Stray Factory’s conception of theatre differs considerably from the traditional long winding plays. Encapsulating six short theatricals into a one-hour session, their Jollytown has sailed to six countries including Malaysia and has won accolades (like Emerging Artist award) at Short and Sweet Film Festival in Los Angeles. “We focus on narrating globally relevant tales with a local aesthetic,” explains founder-director Mathivanan Rajendran, when asked about their modus operandi. “All our actors are involved in devising the show—from ideation to the direction and presentation on stage,” he adds. 

Thoughtful laughter
The crew at Stray Factory intends to provoke thought through laughter, as their popular YouTube channel Rascalas (which features videos with as many as 2.3 million views) proves. Jollytown is no different, with its most famous work My Name Is Cine-ma being a fun take on a fictional land of movie aficionados. “About 70-80 per cent of the show is comedy driven while trying to communicate contemporary themes to the crowd through commonplace things,” says the 32-year-old Mathivanan. 
The audience will also move through time as the settings vary from a pre-Independent Pondicherry in Carpouram to Jollytown, which dramatises a futuristic Chennai of 2065. Jollytown also brings to the stage movie figures like Roshan Mathew (of Anandam fame) and Pooja Devariya (of Iraivi fame).“My solo performance dramatises the tale of a Malayali boy who migrates to Mumbai and gets consumed by the city of ambitions,” says Roshan, who’s tweaking a story by playwright Purva Naresh.
 

At JTPAC on June 18 at 7 pm
`300 onwards
Details: 8086881681