The stage is pitch dark when a fireman walks onto stage. A light comes on. Other firemen troop in through unusual entrances (the side and top audience exits), take position, and the spotlight moves to another part of the stage .

When a surprising declaration is made, the moment is emphasized by abrupt darkening. When there is confusion, the lights quiver gently. When alarm, the curtain behind rises to reveal a wall-sized screen with a huge red silhouette. At the end, what remains is darkness broken by candlelight.

Fire spells destruction in the hands of arsonists who plague the unnamed city in this play, but the brilliant use of lighting serves to remind that fire can also mean light; we choose what it will be.

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How should an artist respond to a critic’s negative response to their work, especially if they think the critic has got it wrong? When dealing with brickbats, is it fair of an artist to expect other artists to rally behind in support, simply because they are of the same fraternity?

The recent spat between actor-playwright Leslie Jordan and theatre critic Elisabeth Vincentelli has been rather ugly, and it has raised many such questions about the nature of conversations between artist and critic, between artist and artist.

The Indian theatre scene is bereft of all such wars. I wonder if that is something to be pleased about or worried about. Better rows over well thought-out criticism than verbatim reproductions of the play’s promotional text, I say!

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On the face of it, Bust is about a treasure hunt, the quest for a mythical magical relic buried beneath an old temple. Actually, Bust is a big banner advertisement for the city of Bangalore.

No surprise there – Bust was developed under a Robert Bosch Art Grant as part of a research project about the city.

The play traverses Bangalore’s geography, history, demography, weather and what have you, throwing nuggets of information in various guises. Sometimes it is in a sparring "Did you know" game between two friends, sometimes in conversations about time and memory and identity. We pick up a lot of GK trivia in the process and chuckle over the little present-day details, like the profusion of women’s hostels in the city and sparrows at BIAL.

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Elling is a delightful Norwegian drama centered around the eponymous Elling and Kjell Bjarne, a pair of rehabilitated members from a "nuthouse" as they call it. They must make a success of independent living in a flat in Oslo or return to the asylum. The play traces their attempt at leading normal lives in the big bad world under the scrutiny of social worker Frank.

The script, based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen’s 1996 novel, is brought to stage by Dramanon, a group that’s made a forte of productions with highly individualistic characters and a quirky sense of humor. Elling sparkles with wit and very affectionately details its eccentric leads. The pace is laid-back but there isn’t a dull moment – you wait expectantly to know what the characters will say or do next.

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In writing about Tahatto’s A Funny Thing Called Life, Sowmya made a remark that set me thinking of how a theatre troupe’s ability to connect with the audience can overshadow one’s actual opinion of their performance.

After the play was over, members of the Tahatto troupe mixed with the audience, thanked them personally for coming to watch the show and asked them for their feedback with humility. That was enough. It takes care of the rest.

This does happen – we are swayed by how nice the actors were to us, sometimes more than by how well they acted. She mentions another experience of the actors narrating personal stories in between set changes. "That was surely the moment that decided that the audience would applaud in the end, no matter how the play turned out."

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Public places in our lives tend to have a certain kind of crowd gravitating towards them. For example, while there is a fair amount of diversity in the people dining at an American fast food franchise, one can clearly distinguish the people one would find there from the crowd one expects to spot at an army recruitment drive. Likewise, there is a set kind of people that come to mind when one thinks of the drama-watching types. "Maya Bazaar" starts to establish its uniqueness right from this area. The crowds for the play remind one of guests at a large family event rather than average theatre-goers. For those of you unfamiliar with "Maya Bazaar", it is a legendary mythological Telugu movie released in 1950s. The plot is a small chapter from the Mahabharatha that deals with Abhimanyu’s wedding. The play is a direct adaptation of the movie and is also in Telugu.

Once you step into the auditorium, the ambience hits your senses hard. The upper half of the performing area is completely covered with a satin curtain. The lower half is covered with a huge banner with a sequined border. It features Alamelu and Venkateshwara and in the background, and, you hear music that by now convinces you of being in a South Indian wedding.

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In an interview with Business Standard, Shabana Azmi makes a telling comment about the nature of characters in Broken Images.

The best feedback I got for this role was that the audience can’t make up their minds who the victim is and who the victimiser. I am pleased with that because Girish (Karnad) has built in enough ambiguity to make it a shifting equation.

She also talks of the unique predicament of rehearsing for this role, for which her sister-in-law Tanvi Azmi came to her rescue by playing the other part.

Read the full piece here: In her own image.

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