So when Goblin production’s "Gentlemen" played out as a stand up comedy routine, one was left crying for the criminal waste of stage and good actors. I may as well have been at a restaurant watching the show, with a chicken wing in my right hand and a beer in the left.

Gentlemen is essentially and wholly about the phallus; an attempt to explore male sexuality just like the famous "Vagina Monologues". but it’s an attempt made at a very surface level and one that is clearly meant to play to the galleries.

The script deals with four male characters with their individual stories about their adventures with their members. So there’s the man who suffers from erectile dysfunction, another who refuses to use a condom and can not see the sense in it. A boy who has just discovered masturbation and an old aging man who speaks of his troubles taking a leak in the tube and how he misses the simple act of just walking to the bathroom instead. A female character is introduced as the last act who administers quite a dressing down in a typical female rant against men and their ways.

The writing is mostly funny, albeit, nothing startlingly new or fresh – we’ve all heard these jokes before. It seemed to have been written, as I said earlier, as a stand up comedy act and not a theatrical piece.

There is hardly any movement for the actors and there is practically no use of lights. The sound, supervised by Amjad, left much to be desired.

What saves the production from complete disaster is decent performances. All actors had great comic timing and made the most of the evidently poor directions they were given. But even that could not save the evening from getting mundane and predictable. The humor in the sex jokes dries up faster than an open bottle of spirit and the surface level treatment of the subject at hand, aimed clearly as being a slapstick comedy, begins to gnaw at you brain.

And when the woman enters, all set to run riot in man world, one knows all too well where it is going. But what surprises you, in an absurd turn of events, is the sudden profundity introduced by the female narrator, recounting the eve-teasing and other common incidents that every woman has gone through in her life. Suddenly, it is not funny. While the intention of the writing is good, the sudden change in pace does it in. One is left feeling awkward about the situation rather than empathize and introspect.  Perhaps a bit of a lead in would have helped.

All in all, "Gentlemen" is the kind of production which can be watched if you’d like to, as they say, leave your brain behind and go have some fun. And I say this because many in the audience had come with that intention and got what they wanted. It’s the sort of David Dhawan version of theater if you will. If you’re looking for an interesting exploration of male sexuality with enough theatrical magic packed in, then you better sit this one out.

Jim Jacob’s and Warren Casey’s 1971 musical, based on a high school in 1950s "greasers" – the working class kids of America at the time as they were known, is an absolute charmer of a production and also a tough nut to crack. But Laila Alvares’s production did perfect justice to the play and the sheer vibrancy that made Grease- Grease and Travolta- Travolta in the film version.

Anyone who follows theatre in Bangalore knows all too well of Laila Alvares’s penchant for musicals and her ability to pull them off with tremendous style and aplomb. This one is no exception either. It leaves you with the kind of energy and buoyancy that you have been longing to see on the stage.

Grease is about high school working kids of the 1950s America. This particular story deals with a love affair, but that is hardly the plot.

Laila Alvares brings to fore the blistering color of the charming youth of the age. This one has a tremendous production value, with an extensive set and a multitude of costumes. Add to that a quite terrific live band to churn out all the numbers, a group of (like twenty odd) singers who can belt those numbers from Grease like they were there when it was being composed, and of course dancers cum actors who could really move to the beat and own it, and you have the most delectable potpourri you could’ve asked for.

In a musical fiesta like Grease sometimes even bad acting is pardoned or ignored, but there was no need for it here, for the acting was up to the mark to accompany the dancing and the music, which was the obvious star. It is not the sort of layered script that demands high performances from characters, but bad acting can really stick out like a sore thumb. All that was required was to have an optimal amount of it to keep supporting the dance and the music, and that it did quite capably.

Laila Alvares and her quite capable army pulls off yet another musical in great style. This one’s not a theatrical marvel, nor does it try to pretend to be, but its the kind of theatre that only Laila Alvares does around here in Bangalore, and perhaps for that reason alone you will want to catch it when it happens.

Grease has shows from 31st July to 3rd August 2010 at Chowdiah Memorial hall.  Differential ticket pricing.

Nino D’Introna and Giacomo Ravicchio’s Robinson and Crusoe is the type of play that takes a simple situation and explodes into asking questions that are true and basic to human nature. When two soldiers from different lands find themselves wrecked atop a roof on an island, they do what seems only natural at first – fight for survival, be suspicious of the other and be on a constant vigil. Whoever loses track loses this Russian roulette.

They speak different languages, eat different things, listen to different kinds of music and sing different songs. Yet once they are done trying to fight each other and have come to terms with their physical parity they are left with little choice but to try and coexist. It’s then the human spirit prevails and demolishes all boundaries and identities that supposedly define us. They now understand each other, even though they continue to speak different languages.

The genius of the script lies in the fact that it is timeless; purely because it leverages on basic human themes that will exist forever – irrespective of how advanced and technologically savvy we get. That struck me as marvelous. One can’t help but observe the shrewdness with which the script thumps its relevance in a world where we are all too keen to outline identity and race. It doesn’t mock us, but reminds us of our inherent xenophobia.

The production, directed by veteran Gracias Devraj, offered a high-energy blast that was gripping from start to finish. The set was a roof top atop a blue sheet that sprawled across the stage symbolizing the ocean surrounding the island. As interesting as that was, we were then introduced to the two soldiers who were abandoned on the island, left only to fend off each other. The fight sequences were choreographed commendably and the actors’ effective execution saved it from the pitfall of looking amateurish and lame.

The points that stood out for me in this production were the brilliant use of music, lights and the fact that one of the characters speaks gibberish which by itself alienates the audience from the character and instills the same dread and fear that the English speaking character goes through. There are many moments in the play that make you applaud the script and direction. The scene where both characters get drunk and laugh and dance while it is raining bombs and bullets from the sky is just heart-warming, and an announcement of their victory over fear of war and death.

Having said that, the gibberish character seemed to have been played a tad one-dimensionally. He seemed high on energy all the time and one did not get a chance to have a look at the softer side of his personality. Doesn’t he miss his son whose picture he showed off so proudly? The tone seemed constant through the play almost making the character seem inhuman.

The other point that could have been done better was the build up of their friendship and the eventual parting. One does not feel for the parting more than the script permits one to. The execution falters somewhere in getting us to feel the friendship and the pain of the tragedy on discovering that their homes are in opposite directions.

But these are just minor glitches on a fantastic production that gives you a classic theatre experience. Go enjoy the fights, the laughter, the fear and the pain. In seventy crisp minutes, Robinson and Crusoe promises to take you through a roller coaster of emotions and even though the end is a tad saddening you applaud the playwrights for having taken the more logical route rather than orchestrating a happy ending. This one’s a winner all the way.