Backstage passes Exam

I watched the matinee show of Backstage's theatrical version of the film Exam today. The play, directed by Ahmed Rabieh, is cast in the mold of Cube and such, with a therefore somewhat predictable ending for those acquainted with this genre. Even so, there are plenty of twists throughout to keep the audience interested, starting from mere minutes into the play. One thing I liked about the writing is the world in which the play is set, which is gradually revealed later in the play, to much impact.

The character's archetypes and motivations, and the nature of the test are also slowly unraveled throughout. The acting quality and flow improved as the play picked up momentum; Amod Munga and Meera Almidfa were especially impressive. Costumes, set and props were good, and the play was executed commendably for all its technical demands.

Backstage short play night at Cartoon Art Gallery

Backstage's weekend of short plays at Cartoon Art Gallery began tonight with two Alex Broun minis and one hour-long by Woody Allen. There were some good scripts to look forward to, so I had high hopes.

Alas, the first play, Exiting, came out quite obviously jinxed. There was often insufficient -- and sometimes, even incoherent -- projection of dialogue, especially at the beginning, and especially from the slimmer of the two actors (who also seemed to wear a permanent smirk, regardless of what was going on with his character). His costar did a much better job with his character, saving the play somewhat. Of course, little could be done by the actors about the fact that both twists were pretty much given away in the program. The second play, Selling Johnny Depp, turned out a bit better, although the actors, especially the male ones, could really have done much more in terms of emoting.

Death

Death

The post-interval Woody Allen play, Death, was a refreshing breath of good theatre, though. With effort put into ensuring visibly good production value, and generally good acting and directing, it was about as entertaining as a play with that script should be. Apart from one instance of thick accent obscuring lines (especially given the acoustics at the venue) and a few fumbles, the delivery was good all around. My only recommendation: I would have preferred more Woody-esque deadpan from the lead character, rather than near-constant wide-eyed shock. Overall, Backstage pulled off a good job with this one; I wish the preceding ones were done as well.

12 Angry Jurors by Backstage

One of the highlights of this weekend was the Backstage theater group production "12 Angry Jurors", a mixed-gender version of Reginald Rose's 12 Angry Men. Set in the 50s, it's a story of how the dissent of a single juror against an otherwise seemingly cut-and-dried guilty verdict in a homicide case completely turns the verdict around. Directed by Rashmi Kotriwala with assistance from Aswathi Menon, the play was staged over three weekend evenings, with two matinees, at Kilachand Theatre in DUCTAC.

Foreman, and Jurors 2 through 4

Jurors 5 through 8

Jurors 9 through 12

I had not seen the movie, although I was acquainted with a brief synopsis. Therefore, at least for me, it was a gripping experience to watch how each juror was convinced to join the camp opposing the guilty verdict. The characters' own backgrounds and experiences are dragged into the deliberation room, as one flaw after another is found in case against the young man accused of killing his father. The climaxes of both halves was done well, thanks in particular to experienced actor Bryan Mackenzie's fiery portrayal of Juror 3. Relative newcomer Teresa Lundgren played the role of the empathetic Juror 8 pretty well too.

Some other especially strong performances were those of Saad Siddiqi as the composed and logical Juror 4, Arjun Burman as the frustrated foreman, and Alejandro Celli Diaz as the principled immigrant Juror 11. I was also generally pleased with the performance of Juror 5 actor Vanshi Kotru, who, by the way, made her acting debut as the female lead of my own directorial debut back in February. Altogether, the cast of 13 did a great job of it, especially considering that 10 of them had, till then, either acted in short plays or not at all. For a play in which all but one of the cast had to be on stage at all times, doing something or the other, this was impressive.

The directorial efforts of Kotriwala and Menon deserve praise; it's not easy when you have 12 people to monitor at all times, and a lot of dialogue to arrange. Production-wise, I think the 50s setting was done well, except the platform shoes of Juror 6 and the overall somewhat modern appearance of Juror 8. The women otherwise had decade-appropriate skirts and blouses, and the men looked the part as far as the cursory perception of the decade would go.

This was a great end to the 2012-2013 season for Backstage, and I look forward to the next season.

----------------------

Another, much more detailed review: http://zimbosinlimbo.blogspot.ae/2013/05/backstage-presents-12-angry-jurors-at.html

2nd Annual Backstage Awards

My theater group, Backstage, celebrated its second awards night this weekend, honoring the thespians active in the year gone by. Brent Jenkins and Salman Qureshi made a welcome return as the comedian host duo, and we all got a nice opportunity to dress up for a black tie event. I would have come anyway, of course, but I attended this time as a nominee as well. Honestly, the news that my directorial debut for STUCK earned me a nomination for Best Director of Short Plays came as a bit of a surprise, given that Short+Sweet starting just the week after our show weekend kind of limited our ability to draw in audiences from the theatrical community. Even so, it was an honor to be considered in the same category as my fellow nominees.