‘Art’ of the matter
The Old Cottonians’ Association, is staging a play at Jagriti from June 26 to 28
By : namita gupta
Update: 2015-06-25 23:37 GMT
Completing 150 years in a city calls for a celebration and there can’t be a better way to celebrate in style than a theatre performance by the students themselves. The Old Cottonians’ Association is celebrating 150 years with a play called Art directed by Preetam Koilpillai.
Cotton boys Kartik Ganapathy, Abhijit Madhwaraj and Chris Avinash will be seen in classic Yasmina Reza’s powerhouse, Art that brings into focus the chinks in the friendship of three friends over a piece of art. We speak to the director and the young actors from the city on this 90-minute performance from June 26 to 28 at Jagriti Theatre.
“The idea for this play came when Aditya Sondhi of the Old Cottonians’ Association suggested we do a play part of the OCA sesquicentennial programme, celebrating 150 years of Bishop Cotton Boys’ School. We sent out an audition call to Old Cottonians, and over a series of audition meetings, arrived at the cast. This is Yasmina Reza’s humour mixed with razor sharp insight. This is a tale of friendship set against the larger canvas of a fundamental debate prevalent in the arts today; traditionalism versus modernism and what actually constitutes good art,” reveals Preetam (class of 1990), the director of the play.
Set in Paris, it mixes levity with drama over an obscenely expensive painting bought by Serge, which he sees as exquisite and tries to get his friends to see that way too, with bewildering results for all. Chris Avinash (class of 1992) who is playing the role of Yvan, in the play, states, “The original one is in French and Yasmina Reza doesn’t allow adaptations, so we used the official English translation by Christopher Hampton. It made sense to do this play about three good friends whose friendship is tested when one of them buys a white painting. I play the simpleton Yvan who is caught in the power and ego struggle between the other two characters. This play has one of the longest monologues I have ever encountered. There will be lots of guffaws, well-timed and subtle humour and an insight into the dynamics of old friendships.”
Promising a roller-coaster ride, Abhijit Madhwaraj who plays the role of Serge (class of 2001) reveals, “I’m a dermatologist and an art enthusiast who buys a painting, which he believes is exquisite, for a ridiculous amount of money and expects his friends to appreciate it the same way. What then unfolds is immense drama, tension and uncomfortable situations as the fabric of their friendship comes gets tested to the brink. It is a conversation-heavy play and knowing and understanding lines was very critical.”
Kartik Ganapathy (class of 1991) who plays the role of Marc pipes in, adding, “My character is a plain speaking conservative man, with an acerbic wit and thinks nothing of voicing his opinion on a piece of art to his friends and that prompts reactions from the other protagonists, and forms the pivot around which the play revolves.”