Shama Shama..

Barefoot in the park was the name of Evam’s latest play and this is an adaptation of Neil Simon’s play of the same title. This has been made into a movie starring Robert Bedford and Jane Fonda, and is of the genre of romantic comedy. The previous play by Evam, The Odd Couple, was also by Neil Simon and was pretty impressive and so there was a pleasant expectation about this one too. The story is about a newly wed couple Paul Barret and Corrie Banks who move into their six flights high, hole-in-the-sky hole apartment minus a bathtub. Corrie is all excited about finally doing something by herself but Paul does not share her rose-tinted view of the apartment and its arrangements. Things start hotting up when Corrie discovers a kindred spirit for adventure in their neighbour Victor Velasco, who is a 58year old gourmet and a perfect guy for her Mrs. Banks, Corrie’s mother, or so thinks Corrie. To indulge in her match making whims, inspite of Paul’s obvious disapproval of the entire idea, she invites her mother and her neighbour to dinner and then a series of events begins to unfold that lead to Mrs. Banks being found in Mr.Velasco’s house in his night robe and Corrie asking Paul for a divorce as she cant live any longer with a guy who is like a stuffed shirt when it comes to having any fun. Things then sort themselves out as they always do and we are left with a happy ending. Coming to the actual performance, Karthik was brilliant as the serious, practical, sarcastic lawyer Paul Barret and the role of Corrie banks was played by some one from Girsh Karnad’s group and she was pretty impressive in that part. The humour was not as simplistic as one would expect from a play written way back in the 60s and felt really fresh and smart. There was a comment on one of the blogs earlier about how Evam would handle the kissing scenes on stage and I must say they handled it pretty straightforwardly, making it look perfect, and not at all inappropriate. They also had this interesting bit, where the audience was out for a break and the scene immediately following the break was staged outside on the lawn, which was surprising and also really nice. The set for the play was designed by Michael Muthu, a veteran in the theatrical circles, and lived upto his reputation. The changes between the scenes were also handled very efficiently and there was some really simple and music being played between the scenes, with coupla really good dancers on stage for those bits all of which added to the mood of the scenes. There are more shows scheduled the next weekend and I would say its definitely worth watching.