I went to the Music Academy today, at 7.15 in the evening, expecting to see just another play. Some of those that have been part of the The Hindu Theatre Festival have been good, some not so good. This one was excellent. I’ve seen quite a few of the plays shown here and this one is possibly the most immersive one I’ve seen.
The Ristorante Immortale is possibly in the middle of nowhere (it certainly has no customers), but has five characters, each with their own idiosyncrasies; the boss who seems to show unwavering faith in the potential for his restaurant to succeed, the cook who seems perpetually grumpy, and three waiters, an old one who’s always trying to keep up, a vain young fellow who’s always examining his own reflection in cutlery, and the new guy, eagerly trying to stamp his place. The best part is how well the actors show emotion, remarkable because they speak no words and have oversized masks for heads. Slumped shoulders, shuffling feet or a bright, brisk walk make you almost picture the mask speaking. How could something be so sad and so funny?
The five seem to live their little lives wanting to believe that there is a purpose. Each day they prepare the restaurant for patrons and at night, they each immerse themselves in their dreams, something that is almost tragic considering the circumstances they’re in. There’s bullying, there’s hilarious cartoon chases, and some very nice accordion music but the comedy is interspersed with moments of complete melancholy. Frankly, this is the best show I’ve seen as part of this Theatre Festival, and considering the near complete standing ovation the players were given, I’d say most shared my belief.
Damn arts college students.
Oh, there were lots of non-arts college people there too. Lots of people.
Nonsense. No engineers would have been there. They’re all on tour.
Nah, no engineers I knew. Frankly, I wonder which demographic they belong to.
Engineers belong to the demographic that worry about the monthly test on Monday without actually studying for it.
Ha ha, I was wondering which demographic the people who went to the show belonged to.
But accurate enough about the engineers.
Marc, I asked whether you’d come along with me to one of the plays. You flatly refused and here you’re blaming poor George.
They have the time, the energy and the state of mind for it.
You should have gone, Marc. See, Arun is an engineer and he has the energy for it.
But he didn’t.
He didn’t go because he didn’t have any company. No company leeches out energy, you know.em
Exactly. When I asked my class-mates to come along they weren’t even aware such a thing was on. They cited on-going cycle tests as an excuse.
They cited cycle tests as an excuse to not know? You have strange classmates, Arun. But I’m not too surprised, I suppose they don’t read the newspaper either?
Nope. I wouldn’t expect them too. Engineering students suck.
I have seen them read newspaper in my library. They would switch right to the sports section to see the scores of the Indian batsmen or to the movie ads to know the time of each show.
I mean in my college library.
Ha ha, yeah, I do something similar. My newspaper reading style is: First Page and related, Last page, then read backwards to the editorial page in the center, then second page upto the editorial in the center. For The Hindu. The DC is First»Last»Read back from there, but I think that’s more of a habit carried over from the other newspapers.
Yeah my collegemates do that too. Most times they skip to the movies section in Tamil papers and look at the pictures.
The funny thing is, I can’t read any other way, makes me feel incomplete.
Ristorante Immortale, was one play – mime, enacted with amazing telepathy, and at many points I felt as if the stage was shifted through varying dimensions and energy dynamics.