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Love…in heady circles

Photo: S. S. Kumar

Laugh riot ‘Love in a Tub’

Love in a tub can get complicated. Especially, when the tub in question becomes the focal point of a comedy of errors.

Virat and Aamir Raza Husain’s latest play, ‘Love In A Tub’, recently premiered in Chennai, before moving on to Bangalore, Kolakata, Mumbai, Jaipur, Agra and Delhi.

The play, hosted by WelcomTheatre (an initiative of the Park Sheraton and Chola Sheraton) was a farcical, over-the-top, old fashioned British comedy, just the kind guaranteed to bring in audiences in droves.

Though veteran theatre artist Aamir insists that while comedies are easier to travel with, and always an attractive proposition for an evening out, any well-produced play will attract large audiences.

“It’s easy to connect with any kind of theatre,” he says, “I don’t classify theatre as a comedy or tragedy. It all boils down to the treatment. You can take a great play and mess it up….” he says, adding that for a play to work, the director and producer need to pay attention to every single aspect of the production.

“Sets, costumes, make-up, lights, sound… all these are part of the play,” he says, “You can get every single thing right and then one wire that messes up the sound can ruin the play.”

Aamir adds that audiences for theatre have increased, but expectations have also gone up. Which brings us back to ‘Love In A Tub’.

Undoubtedly, the company has made an attempt to live up to their reputation for elaborate sets. (Their high point was recreating the City Of Ayodhya, the jungle and battlefield for ‘Legend Of Ram’ where the audience was moved from scene to scene on railway tracks.)

Since this is a show on the road, the sets are considerably less complicated. However they still manage to capture the grandeur of old Westminster hotel, with its faux marble lobby and discreet, slightly-stodgy old-world charm.

The acting, on the other hand, did need some work. Most of the actors — with the exception of Aamir — started out stilted, though they did warm up as the story progressed.

A tale of dangerous liaisons (which is incidentally the name of the play during which Aamir and Virat met almost two decades ago), the convoluted story revolved around a two-timing British MP (Aamir), who’s staying at the Westminster with his wife, and trying to conduct an affair with his secretary in the next room. Matters aren’t helped by the fact that she’s planning a dirty afternoon with his assistant.

And his assistant is pretending to be a gay man with a weakness for a boy named Ted. And the MP’s secretary’s husband’s name is Ted.

And everyone seems to spend a good amount of time jumping in and out of the MP’s bedroom, and tub.

The story was funny, riddled with that signature humour of yesteryear Britain: politically incorrect jokes about other ethnic groups and flaming double-entendres.

Though it did tend to get a little tedious over the course of the two hours that it ran, the play certainly had its moments, managing to take the audience on a journey frequently punctuated by giggles.

“It’s a fun comedy,” said Virat with a smile, “The idea is to have a good, relaxing evening, where you just laugh your guts out.” She adds, “And, as an actress it’s great fun to make your audience laugh.”

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