August 08, 2008

Whale of a time


My father and I went together last night for the play- THE WHALE - part of the Hindu Metro Plus Theatre Festival - poor Navy had to opt out. Here is my father's review of it- echoes my sentiments as well

Ragamalika could perhaps be a single word to describe the performance of Mr. Adinolfi in 'The Whale'. Supported by an able (& intriguing) 'cast' of handcrafted props the solo performer brings out the fury of the whale, the awesomeness of the ocean, fatalism inherent in man's relationship with God and the desire of men to go beyond human capabilities. Based on 'Moby Dick', the play is all about imagery. Many of us could not grasp the words but that did not matter. On the flip side, this format did not call for the biology lesson on whales as well as a primer on whaling. Perhaps this was an attempt on the part of the director to remain true to the original.

The compere, a middle aged gentle man from Hyderabad, is my new role model. He also had a quirky explanation for 'Moby Dick' which kept mobiles off during the show.

To sum up The Whale is a really interesting solo act with a nimble actor who provokes you and stirs you.

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Meanwhile this movie review made me wonder if we were talking of the same movie or had I been to one that was masquerading as Kuselan. Here is my take ( para 5) in case you missed it.

2 comments:

Krishnan said...

Me too was perplexed today reading Malathi Rangarajan praising Kuselan to the skies in The Hindu. I guess she would have snoozed throughout the show and to make up for it praised it to the skies. She is definitely no Sudish Kamath.

Artnavy said...

i would have to agree
though Sudish also is a little biased when it comes to Kamal hassan