Phew, it’s been a hectic two weeks. Well, for me, anyway. Big function in school. Which equals to a play. Which equals to writing, directing and acting, all by the students. Which equals to staying in school till late in the evening, which equals to not having the energy to write. Or do anything, really, except collapse.
Anyway, the fuction was yesterday, and the play was, to put it narcistically, awesome. It was a spoof on high school movies, those awful disney demons. Reasonably funny story, although it was the acting that really made it funny.
*Plot Spoiler* (Yeah, like anyone cares.)
Story opens in a arrogant, spoilt high school. The opening scene is the morning assembly. The undeniably hopeless headmaster (a copy of our own hilarious (in his hopelessness) headmaster) is welcoming the students back after the summer vacations. Next, we see the arrogant, bitchy girls of the school catching up after the vacations. Enter Dude-Of-The-School Gay Boy and Hang-on-the-Arm Stud Boy. Some references to obvious gayness, Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar and showing off of fake muscles later, the drama teacher enters. A funny, agressive sort of copy of Javed Jaffery in Salaam Namaste, the drama teacher proceeds to pop Stud Boy’s fake muscles(balloons) and saunter around the classroom flaunting his rugged masculinity. He announces that an exchange program is commencing and that there will be some delagates from different parts of the world arriving that day. The Newcomers arrive and introduce themselves, only to be ridiculed by the Old Students, or, as the teacher calls them, the ‘Oldcomers’. Then he annouces that there is going to be a fuction in school and that they would all have to audition to take part in it. This leads to a dance war on Pappu Can’t Dance (the name of the leader of the newcomers gang is Pappu) after which the teacher decides that they should all dance together because they look so good. While all this is going on, there is a suspicious lack of Gay Boy, who has been kicked off stage. The next scene opens with him sitting all melancholy-like and singing “aisa kya gunna kiya ki lutt gaye, ho lutt gaye- what crime have I comitted that I’ve been robbed, oh, I’ve been robbed”(Well, it makes more sense in hindi). When enquired by his posse of admiring juniors, he confesses that he’s jealous of the newcomers and the way they’ve won all the old students’ hearts. He proceeds to rip apart all their costumes in a fit of rage and cunning. The torn costumes are discovered by one of the newcomers who breaks down and runs to the new students. they decide to ask Gay Boy for help, since his father is a big time designer. Eventually they include him in their dance and everything is a-okay. But that’s not the end. While it seems like all the newcomers are ‘cool’ now, Pappu demonstates that they’re still nerds by not wanting Physics Class to be cacelled. At this point, Gay Boy points out that school is about 40% sports, 30% extra-curriculars, 30% masti and only 10% academics(yes, the whole 110% things goes unexplained). The stage blacks out and opens again with a dance-cum-curtain call. I have a feeling the whole play was written just to fit in Pappu Can’t Dance.
*End Spoiler*
I love plays. I love the ’stay-backs’, I love fooling around with the scenes during practice, I love the stage make-up, I love changing costumes frantically, I love the rush of performing in front of an audience and the satisfaction of having made them laugh. Yes, I do love plays.
No, I’m Not Dead (subtitled “But I DO love plays”)
