Written by Neil Simon as an homage to the short stories by Russian playwright Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, The Good Doctor, directed by Srilalitha Pamidipati, is a collection of four vignettes that expose the ridiculous, tender, outlandish, ludicrous, innocent and weird frailties of human beings. “This is going to be a comedy performance. It is based on farce, slapstick and the pathos of life. The audience can expect complete laughter. We had three housefull shows, so far, and people have given great reviews about how funny it is in the best possible sense. People can expect good acting, lovely storytelling and a lot of laughter,” Srilalitha Pamidipati begins.
The play has been adapted to the Indian milieu, with the four vignettes being based in four Indian languages — Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali. When asked about the idea of adding Bengali to the list, the director reveals, “I have always been a fan of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The premise of that vignette beautifully adapts to, in a sarcastic way, the famous Devdas. I tried to bring that context into the story, so that the audience can relate to it but it has got nothing to do with Dev’s story. If you look at the vignettes, it is typically dry wit. I have enacted one of the vignettes and that’s how the inspiration comes to me.” Talking about her love for comedy, the director reveals that she has always been in love with comedy because it is the toughest genre to direct. “If you are working on drama and pathos, that’s something people can link with but to make people laugh, that’s a challenge.
The performance has been showcased thrice before and it was only fitting for us to ask if any changes are being planned for the upcoming performance, to which Srilalitha answers, “For the first three shows, we didn’t change anything, but for the upcoming shows, we are trying to add a few more things. When it comes to comedy, you always go back to the same joke because you know you will end up laughing at it. So, you really don’t look for a new joke. We are trying to keep that humour consistent instead of changing it every time.” Srilalitha has played with the lights to bring out various moods, pauses and silences. Coming from a textile background, costumes have always been an important factor for her. “The moment you put a person on the stage in a specific costume, you immediately make a connection with the character. Also, the mood of the story has been played through the music,” she adds.
“We want to finish at least 10 performances in Bengaluru covering all the theatres and zones. Then, we want to take the production to other cities like Pondicherry, Chennai and Hyderabad,” she says, signing off.
INR 300 onwards. January 7, 3 pm. At Medai – The Stage, Koramangala.
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