Play Time - Skylight

Skylight

File picture

During wedding season in Delhi, one would be considered a little mad to undertake the expedition to drive all the way from Noida to Chhattarpur to watch a play in an obscure little theatre during rush hour. The traffic snarls, horrendous as they are, get compounded in the glorious winter months by the additional cars out and about buying outfits, gifts, getting venues ready, exchanging formalities between both marriage parties and whatnot, thereby creating what I would describe as a mind-blowing clusterf**k you don’t want to be stuck in voluntarily. 

But we did, and into all this chaos on a Friday evening we dived. With some clever manipulation of Google maps, we made it in an amazing two hours (would have taken way longer otherwise) to just about catch the start of Skylight, a play showcasing the relationship between a man and a woman at the Oddbird Theatre, hoping that the bloody long and excruciating drive - as long as it takes to fly from New Delhi to Kolkata - was justified by the performance so I didn’t have to kill anybody after. 

File picture

The play, set in London, deals with the complexities of relationships, the flaws of human character and a love tested by strong personal convictions, clash of wills and circumstances beyond the control of the protagonists. Written by Sir David Hare and directed by Deepa Dharmadhikari, the storyline was realistic, convincingly executed and totally worth our time. 

The character of Kyra Hollis was brilliantly played by Vidushi Mehra as an idealistic, suffering, righteous teacher at a school located in a dodgy neighbourhood. Samar Sarila, who played the role of Tom Sergeant, an arrogant restauranteur trying to win back his lost love, pretty much nailed his part and was thoroughly entertaining in his sarcasm and comic timing. Danish Sood playing the role of Sarila’s son was endearing in his portrayal as a confused and angry young man struggling with loss and yearning for his father’s attention and affection.  

The Oddbird theatre, nestled in a small niche in the middle of nowhere - as is a common occurrence with most of these hidden gems in Delhi - was a pleasant surprise. The small, cozy little place, which seemed more like an art gallery than a theatre, made for a very informal and relaxed atmosphere. The setting had no separation between the stage and the audience and it was almost like a private performance in your living room. I was sitting on one of the cushions right in front as the chairs ran out so of course had stretch out privileges too. 

File picture

The intimacy of the space seemed to blur the lines between the cast and the audience and at one point after yet another sarcastic response made by Tom to Kyra the audience burst into laughter and Sarila got caught up in the moment himself for a tiny second. That little slip I thought, lent the performance a personal touch, as if the audience too had a role in the happenings on stage. Some also got caught up in a bit of the angst and a few quiet tears were shed too. 

In many plays I’ve ended up zoning out for long periods - very short attention span. However, this one didn’t allow me to. Kept pulling my attention back, probably because of the close setting and the fact I was sitting right under the performers noses, but more so because of the compelling acting and storyline.   

I really enjoyed the play - if that was not apparent till now - and not because I’ve known one of the performers for a long time but because it was truly well done. For those interested in watching it, Skylight will be returning to the Oddbird Theatre from Feb. 24 - 26. It would be an entertaining two hours. 

Sunday Mall Madness

Mall of India, Noida

At first glance this could easily be mistaken for a railway station - a really posh one- at rush hour right? It's actually the food court in Noida's new Mall of India on a Sunday afternoon. This is the mall I've been waiting for, for years and apparently so has every other resident in the city and neighboring districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Before the Mall of India, the city had very few good dining, shopping and entertainment options and one would have to travel miles away to those in Delhi's Saket or Vasant Kunj or even cross two state lines to get to Gurgaon. The only mall of consequence, The Great India Place, about whose food court I went on a rant a couple of years ago, stopped being much good after the initial few years of its opening.

Now, with 2.7 million square feet of stores, restaurants and gaming, we need to look no further. The mall has well known brands like Zara, Marks and Spencer, the largest H&M in the country, Forever 21, Cole Haan, Gap, Hamley's and stores such as Armani Exchange are also on their way to opening their shutters. The shops also have large floor areas thereby giving customers a wider range of merchandise. 

It's also entertainment bonanza for the kids. The top floors have movie theatres, Fun City, a play centre for Kids with bumper cars, some rides and gaming options and Smaash, a gaming centre where you can hit cricket balls against a virtual opponent, play soccer, go bowling and have scores of video games to burn your money on. The piece de resistance though, is Ski India, the country's biggest snow park where you can go bob-sledding, tobogganing, tubing or just jump around in the snow. The lines for this place are unbelievable and if you don't come early on a weekend, there's little chance you'll even get to go in.

Now all these gaming areas are accessed through the food court. So, even though it is India's largest, with a 1,000 people seating capacity, on a Sunday, it was totally inadequate and practically bursting at the seams. There were easily three times the number of people the hall could accommodate and it took us two hours to get our food. We had planned to get lunch before the Angry Birds movie which started at 12.15 p.m. and decided on the food court as everyone wanted to eat different cuisines. Alas, being Sunday, we got lazy and missed the opportunity. So by 2.30 pm, when we emerged from the hall, it was madness. There were no tables free and people were hovering over occupied ones with a hawk eye ready to grab the seat as soon as their occupants finished.

Waiting for a table standing to one side with the two brats I was pleasantly surprised when in a few minutes a gentleman approached me and pointed to the table his family was vacating. Another lady from behind dumped her bag on the seat and was categorically told by his wife that the table was going to us. How sweet of them. It was nice to experience kindness from random strangers. I thanked him profusely.

Chairs are a premium. While the hubby was getting the food I was approached by at least 10-12 people who were polite enough to ask if the chair was free. One woman didn't even bother. She just grabbed hold and started taking it away. The `hey! someone's going to be sitting here' stopped her. How uncouth some people are. You get to experience all kinds of people in a crowded place.

In the two hours it took us to get the food - my husband and I took turns - one chair got swiped by someone which we managed to replace. Then the hubby saw a little boy holding an even smaller boy protectively on a table without any chairs while the mother went to get food so he gave him one of ours. He's a nice guy that way. Very generous in thought and deed. We got another chair soon after.

I don't see the rush abating in the near future as we are heavily dependent on malls for entertainment for at least seven months of the year because the scorching sun makes outdoor activity near impossible during the summer months. At temperatures ranging from 40 - 47 degrees Celsius only the very brave would go out gallivanting in parks and open spaces. We make full use of them in winter though. The developer of the mall has hit a gold mine and is well set for a good number of years before he sees any likely competition.

While in my earlier post I lamented about the quality of fare at Great India Place, this mall has no such issues. The range at the food court is large and the quality good. Dining options range from fast food such as Dominos Pizzas to KFC and Rolls King selling Kathi rolls to oriental options like Kylin and The Bento Cafe, which sells pretty good Asian food in box combinations including Malaysian black pepper crab, prawns in sriracha sauce and duck in tamarind sauce with fried rice or Japanese chilli udon noodles or Thai noodles. It's not cheap and the portions are small but the food is good. It's early days yet. Lets hope the quality remains the same and the standards don't go down. Right now I'm happy to have quality food and entertainment in my backyard.

Happy Happy Beats

Human Rhythms, A Real Spirit Lifter

 

 

 

 

On Saturday night I experienced something truly unique. It involved drums, a plastic  tube and loads of laughter. I had gone for a BNI networking group function where I was exposed to Human Rhythms, a drumming outfit that helps in team building exercises through musical beats. As I entered the hall, I knew I was in for a good time judging by the looks of merriment in everyone's faces and the sounds of the beats.

We were sitting in a U shaped formation and sections of people were given different coloured tubes. Each group was then given a different beat to tap out on their hands and the conductor then fused it into a harmonious rhythm. Our hands were smarting like hell with all the tapping and but it didn't matter because we were having such a ball. We then moved on to the drums and the same happened there. Sadly, I only caught the last 20 minutes and was really disappointed to have missed the other small instruments like tambourines, sticks and daflis. I just hope to get the opportunity to experience it again.

I can see why this is used in team building exercises because even if you don't know anyone in the room, the sheer fact that you're doing something so enjoyable and positive with a whole group of people, automatically gives you something to talk about. The beats, the laughter, the fun way the composer engages you are all truly designed to lift the spirits and forget the rest of the world for that (always too short) amount of time.

In December 2010, Radhika Bahl, who decided she had had enough of her 9-6 job, cut out and took up the Human Rhythms' India franchise in Gurgaon. She had experienced this in London a few years ago, the memory stuck and she started it in India. They do only corporate engagements and require a minimum of 20 people otherwise there's not much sound impact. The more, the merrier. There's a variety of compositions that you can choose ranging from a three minute session involving no instruments, just body parts, up to 90 minutes. For all those looking for something truly out-of-the-box to liven up a boring business convention, this is a definite must do.

 

Video. Flash player required