It is rare for an enactment of a novel to match up to the source. Many nuances of writing – passages about atmosphere, insights into characters’ complex minds and motivations, or simply the artful arrangement of words – do not translate well to the visual medium.

Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone, in that sense, is a delight for the play/film-maker – a story of mass appeal told with a simple, flourish-free narrative.

Evam does a very decent job of the stage adaptation. This is one of those rare cases where I enjoyed the play more than the book.

With a 2+ hour run time (long for a play, yet I didn’t feel it) Five Point Someone follows the plot of Chetan Bhagat’s novel faithfully, adding some of the distinct "Evamish" touches along the way.

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[sic] was like watching a leisurely version of Seinfeld on stage.

Three 30-something characters – Theo (musician trained classically, he takes pains to tell us), Babette (author prone to borrowing money) and Frank (training to be auctioneer by reciting tongue-twisters) – share the floor of an apartment. These are the people we see; others exist in the framework but don’t make a stage appearance. There is a squabbling couple visible only through a silhouette in the window, a mysterious ‘Mrs. Jorgenson’ who is much talked about but never seen ‘live’, and Larry of course, the friend who affects the lives of all three.

These are grey characters with flaws obvious to the audience, if not to the characters themselves. Theo has no talent for composing, Frank doesn’t seem cut out for auctioneering and Babette’s book about "20th century outbursts" is clearly doomed. They are drawn together more out of locational proximity than because they trust or care about each other.

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Book tickets in advance, so we said.

How? Let me count the ways.

Over The Counter

Tickets can be bought at Ranga Shankara (36/2 8th Cross II Phase J P Nagar Bangalore 560 078), at their ticket counter right at the entrance. Tickets are usually available for the entire month, soon after the month’s schedule is announced.

Payment mode is cash only.

The ticket counter timings are: 10AM-12.30PM and 5PM-7.30PM; Monday is a holiday.

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Ranga Shankara, the well-known theatre facility in Bangalore, is where most of my play-watching happens. Presenting for you 5 simple tips to get the best out of your Ranga Shankara visits.

1. Be on time. A 7.30pm show will start exactly at 7.30pm. The doors shut when the show starts, and no matter who you are or what your compelling reasons for being late are, you will not be permitted entry after the doors close. No exemptions, no refunds for late comers. Don’t risk it, be on time.

   I speak from experience of commuting across half the city for an hour, and then missing a show by being two minutes late.

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