The longest-running English play in India, Dance like a Man, directed by the Mumbai-based Lillete Dubey is being staged at JT Pac on Sunday, March 30, 2014 at 7 pm. It focuses on an individual’s plight, where a dying form of art serves as the backdrop.
A wonderful creation of the well-known playwright and Sahitya Akademi Awardee, Mahesh Dattani, the play is a triumph for English language Indian theatre. Dance Like a Man is a 90-minute, tightly woven, richly layered tale of three generations, caught up in a conflict of desires and perspectives.
The play depicts the story of Jairaj and Ratna, and two Bharatanatyam dancers past their prime, whose beautiful daughter Lata is a rising star in the Bharatanatyam firmament. Her imminent success creates tension and jealousy, and the audience is drawn into the dark secrets of family relationships and conflicts between generations.
The play has been staged all over India as well as the Watermans Art Centre in London, the Tribeca Arts Centre, New York, the Portland International Performing Arts Festival in Oregon, USA, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Lillete Dubey, the Artistic Director of The Primetime Theatre Company, and an acclaimed actress started off her career with memorable roles in Zubeidaa, followed by Monsoon Wedding (The Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival 2001), Baghban, Kal ho na ho, Bow Barracks Forever (Best Actress at the Madrid International Film Festival, 2008) and Pankh (Best Actress at the Dainik Jagran Film Festival, 2010).
The other actors include Joy Sengupta whose performances have been well acclaimed, Vijay Crishna, a versatile actor who has worked in theatre since 1965. His film roles include Devdas, Guzaarish, Rakshak, Raj Se Swaraj Tak, to name a few.
The play questions the deeper motivations of the characters, but the mode is comic rather than tragic, even though the concerns are serious, and you are never sure whether to laugh or cry.
For more details and reservations contact 8086881681/ 9349528057/www.jtpac.org
