A loving couple, their ‘deaf’ cook, a colourful boss, two intruders, a lost ring, a doctor who never turns up... and an adventure with the ‘forbidden apple’. This is the synopsis of the upcoming Telugu play, Abbey Em Ledu, which will be staged in the city this weekend.
As intriguing as the plot sounds, the team is confident of the ‘knotty’ slapstick comedy tickling your funny bones. Though titled Abbey Em Ledu (meaning ‘nothing much’ in Telugu), it looks like the team has so much to put together.
This is Sutradhar’s first attempt at a Telugu play and we speak to noted director, theatre personality and actor Vinay Varma about directing it, ahead of the show that will be staged at Nishumbita in Begumpet on November 12 and 13.
Vinay shares that there hasn’t been much of a difference or challenge while directing his first Telugu play. In fact, he says it presents an exciting opportunity to explore the nuances of a language that is not his own, although he speaks Telugu fluently. “Also, not very often do I get to work with Telugu-speaking actors in theatre. As always, it was a great learning experience.
The language and grammar of theatre was not compromised either, further proving that art is not bound by language barriers. Besides, my experience of acting in Telugu films came in handy while directing the actors,” shares Vinay, who played some meaty roles in films such as Gentleman, Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava, Evaru and George Reddy, among others.
He strongly believes in refraining from being didactic as he puts a play together. From every act, he says, it is for the audience to decipher the layers of subtle themes. “Each one could have their own takeaway. The purpose is not to play to the gallery, but to help put out the writer’s idea to the audience with an honest intent. The audience sometimes comes up with a conclusion that the director never thought of. Therefore, the audience is a passive participant.”
As a performer, he says his job is to stick to the content and leave the rest to the audience. The play has been written by Sankaramanchi Parthasarathy, a man Vinay is all praise for. “Unfortunately, many writers like Parthasarathy garu have not been explored much in the city. His writings are at par with renowned writers of national repute. Although we had done the Hindi adaptation of the same play earlier, with resounding success, I personally felt that the wordplay in a comedy is lost in translation, hence the idea of presenting the original. The characterisation and situations in the writing itself are so tickling, you wonder why no big filmmaker made use of such talent to raise the bar of the crude comedies they create. Sadly, most writing today is focused on films, thereby exposing the huge lacunae of playwriting, if I may be allowed to use the term. We have made an addition to the cast towards the climax, whereas in the script the same character is speaking off stage,” Vinay laments.
He adds that theatre is all about adapting and improvising with the time and societal changes, without impacting the original idea. Besides Parathasarathy’s Abbey Em Ledu, Sutradhar has adapted Dongatakamu, and Prakhya Sree Rama Murthy’s Dayyam in English and Hindi respectively.
When we ask him about the cast and crew, especially more about the ‘lead’ actors, he’s quick to shut the idea down saying, “I don’t see theatre having lead actors. Every actor in a play is an indispensable part. The entire team of seven was a committed and energetic lot. You need to have crazy people to do theatre and I was fortunate to get them. All belong to different professions and would promptly start at the stroke of seven in the morning. The play also evolved through a workshop with different physical and voice exercises. There is, of course, an element of physical comedy in the play (although the script may not hint at that particularly), and our actors rose commendably to the situation.”
Professionally, the cast ranges from a corporate trainer and emcee to a dentist, an ad man to a businessman, a film art director to a US-based WFH employee, a corporate fitness company manager to a high-profile MNC team leader, a film student, a housewife, a storyboard artist and a YouTuber!
“The entire team would show up at 7 am for rehearsals, all of them giving their 100 per cent. Then, there’s the backstage team — the backbone of the performance. From setting up the stage, throwing missed lines during rehearsals, managing the costumes and props, relentlessly working on creating the right sound design, they were simply bang on. This opportunity of working as and in a team is provided only by theatre,” says Vinay.
Before he signs off, we ask him about his upcoming projects and he reveals that on the theatre front, two full-length plays are coming up, an intensive 30-day acting workshop is beginning soon too. On the film front, he awaits the release of Drushyam 2 in Telugu. He’s also involved as a dialogue writer, casting director and actor in Shriya Saran and Sharman Joshi’s bilingual Music School, which has Ilaiyaraaja and Adam Murray on board.
Abbey Em Ledu
When: 7 pm on November 12, 13
Where: Nishumbita, Begumpet
Duration: 45 minutes
Ticket cost: Rs 200