Goa’s small pocket of theatre fans are in
for an absolute treat on Sunday, August 16 as the state will play host to
‘Fourplay’, a production that has been making waves in other parts of the
country. Set to be staged at Kala Academy, the play has been produced and
directed by theatre personality Vandana Sajnani who has been churning out
plenty of stage-acts in the genre of comedy for the past decade. With star
casts including television and cinema stars taking to the stage, her work has
been met with a lot of positive response and success across the globe. Some of
her biggest hit productions include the likes of ‘Please Divorce Me Darling’,
‘Perfect Wedding’, ‘Love Hua Once More’, ‘Beauty Brains and Personality’ and
‘Knotty Affair’, amongst others.
Speaking on synopsis of the production,
Vandana says, “It is an ‘Indianised’ version of the Broadway production ‘Move
Over, Mrs Markham’ by Ray Cooney and John Chapman. Most of my work revolves
around the themes of relationships, love, extra-marital affairs and so on. I
love working with these concepts and adding a bit of an Indian twist to
things.”
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The play is set in a top-floor apartment in
Breach Candy, Mumbai, belonging to Raj and Pooja Malhotra. Raj is a publisher
of children’s books and shares an office with his partner, Bobby Chawla, on the
ground floor. Raj reluctantly agrees to let Bobby have the use of his flat for
the evening to entertain his ‘Honey’, little knowing that Pooja had
simultaneously been persuaded by her friend Brinda Chawla in similar vein to
entertain her ‘lover’. However, Joe, the interior designer who had spent the
previous three months furnishing the apartment, had picked that very night to
try out the new fancy bed with the housekeeping girl Chilli, unbeknownst to the
others. This marks the arrival of Mehrunisa Ansari, a famous author’s daughter,
as well as Hari Pal, a policeman, leading to chaos, confusion and mistaken
identities.
Goa has had a dearth of constant production
houses and groups that have come forth to publicise theatre as an art form.
This is something that Vandana finds befuddling and looks to change, with
‘Fourplay’ being her first step forward. “I have been travelling to Goa for a
long time now. The feedback that I receive from a lot of locals and many of my
friends is that Goa is starved in terms of theatre. I do not understand why as
it is ideal as far as infrastructure is concerned, with Kala Academy being a
great venue for such endeavours. Similarly, Goa has a huge English speaking
audience, who I believe will enjoy this form of stage art. Hence I decided to
bring the play to Goa. I am honestly looking to make a mark on what seems to be
a very promising audience. ‘Fourplay’ has garnered a huge response and great
reviews all over with repeated shows in various cities. I do not believe that
Goa will deviate from this pattern. The feedback that I have received is that the
show is almost entirely sold out thus far,” she says.
With rave reviews for being light hearted
and thoroughly entertaining, one can certainly expect Kala Academy to be
anything but its normally serene self, come August 16.
