Shot+Sweet South India Theatre festival offered a good mix of serious and humorous skits

The 11th edition of the Short+ Sweet South India Theatre festival was presented by Prakriti Foundation, in collaboration with Alliance Francaise and Blu Lotus Foundation. The line-up included 10 plays, which were a good mix of serious and humorous skits. The plays showed how you could have good theatre with few props. And of course, they proved that short could be sweet. With the quick change of theme, audience interest never flagged.

From Mother, which captured the anxiety of a mother who is unable to handle the pressures of motherhood.
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy: Prakriti Foundation

The first play Mother captured the anxieties of Meera, who is unable to handle the pressures of motherhood. Her depression begins to border on dislike for her child.  Raji, a single mother of grown-up children, tells her that a mother’s  negative thoughts about her child are natural, when she is flustered. The message of the story is that unless society begins to see parenting an infant as a joint responsibility, new mothers will continue to feel edgy. 

From Oru Sunflower Story.
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy: Prakriti Foundation

In Oru Sunflower Story, the hero is in a fix, not knowing what gift to choose for his girlfriend, whose tastes are odd. For instance, she chooses a dress in grey, not because she likes the colour, but because very few choose grey, and she doesn’t want the colour to feel left out! One of the characters in the play was ChatGPT. Shubh Mukerjee twisted his body and contorted his face, to show ChatGPT trying to come up with a solution to the hero’s problem.

TheDrift was about a woman’s pain at being used and cast aside,  and her eventual self- realisation. In Manda Bathiram three siblings go in search of their father, aptly named ‘Running Ravi,’ because he runs away from responsibility. His head and torso, which have been separated by a sorceress’ spell, are put back together through another spell.  The play was well-executed, with a headless torso walking and the head swivelling on a table.  

Dabba Nadagam stood out for its well-synchronised moves mimicking a boat being rowed.
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy: Prakriti Foundation

Dabba Nadagam had some perfectly synchronised moves, mimicking a boat being rowed and the pitch of the boat. In ‘Mother, May I?’ Nila communicates with her dead mother through a tree. Falling leaves and crow droppings are taken as signs of approval or disapproval. Finally, Nila sees reason and decides to cut the apron strings.

A Memorable One with a cast of two was enjoyable to watch.
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy: Prakriti Foundation

The play A Memorable One, with a cast of two, was hilarious. Balaji (Sadasivam ) decides to propose in a unique way to Dolly (Mrittika), and hides the ring in a lobster, hoping she will find it. But she eats the lobster and doesn’t notice the ring. Balaji tells her a stomach pump will have to be used to get the ring out. He assures his alarmed sweetheart that a stomach pump is like a vacuum cleaner, and there is no need to be afraid. How she turns the tables on him is the twist in the tale. It was enjoyable watching the couple’s playful badinage. 

In A song on online dating, Preethi is single and thirty, which she finds a sad combination. Will online dating throw up something interesting? She decides to find out, with consequences she hadn’t anticipated. She is forced to seek the help of a therapist.  The story was told well through folksy tunes. Preeti realises that romance isn’t a joke and never has been. A song in the play consoles her in the tune of an MGR song ‘Andru vandadum adhe trauma, indru vandadum adhe trauma’ (It’s the same trauma now as it was then).

The plays were proof of the creativity of the scriptwriters, directors and actors, and each play was unique, with no repetition of ideas. But there was very poor voice projection by most of the actors. They should use mikes if they cannot throw their voices. It isn’t fair to let the audience piece together a story from what they can hear, and fill in the blanks as best they can. The actors were lucky to have an engaged and supportive audience, who hooted their approval of both humour and serious messaging.