This story is from June 21, 2015

Art: A play about friendship

A friendship is tested when one of three pals decides to show off a recently acquired expensive painting. Play at Jagriti from June 26 to 28
Art: A play about friendship

When director Preetam Koilpillai saw actor Kartik Ganapathy perform in a Bishop Cotton Boys' School play, Zoo Story, 20 years ago, he decided that he would cast Ganapathy (who was still in school then) in a production someday. “Who would have thought it would be these many years later?“ Koilpillai says. The duo is working together in Koilpillai's new play Art, written by French playwright Yasmina Reza.Revolving around three friends Marc (Kartik Ganapathy), Serge (Abhijit Madhwaraj) and Yvan (Chris Avinash), the play looks at how their equations change when Serge buys an extremely expensive painting and shows it off to his friends.The play, originally in French and set in Paris, mixes hilarity y with drama.
Since these Old Cottonian boys have full-time jobs (one is a lawyer, one a musi-sician and the third, , a marketing professional), they rehearsed from 6 am to 8 am every day of the week.What started off as an audition of f around 15 people in n December 2014 was whittled down to three characters. “It was apt because the characters are few and the script is about friendship,“ says Koilpillai, who had directed Reza's God of Carnage two years mo of them being ago. With most first-time actors, Koilpillai had them do line first h rehearsals, where they rehe would read out their wo respective dia logues. “Once you l have the line, you can focus on acting.“ Unlike the other actors, Avinash, who is A also part of this sesal quicentennial celebration of Bishop Cottons Boys' School, has previously worked in musicals. But a dialogueheavy play like this one is a first for him.“I'd rehearse in front of the mirror with my daughter as a spectator,“ he says. “It was about unlearning a lot for me.“ As the actors got comfortable with each other over time, the camaraderie flowed more naturally.
Unlike their off-stage camaraderie, in the play, it's interesting to watch the dynamics between the three friends change as their conversation takes an argumentative turn and their friendship is tested. The 90-minute play doesn't have an interval, but the director believes that the audience will not want a break.
Watch Art at Jagriti Theatre from June 26 to 28
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