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Subtle humour
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Retell’s narrative performance was mesmerising
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UNFORGETTABLE The Pterodactyl’s Egg was haunting and imaginative
When Chennai’s Theatre Nisha staged “Retell” — a narrative performance based on the stories by Satyajit Ray and Goli Taraghi, the stage at Ranga Shankara sprung alive with the mesmerising and simple tales of “Patol Babu&
#8221;, “Bhuto”, “Pomegranate Lady and her Sons” and others.
Magic recaptured
Mainly performing one-act solo performances, “Retell” artistically recaptured the magic of the adapted stories of Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray and Iranian writer Goli Taraghi, designed and directed by V. Balakrishnan.
Sitalakanto Ray or “Patol Babu” as he’s known on stage was recreated in all aspects — from the costume, lights and shadow, a wooden bench as prop to the character himself.
Director and actor V. Balakrishnan was arresting as the keen, hopeful actor with a commanding voice. His lines were striking and engaging and the subtleties of humour in the otherwise emotional storyline were well-brought out.
“Bhuto” was another poignant and evocative portrayal of a ventriloquist’s desperation and angst. Varun Iyer was notable in his use of the dummy to vent out his frustration as an artiste.
With the supernatural element seeping into the otherwise impending gloom when the dummy takes on a life of its own, the torment was well drawn out.
“The Pterodactyl’s Egg” was haunting and imaginative — it evoked a time and mood with a simple setting of a lone bench again.
The body language and gestures, the absorbing lines was creatively enacted to draw you to the story with an unforgettable climax.
The characters were almost ethereal and the images created flew in and out in front of your eyes as the story progressed.
Goli Taraghi’s “The Shemiran Bus” was a dampener to the previous three Satyajit Ray’s adapted stories.
The acting was a bit too affected, the lines a bit too rehearsed and the actor was gushing rather than being natural and childlike.
South-Indian accents and Iranian tales don’t go hand-in-hand and it became a narrative of a mere rambling of lines — rather than a role which stirred up a mood and brought life into the character.
“Pomegranate Lady and her Sons” on the other hand was refreshing and touching. The depiction of the unsure first-time overseas traveller — “Mama Pomegranate” played by Sumukhi Suresh and the juxtaposition to the well-heeled traveller was interesting as it drew two parallels.
Using the airport as the imaginative background, the characterisation of the rustic, bewildered, unsettled villager and the self-assured, city-bred was interesting in the use of identity in such a space.
Dampener
“The Encounter” left one disappointed again. It seemed disconnected and poorly-edited in terms of the unpolished, dull acting that didn’t breathe life into the otherwise flat characters and revoke the drama of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979.
“Retell” was a sincere and commendable effort to bring on stage the perceptive stories of Satyajit Ray and Goli Taraghi.
With honest acting, well-timed and effective use of lighting, suitably-edited scripts, minimal props — except for the unnecessary inclusion of “The Shemiran Bus” and “The Encounter”, V. Balakrishnan did well to retell stories from West Bengal and Iran.
AYESHA MATTHAN
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