‘Calangute Cocktales’ are separate tales all set in Room no. 302 at a resort in Goa. Adapted from Neil Simon’s California Suite series, it was presented by Dramatic Circle of Hyderabad at Ravindra Bharati recently.
The play is made up of four skits, each taking place in the same suite at different times. Two of the skits are low brow and slapstick, and two are intended to be bittersweet. Enacted by young and new artistes, the four skits were enjoyable largely because of the script and witty dialogues.
The artistes tried their best to get into their characters but apart from a few, the rest were conscious and amateurish. The best was Syed Shoeb, who played the husband’r role in the skit, We Too and the Hooker Too. His timing and expressions were good. Wedding BluesTrouble back to back
The first skit Wedding Blues was about the daughter (actor Poojitha) getting locked up in the washroom of the hotel just minutes away from her wedding night and how the parents cajole and bully her to come out of the room . Sudhir Yadav and Shikha Singhal Garg played the roles of the parents, while Syed Shoeb as the groom. The witty conversation between the parents was enjoyable despite the actors’ fumbling at times. Sudhir Yadav was good as Amit Reddy in thisskit Wedding Blues.
The second skit Joint Vacation, was about two families out on a vacation together. The group finds itself in a mess after one of them is injured and they blame each other for the mishap. The conversation was the saving grace for the skit, which brought few laughs, as the female characters seemed lost and the male characters too loud. Vishnu Vimal, Sughanda Narang , Aman Garg and Dhriti Trivedi formed part of the skit.
Trouble back to back, the third skit, was again humorous but the characters who initially seemed under control, lost their tempo and it ended up too loud towards the end. The skit is about the wife losing tickets for an event the couple was to attend; while searching for them, the husband trips and falls, ending up with a severe back pain and is literally on the floor writhing in pain. Even as the couple tryto call a doctor, the hotel management wants them to shift their room in order to accommodate a celebrity. The doctor is summoned to examine the patient and the skit ends with all the artistes falling one over the other. The performance of Vishnu Vimal as the man on the floor was good. Devashree Tiwari, Swarnalatha Sahu, Dilshad Chaku and Ankush Talreja were the other actors in the skit.
The last skit titled We two and the hooker too was about a husband finding a drunken hooker on his bed in the hotel room and his wife landing up in his room at the same time. How he tries to hide the hooker formed part of the skit. Syed Shoeb as the husband was at ease while performing this role and he carried it well. The audience did enjoy the witty conversation between the couple. Ujjyini Ray and Poojitha were part of the skit.
The music and sound were by Zakir Alladin and Jayanth Dwarakanath. The settings were tastefully done by Pranava Singhal and Aarti Phatarphekar. The props and costumes were designed by Divya Bavu and Dishad Chaku. The play was directed by Pranava Singhal, Aarti Phatarphekar and Charanjit Salujaa.
Enacted by young and new artistes, the four skits were enjoyable largely because of the script and witty dialogues.
