You, me, who?
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One more take on Shakepeare's Comedy Of Errors, the tale of mistaken identities
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Laughter is in the air. Bangaloreans appear to be so stressed out that they are thronging to attend any event that promises a good laugh. Smart cultural organisations are cashing in on this, and turning every occasion into a Hasyotsava (Festival of Laughter). Theatre groups are also joining the bandwagon and vying with each other to produce comedy shows. T. P. Kailasam is back in fashion again and his plays are drawing houseful crowds at Rangashankara. The audience to these shows is a mix of nostalgic elders and young software engineers and call-centre employees.
In fact, it was through comedies like "Nodi Swamy, Naavirode Heege" and "Kanna Muchchale" Shankar Nag and Arundhathi were first introduced to Kannada theatre-goers. Their group, Sanketh, went on to do more serious plays later on. After a gap of several years, during which Arundhathi has been busy building Rangashankara and with Surendranath away in Hyderabad, the group has come up with a comedy once again. Neenanadre Naaneenena, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, scripted and directed by Surendranath, was staged at the Rangashankara for a whole week recently.
The play, like its original, is an out and out farce. Though Surendranath uses Shakespeare's plot outline, he takes plenty of liberties to bring the play closer to a modern Indian middle class audience. The story revolves round two pairs of identical twins - Raya and Vathapi — the sons of a master and his servant, separated very early in life. Confusion begins when Raya 1 and Vathapi 1, who set out to look for their long lost twin brothers, arrive in the city where the lost twins, Raya 2 and Vathapi 2, have been living.
The visitors, both bachelors, being mistaken for their married twin brothers living in that city, have to tackle the wives of their brothers. The servants mistaking their masters are bewildered by the changing behaviour of their masters. The confusion reaches a climax when money and gold meant for one are delivered to the other.
By replacing Shakespeare's Duke with Sikkoji, a "dada" who controls the city by offering protection for money, Surendranath turns even the few grim moments of the original play into farcical ones. The introductory scene presents a hilarious encounter between Sikkoji and the father of the twins, whose narrative is interspersed with a liberal dose of sentimental film songs. Though he does not seem to make much of a "collection" — thanks to his deaf "chela" — he gets drawn into the confusion.
Though the link between him and the plot is rather tenuous, Jehangir's antics are so delightful that we are able to overlook such inconsistencies. One of the biggest assets of the production is its star cast. Surendranath wins more than half his battle by bringing together a group of highly competent and popular artistes, who have proved their potential for comedy through televisions serials. Raya and Vatapi are convincingly played by Srinivasa Prabhu and Sihi Kahi Chandru. Though they are a little stiff with their bodies, they use their faces and voice to advantage. Srinath Vasishta is entertaining as the old father who drives everyone nuts with his songs.
The best of the lot, of course, is Jehanghir as Sikkoji. He has the flexibility and body language which a farce requires. Surendranath's attempt to make the play funnier by giving some of the
characters peculiar mannerisms, may make a section of the audience laugh, but brings down the quality of the humour. The deaf act and the "monstress" are taken a little too far. Though some of the situations appear quite silly, the cast manage to pull it off. Manohar's background tune is just right and Sathyu's sets aesthetic and practical.
LAXMI CHANDRASHEKAR
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