitary Nicholas Sarkozy of France. The cast includes the talented Bugs Bhargava Krishna among others.