What Others Say: Brief Candle

The Hindu (Bangalore) has a review of “Brief Candle” in the paper today. They aren’t too impressed with the play.

When Dattani directs his own plays he works with his actors to further tighten the script. One wishes that Lillette Dubey had taken this liberty because the script sounds clunky in many places.

Read The Hindu’s full piece here.

Other publications seem to have liked the play more. The article in Time Out (Mumbai) has interesting observations about the set and the lighting.

The light shining on the steps behind one of the white door frames makes for a nice effect for a visit from the beyond. It sits well with the set that’s largely made up of white curtains, a very basic hospital bed and a table, and the cast who mostly seem to float around in cotton pajamas and loose hospital gowns.

Read Time Out’s review here.

LiveMint has quotes from Lilette Dubey and Mahesh Dattani about the play. An excerpt:

In spite of the subject, Dattani insists the play doesn’t even border on tragedy. “Although there is death, I do not want to classify it as a tragedy. In tragedy, you are left with a great sense of loss. It is a comedy in the true sense of the word because it does leave you with a sense that the characters have gained some understanding of their lives,” he says.

The classification is a pity, I think. For many viewers, me included, one reason for disappointment with the play was the feeling that its promotional text had misled us. We went expecting to laugh, but there was little cause to laugh in this play.

Read LiveMint’s piece here.