10 out of 10!

With 10 short plays in a single evening for the offering, there is no doubt that the opening evening of the ‘Short and Sweet Festival’ held recently, arrived with a certain degree of apprehension for theatre enthusiasts. However, the performances that followed, each perfectly timed to 10 minutes and distinctly different from their counterparts, left little room for monotony. Kudos to the organisers, The Prakriti Foundation and The Blu Lotus Company.First up, a rather unusual psychological dream-thriller titled, The Kill. The weapon of choice? A tomato. Director Sushant Alexander leads the audience into a rather realistic setting, with two roommates having a conversation over strains of a cricket match. Without giving too much away for audiences yet to catch this short play, lets just say fear can be a very powerful motivator. Watch out for the highlight — one of the characters devouring an entire raw tomato, no strings attached!Perhaps, the most spectacular display of acting for the evening was delivered by Cordis Paladano, from Puducherry-based theatre group, Indian Nostrum Theatre. He plays a frivolous teen angel who is about to ‘take a soul’ back to it’s maker for the first time in Breath of Life. However, soon after he meets with this prospect, he loses his virginity, much to his mentor’s comic dismay. With painted white faces and a single white satin cloak to cover them both, there is tugging and pulling over ‘junior’s’ timely repeats of the last line said, at the end of every sentence.Quite an unlikely scenario, was a conversation between a homosexual toothbrush (Karan Ram) and his lady companion (Neeta Srikanth), titled, We’ ll always have peach tiles. Directed by Krishna Kumar, this ‘farewell’  offered some delightful perspective on the thoughts of your bristled early morning mate. Hilarious, captivating and at some points rather touching, the ‘Short and Sweet Festival’ staged alluring cocktail of breezers. And the aftertaste, ‘heavenly’.(The last day of the first round of plays at the Short and Sweet Festival is at 7pm today, Max Mueller Bhavan Auditorium, Nungambakkam. The second round starts from July 20 at the Alliance Française of Madras. For details, call 9840666761 )