Honestly - I wouldn't give it more than 2.5 / 5
However, before I start my thoughts about the play - please note that there were people in the audience (whom I overheard) said that they cried twice in the play seeing the performance .. (me.. a hard heart... made me wonder!).
Delhi audience was in throes of passion after the performance.
It seemed only I was alone in the feeling that the play did not rise above mediocrity at any point.
Solo act shows are tough. Very tough.
This is something I have realized over the years. Have become wiser with the years.
Else a decade back - I saw Gareth Armstrong's Shylock - and I still remember the feeling - awe, admiration, forced to think on the points raised, funny, witty... my brain cells were screaming with pleasure.... every minute was classy.
That was fortunately / unfortunately the first solo act that I saw in my life. The sheer power of performance blew me away. What I didn't know was that it would set the benchmarks of solo performances in my unconscious!
However, over the years I have fine tuned my senses - and learnt to keep that one play on the side and enjoy the others as I see them.
But I was reminded of it today!
Vinay Pathak - we all know is such a fine actor. But here - the script as per me failed him.
Was it a comedy? a stand up comedy? a hash of Lear... ? a play with elements of dark humor...
The script and the moods were very confusing. Lear doesn't come till the end.. when we see and hear few lines of it.
It isn't heroic, it really doesn't make you laugh a lot. I still wonder why Shakespeare was used... to draw attention?
The daughter who died doesn't betray Lear - here everything was mixed.
Here - the daughter who throws the good papa out of the house in a rainy night dies... how do you expect the audience to feel with her death... sympathize with Lear when he is crying for her!
If I had no expectations and had walked into the play - Yes, I would have liked it. But - as it was - I had seen Hamlet - that set the stage for expectations - then with names like Vinay Pathak and Rajat Kapoor - one expects a classy act. This was okkkkk in real sense. Never reached a high tempo for me.. but it truly isn't bad. Average is the word for it. Am sure this same idea can be done much better... script... needs some serious rework as per me, need to raise the bar here, it is still not a Thinkers play.
If not that - then they should say its almost a stand up comedy with a twist of literature... then the act would meet its packaging.. and yes, it's a HIT then... but till then please do not call it Lear.
I would suggest watch it. May be you discover something that I didn't.
However, before I start my thoughts about the play - please note that there were people in the audience (whom I overheard) said that they cried twice in the play seeing the performance .. (me.. a hard heart... made me wonder!).
Delhi audience was in throes of passion after the performance.
It seemed only I was alone in the feeling that the play did not rise above mediocrity at any point.
Solo act shows are tough. Very tough.
This is something I have realized over the years. Have become wiser with the years.
Else a decade back - I saw Gareth Armstrong's Shylock - and I still remember the feeling - awe, admiration, forced to think on the points raised, funny, witty... my brain cells were screaming with pleasure.... every minute was classy.
That was fortunately / unfortunately the first solo act that I saw in my life. The sheer power of performance blew me away. What I didn't know was that it would set the benchmarks of solo performances in my unconscious!
However, over the years I have fine tuned my senses - and learnt to keep that one play on the side and enjoy the others as I see them.
But I was reminded of it today!
Vinay Pathak - we all know is such a fine actor. But here - the script as per me failed him.
Was it a comedy? a stand up comedy? a hash of Lear... ? a play with elements of dark humor...
The script and the moods were very confusing. Lear doesn't come till the end.. when we see and hear few lines of it.
It isn't heroic, it really doesn't make you laugh a lot. I still wonder why Shakespeare was used... to draw attention?
The daughter who died doesn't betray Lear - here everything was mixed.
Here - the daughter who throws the good papa out of the house in a rainy night dies... how do you expect the audience to feel with her death... sympathize with Lear when he is crying for her!
If I had no expectations and had walked into the play - Yes, I would have liked it. But - as it was - I had seen Hamlet - that set the stage for expectations - then with names like Vinay Pathak and Rajat Kapoor - one expects a classy act. This was okkkkk in real sense. Never reached a high tempo for me.. but it truly isn't bad. Average is the word for it. Am sure this same idea can be done much better... script... needs some serious rework as per me, need to raise the bar here, it is still not a Thinkers play.
If not that - then they should say its almost a stand up comedy with a twist of literature... then the act would meet its packaging.. and yes, it's a HIT then... but till then please do not call it Lear.
I would suggest watch it. May be you discover something that I didn't.
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