If not for the fact that they managed to hold on to their packed audience even on the final day of week two, that they brought a whole new perspective to the theatre scene in the city is reason enough to declare the second edition of the Short and Sweet Festival a hit. With a relatively better lineup, for the most part at least, in comparison with week one of the festival, week two, which ran from July 18 till 21 at the Alliance Francaise, brought to stage everything from intense drama, passive monologues, mimes to comedy.
Right from sketch one, Catharsis Hubris and Other Topics, directed by V Balakrishnan and written by Sunanda Raghunathan, with Shakthu Ramani and Seema Anvarudeen in lead roles, to the last piece on the list, the mime Summa One Comedy, directed by Siva Paul Murugan, the festival showcased the broad spectrum of talent that Chennai hosts.
If Vinod Anand’s experience shone in What’s the Plot, where he and Priyanka Acharya, as chapters one and two of a book, contemplated where the book was heading, the refreshing act from newbies Ashok Selvan and Jonathan Abel as the two friends reminiscing about their good old college days was invigorating, providing an interesting mix of theatre.
Chairpersons – And a Whole lot of Black Money written and directed by Rajiv Rajaram, not only had great actors – Cassius Leon, Sandeep John, Nikhil Sriram and Joslin Julius, but also a strong script that analysed the intriguingly political game of musical chairs with humour.
Cordin Paldano was hands down the most memorable actor of the evening, for his role in The Woman in the Camp, which he wrote and was directed by Koumarane Valvane. It depicted the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp. Some of the other plays that stood out include Just Desserts, written by Kelley Baker and directed by Hans Kaushik; Somewhere between Sky and the Sea, written by Alex Broun and directed by Ajit Chitturi and The Gospel According to Bowser, directed by Olga Suihkonen, written by Dan Borengasser.
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