Theatre Group Saakar Plays Up ‘Rumors’
Continuing its tradition of presenting Neil Simon' plays, Saakar entertained Atlanta audiences with Rumors on November 22 and 23, 2003 at the IACA Auditorium. With ten cast members, whose real lives spanned the spectrum from medicine to consulting to sculpting, and the repercussions this would have on a production schedule, Saakar did phenomenally well with just a few weeks of planning and rehearsal.
Directed by Dr. Swaroop Nyshadham and Anuraag Misraraj, two veterans in the world of theatre, Rumors was presented with a fresh perspective on hyperbole and rampant paranoia that ensues when a well-meaning group of friends perpetuate a series of excuses to cover up a suspected suicide attempt. The play starts with one couple fumbling to react discretely to finding the host shot through his ear on his tenth wedding anniversary and his wife, missing. As other guests arrive, the plot gets complicated by rumor after rumor which progressively unravels at different speeds to the cast exposing the ridiculousness in hypothesizing. Through an entangled web of rumors, allegations, accidents and impersonations where only the audience is in the know, the play exposes how society will imagine the very worst about the unknown, even among friends, and get away with it.
The play was very well-received by the audience that provided testimony by uproars of laughter every few minutes.
The cast comprising of Rahul Bali, Sabrina Smith, Prachi Mehta, Swaroop Nyshadham, Darshan Kaur, Kirk Johnson, Babs Sachdeva, Shridhar Ranganathan, Stuart Downs and Amitabh Sharma took on all production responsibility as a team and also created the entire set. Sound effects by Sandeep Savla, lighting by Vijay Tripathi and make-up by Kumud Savla added the necessary professional touch to this community theatre production. Encouraged by a generous sized audience, and well received, Saakar hopes to present its next play in Hindi in Spring 2004 and has certainly put forth a strong statement about the ability to do professional community theatre with promising amateur artists proving once again, "Where there is a will, there is a way".
-Babs Sachdeva
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