Ek Tha Gaddha – Naatak Play Review

Ek tha gaddha urf Aladad Khan is a brilliant satire, penned by Shard Joshi. Vain and narcissistic leaders always provide much fodder to artists, writers, and performers.  The play begins with a foolish Nawab on the lookout for a perfect opportunity to provide help to his subjects. His search for this opportunity has less to do with genuinely helping his people and is more about satiating his oversize desire to attain glory and get his name entered into history books.

Naatak, a prominent and largest Indian theater company in the United States, has performed for over 25 years and their plays have been seen by more than a hundred thousand people. Naatak has been declared Best Live Theatre in Silicon Valley by the San Jose Mercury News for the past six years in a row. After closing due to the pandemic, Naatak opened for live performances, at the outdoor amphitheater in San Jose, with Ek Tha Gaddha, with the lead role played by none other than fabulous and beloved Harish Agastya. 

No court of a foolish leader is complete without philosophers who adorn the court, primarily to sing praises of the king and discuss and opine over a myriad of silly issues. Chintaks played by Tannistha Mukherjee, Jai Jhala, and Rohit Dube looked hilarious discussing with great seriousness such matters as whether the time arrived before them or they arrived before time.  Natraj Kumar as Kotwaal carried out his tasks of announcing the king’s arrival and his declarations with a proper air of haughty arrogance. Roshni Datta was marvellous in her role as Kotwal’s girlfriend, Ramkali. 

Dhoban, Anjali Kirloskar was genuinely grieving her beloved donkey Aladad Khan’s passing. However, Nawab was led to believe that Aladad Khan was a poor but much loved citizen. Nawab decided to use the opportunity to get involved, make speeches and mark his death with a national period of mourning. Thus progresses the play with song, dance and rambunctious humor. Gullible citizens are taken for a ride in this hilarious play, even as we get to witness the brute power of the state. 

To get tickets for this not-to-miss post pandemic play, performed in Hindi, go to www.naatak.org .

“Rumors” by Naatak – Play Review

I was not expecting a great deal from NAATAK company’s most recent on stage production of Neil Simon’s “Rumors”. After all, farce is one of the most challenging genres to perform. A farce is a comedy in which everything is absolutely absurd and usually involves some kind of deception or miscommunication. People are not forgiving when it comes to laughter and lame comedy tragically falls short in generating laughs. Add to that the challenging part of translating humor into another language and culture. The play is in Hinglish with supertitles in clear English projected on top of the stage.

 

However, my worry was unfounded. This performance is by NAATAK and in every show NAATAK meets the challenge head-on and delivers the best. In Rumors, five couples invited to celebrate a sixth couple’s anniversary, find that the host has shot himself, hostess is missing, servants are nowhere to be seen and the dinner isn’t prepared. What ensues is a brilliantly interwoven performance of farcical missteps, outlandish lies, and dialogs so hilariously delivered that you will be in stitches, in no time. 

 

First, there is an exceptional cast of actors with Kamala Subramananian, Chaitnya Godsay, Ekta Brahmkshatri, Ritwik Verma, Anjali Bhide, Natraj Kumar, Roshni Datta, Chanpreet Singh, Bruce Blau, and Deanna Shinsky.  There are also ubiquitous Chakra and Meera, the host and the hostess who never quite make an appearance but drive the events from the shadows.

 

The title of this play (given by original playwright) is well suited for Naatak’s performance, adapted to Indian socialites. While on one hand, well meaning friends are driven to protect the scandal of the day (details of it are not yet fully known to them) and on the other hand, there is equally well intentioned and cultural proclivity to share about the scandal (to find and lend support), and to fill holes in the missing details.

 

The dialogs are nothing short of brilliant. Here’s how it goes between two people at the party,
“She has a thing you know”.
“What sort of a thing”?
“She is doing something with somebody, somewhere”.

There is also sarcasm in hinglish. Here’s one dialog.
“I am melting”.
“So are the planets. But that we can manage.
Aap ki mange
Environment ke aage.”

Kudos to Director and translator of the original script, Naatak’s marvelous, Harish Agastya. Everything comes together brilliantly in “Rumors”, with witty script in Hinglish, plethora of underhand comments, sarcasm, complex storyline, unbelievably nutty sequence of events, ridiculous cover-up and dynamic fabrications, events that unfold in slapstick manner, neurotic cast of characters who successfully deliver ingeniously funny moments, elegant costumes that indicate high socialite status of Silicon Valley’s Indian socialites and exceptional staging, sound and light. This is a not-to-miss play of this theater season for all theatergoers in Silicon Valley. Naatak has 5 more shows and is running till March 1, at the Cubberley Community Theater in Palo Alto. There are few tickets left for some shows. Tickets can be obtained at http://www.naatak.org .