Hello Spring

A few weeks ago, I met two actors - Akhil and Suzanne at a friend's party. Akhil writes scripts for Hindi movies and is now also a playwright. Suzaanne, who's originally from the Frankfurt area, worked in Dubai for a while as a stage actress before moving to Mumbai. Here, she acts in movies and plays. We met at Shiro for the first time - a lovely setting to sow the first seeds of friendship. Akhil has adapted a play by Neil Simon for a Bombay audience and called it Hello Spring.

Since high-school, I've always had a secret dream of acting in a play. I did try some auditions, but failed miserably. So I've always admired stage actors and respect their art. I was very keen to hear about how Akhil and Suzanne collaborated on this play. I was also excited about meeting the actors after I saw their play and talking about first impressions I had. I saw them at their craft last Tuesday at Prithvi Theater, in Juhu. It was a play with only two actors, so it can be a challenge to keep the audience's attention consistently. They managed it quite well. It was a play about how two divorced people, who are reluctant to meet at first, fall in love instantly. It's also about the changes in their relationship from love-at-first-sight to complex situations in which memories of a former spouse, and dark moods could direct the new relationship to the garbage bin.

I must admit I was tingling with the romantic glee of knowing the actors personally and seeing them perform. My friend Arvind, an upcoming author, was politely critical when he said that the script was weak. I however was impressed with how naturally the actors played thier parts on the stage. They seemed to be playing themselves, and since they know each other, they were extremly comfortable with each other in the tense, humourous, and romantic scenes.

I went up to their dressing room after the play ended. It's the first time I've been to one, and seeing them wrap-up in the well-lit room with the mirrors, reminded me of so many movies I had seen.