Biloxi Blues – Evam
Evam, the theatre group that should claim credit for popularising/reviving theatre in Chennai, and playing to full houses all this month, also blog.
But that is not what this post is about, is it?
The play, Biloxi Blues (an adaptation of a play of the same name by Neil Simon) can be summed up in a few short words. A three hour play that felt like a five hour one, but didn’t bore.
. The play is about 5 people…nah! You’ll have to see the play to know what the story is. But I’ll tell you this, it’s quite funny and revealing at the same time. The lines are really good. I would rate the lines/dialogues on par with Shawshank Redemption (the closing line of the movie is plain brilliant). Traces of Full Metal Jacket too, in this play. But one little grudge. The dialogues could have been spoken a bit faster, more naturally. The way the lead actors presented, it was as if they were wrought by internal conflict over the propriety of the dialogues.
The best part of the play though, as for every play of evam’s is, is the efficient and clever management of the Stage and props. Minimal props, used effectively. Scenes are changed before your eyes, no hiding behind black screens. As a friend remarked, that’s attitude.
All in all, a good three hours. Do catch the play, today. At Sivagami Petachi Auditorium.
Understanding
Most people who know me, know me for the fool I am. Some know me for the fool I am not. Some might know me for the genius I am not, but nobody knows me for the genius I am really.
I didn’t think of a clever title yet
What makes blogging so popular, ask many. My answer; it finally let’s you act, rather than react.
Most activities on the net are reactions to some impulse.
- Get an e-mail; reply to it.
- Somebody buzzes you on Chat; you converse.
- Boss asks you to do a presentation; you check google/wikipedia for info; lagao it in the presentation
But when you are blogging, or a blogger, you are your own kickstarter. You take initiative to write something. You are for a change, ACTING, rather than reacting. You are CREATING. It let’s you play god/evolution. And that, to me, is why blogging is so popular and why it will continue to be so.
Bonus
A bonus post for the day. Would AR Rahman be as successful or as popular a decade ago? Would his music be as (what is the word I am looking for, ah! Yes) relevant as it is now?
My contention, and not taking anything away from his talent, was that he was the right guy at the right time. His kind of music, a confluence of many styles, with a lean towards the western/rhythmic, I think would have had far less takers in the 70s and 80s.
We are regretting for the silence. Please to be bearing with us
Every once in a while, a man has got to do what a man’s got to do. In my case, it was prioritise my activities. Blogging, Getting a life, Working etc. Though I am the first one to give blogging top priority, I need some time to do the other stuff too. If you think this is an apology for not blogging, well, it might be. And it might not. But this definitely is a new post and so rejoice.
Firstly, a small observation, cast your way much as pearls are. Nothing restores one’s faith in humanity and reassures one of one’s own importance in the general scheme of things more than finding underwear that fit. Seriously, the right underwear does a lot to lift your spirit.
Secondly, The Chicken Rules blog has new content. I know I’ve been neglecting it for sometime now. But not anymore. I have quite a few pieces planned on advertising and India that I want to talk about. So much so that the Chicken Rules blog even has a new template. And a smart one too. So head out there and read and comment away.
Talking of comments, look who’s been commenting on the Chicken blog. None other than Mr. Indra “Amnesty International” Sinha. A fantastic copywriter and a long time campaigner for the victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Mr. Sinha was features in the Copy Book, THE book for advertising writers, and to have him comment on my blog is a fantastic honour.
In other news, I have moved to Hyderabad, if the previous post was undecipherable. If anybody there wants to meet up next week, I am game. Let’s export some Madras Blogmeet phenomenon to our neighbours I say.
Project Why Short Story competition
Project WHY is a simple organisation with a simple purpose. Give children the resources to lead a life fruitfully. Which means, educate them, give them the skills they need in life.
It started off with 50 children and a few volunteers teaching them spoken English. But now, with increasing numbers of children seeking help and the increasingly complex lives, Project WHY faces more complex challenges.
Fast forward to the present. Project WHY has grown. But so have the challenges. And to help comes this innovative solution. Words for WHY. Ammani, who’s been delighting us all with her quick tales, started it off. For a small fee, she wrote stories using the three words we gave her. Needless to say, the fee went to Project WHY.
Now, Ammani wants to return the favour. She wants us to write. .
It’s very simple. As she puts it,
It’s really quite simple. You mail me a short story of maximum 200 words, send your entry fee of just Rs.100 (or its equivalent) to Projectwhy and you could win £10 gift voucher from Amazon!. If you’re in the UK, you could win a £10 voucher from M&S.The theme for the competition is ‘childhood’ and the last date for submission is 30th of September 2005. I’ll put up the 3 short-listed stories on this blog and you get to decide the winner. You can send however many entries you want. If you cannot pay the entry fee, then any small sum will do.
So, what are you folks waiting for? Get those words flowing. I for one am gonna be sending in one story a day.
About
Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan is a copywriter, photographer and goofball from Chennai. He is also an archaeologist, historian and a city lover. He is currently a documentary film-maker and desk-monkey for a film production house.
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