Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
A spirited production
|
When Moliere met Hennessy on a mellow evening
|
The Hennessy evening revolved around a delightful Moliere farce.
YOU WOULDN'T really expect an evening celebrating Hennessy to be about drinking your friends under the table, thundering music and a stifling dance floor. And of course it wasn't.
The Hennessy party at Nineteen Twelve was a rather mellow, mature affair. Ashwin Deo, Managing Director, Moet Hennessy, India and Indian Subcontinent, does maintain that the brand is not intended only for the connoisseur. Hennessy does after all have a younger consumer as well, but by virtue of its slightly higher pricing, it's rarely the chosen drink for the young clubber.
Refined style
Face it, the Hennessy family tradition, which has been handed down eight generations, is inevitably associated with a refined and privileged lifestyle. Think Hennessy and you imagine the aficionado fastidiously sniffing the cork before the drink is poured. At Nineteen Twelve, the Hennessy evening revolved around Company Theatre's production of a Moliere play, Sganarelle or The Imaginary Cuckold. Remaining loyal to Moliere, the play was performed in candlelight with no props or effects, with the dialogues and physical comedy sustaining the play.
In a supper theatre setting, this was an ideal choice of play. Short, obvious, and very funny. Moliere's farce revolves around the central character Sganarelle, a grumpy, suspicious, lion-in-his-home-mouse-outside type character who suspects he is being cuckolded but can never muster the courage to confront his rival (though he does come close on several very comic instances).
Through a series of mistaken assumptions, which threaten to draw two couples apart, Moliere teaches us a lesson in never making assumptions even if certain situations seem obvious. But no aphorisms here. Instead, through the evening, the cast, dressed as clowns, wandered around the tables exaggerating even their normal gestures; smoking a cigarette, drinking water. The final performance, in delightful rhyme, flirted with elements of farcical comedy; here the physical comedy of commedia dell arte, there the vulnerability of Shakespeare's jester all pieced together with the ribaldry of Moliere's verse.
Savouring cognac
This was just an evening to celebrate the spirit of Hennessy; there are more actual tasting sessions in the offing, says Ashwin. But even if you can't make it to one of those to learn what to look for when sniffing the cork, a slow swirl of neat cognac across your tongue should do well enough to bring alive its flavours.
HEMANGINI GUPTA
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
