Classic New York rom-com Barefoot in the Park gets a Bengaluru staging with Gen Z cast and karaoke-style ’60s soundtrack
Bangalore Little Theatre — one of the oldest production houses, brings a Broadway classic, Barefoot in the Park to the city, this weekend. This Neil Simon play is a romantic comedy set in the 1960s in a fifth-floor New York apartment. We speak to the director Sridhar Ramanathan, who walks us through the production, directing rom-coms and the relevance of no-brainer plots today.
Could you briefly explain the plot of this play and the themes it explores?
Corie — a hyper-enthusiastic and positive young woman who believes in true love and charm, falls for Paul — a lawyer, who is just the opposite of her. Corie wishes for her mother’s happiness and sets her up with their neighbour, Velasco. The drama that unfolds during these pursuits forms the entire play. The theme centres on the quirkiness of love and interpersonal relationships that actively stand the test of time.
What drove you to choose this particular Neil Simon play and have you made any changes to the plot or retained the original?
We have retained the original because we did not want to touch a classic. The plot is simple and requires less thinking. We wanted to bring back some classic plays so people could see what the world had to offer. The only addition is the live music — sung in karaoke format by the crew and the audience. Four people are working on the songs from the late ’60s to early ’70s and the lyrics may be provided either by displaying them on a screen or shared digitally via QR codes.
This play has been staged as a national tour, a TV series, a Gene Saks film and even an HBO TV movie. Did you look to any of these adaptations for inspiration or did you deliberately want to not be inspired from them?
We deliberately wanted to break from them. I personally did not look at any of these things. I know they were there. I saw the script in college at BITS Pilani and it’s so popular that someone would have stumbled upon it. However, we are providing our interpretation of the play.
When you bring a story set in a city like New York to one like Bengaluru, is it easy or difficult to connect with the audience, considering its western roots?
Today’s audience is very exposed to periodic set pieces. Also, Bengaluru has an evolved and global audience. Take Peaky Blinders for example. They know that it’s a story set around the 1920s-30s while watching it. Establishing that connection is easier because we don’t have to emphasise relatability to the audience. However, in our play, we have replaced a few American names popular in the ’60s mentioned in the original dialogues, with those better known to the Indian audience.
What is the reason behind terming it a ‘fast-paced’ romantic comedy?
It is a classic New York-type humour, filled with repartee, like in Seinfeld or FRIENDS. The dialogue delivery is at a quick pace, with super-fast comic timing, which is the way Neil Simon structured his lines. The audience must catch the humour quickly, because once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.
Despite the number of times any acclaimed play has been presented to the audience, across timelines — there is always an unsaid pressure to make the play live up to its previously held success. How has the cast and crew dealt with this feeling and ensured to live up to those expectations?
They have risen to the challenge. When we present something like this, there’s always a set of expectations. We ensure that the cast has a good time performing and thereby translate the same energy onto the audience.
Considering the changing meaning of relationships today, what do you think it is, about this particular story of newlyweds ‘coping with life — and each other’ — that made you feel that it would be relevant for the audience, even after six decades?
The cast of our play — especially the leads — are Gen Zs, who find their characters absolutely relatable. When one sees Corie, they will recognise a Corie or a Paul, in their lives. The way the characters are written makes it relevant even in 2026.
What do you want the audience to take away from the play?
The audience must have a good time laughing and enjoying their time witnessing these characters.
INR 500. July 25 & 26, 3.30 pm & 7.30 pm. At Jagriti Theatre, Ramagondanahalli.
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