Importance of being Earnest Premier!

We premiered the play at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore on Christmas.

Here are some of the review-

http://mixedexpressions.blogspot.com/2008/12/importance-of-being-earnest.html

http://maverickthinking.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-special.html

http://priyankaj.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/evams-show/

http://bangalore.metblogs.com/2008/12/27/the-importance-of-being-earnest-oscar-wilde-play-staged-by-evam-25-dec-2008-chowdiah-memorial-hall/

thank you all for the support

You can catch more of us at Ranga Shankara this week.

The Importance of Being Earnest
January 9th @ 7.30pm
January 10th, 11th @ 3:30pm and 7.30pm
Tickets Rs. 200
Rangashankara, J P nagar, Bangalore.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
-a funny, wacky, crazy comedy

January 13th, 14th @ 7.30pm
Tickets Rs. 200
Rangashankara, J P nagar, Bangalore.

for more, www.evam.in

For better or for verse- a ‘Wilde’ly earnest attempt

Acting and writing poetry are two key interests for evam’s favourite actor, Karthik Srinivasan (TMK, ‘Hamlet: The Original Spoof’, ‘Odd couple’, DT and Q’… and most of evam’s other productions actually)

He decided to combine both passions of his- and voila!A poem about a role he’s currently doing now- Jack Worthing.

TMK says this kind of extra effort can make actors really understand their characters. And here’s the dedication–

“This piece is mainly dedicated to the sweetest director ive ever worked with, and the cast and crew of IOBE”..

For better or for verse- a “Wilde’ly earnest attempt

In a decrepit old bag ,cast away was I

a railroad for company, a son to none

a charitable gent with a kindly eye

made me his own, and so my story had begun

 

when I was eleven, a baby girl was born

alas, like mine , her parents were gone

Cecily, sweet child, my first reason to smile

My ward she will be, for now , for a while

 

A wealthy childhood, a country house ,a manor

And yet a small sadness, a longing for a kin

For a playmate, a friend, a yearning for a brother

A profligate young man changed the state I was in

 

A prim and proper young man was John

A guardian, a gentleman, in the city and town

And add to this woe, a justice of peace

Left me with nothing but a youthful unease

 

To escape my fate , came my brother Ernest

For jack could only ever be earnest

Pray , tell me how ever can I live my age

As my legacy left me a veritable sage

 

In the country I was Jack, in the town, Ernest

It was to my liking that my brother was a pest

And thus started my dual charade

Good guy, bad guy, a moral façade

 

Oh I must tell you about my dear friend Algy

A witty young rascal, a scallywag ,a flirt

But something endearing , warm and feisty

Lives for his food, yet loves from him heart

 

And what of his pretty and charming cousin

An angel who answers to the name Gwendolen

She falls for Ernest, though jack loves her in earnest

Someday she’ll know ,and I hope for the best

 

A monster for a mother ,Lady Bracknell

For many a faint heart, she warrants their death knell

Algy’s aunt and Gwendolen’s mother

Never has blood been related farther

 

And then there is Prism, my little ward’s tutor

A bonding she felt, as a child to a mother

And never did dither, her batty old ways ,

Though the Canon left her in a perpetual daze

 

That rogue Algy,had me surprised

When he came one day, in my brother’s guise

And as was his wont, charmed my ward Cecily

Much to my dismay, a despicable tragedy

 

So there we were two,Ernests in tow

Engaged as one ,time for them to know

The moment of truth, and sorry for the fuss

There is no Ernest, but we love you as us

 

And in walks the gorgon, how dare you ask

For to win my girl’s hand is no easy a task

For my nephew’s alliance, I have no qualms

For she matches the gist of my societal norms

 

Ah here is my chance ,and everything to gain

I’m the jack of all trades and earnest in one

Cecily for Gwendolen, is my bargain

My trump card I’ve dealt, hope the deal is done

 

All seemed lost, and Ms Prism appears

She tells us her tale, and I’m in tears

Algy’s is my brother and I’m indeed Ernest

I’ll never forget the importance of being earnest

 

Brains behind Importance Of Being Earnest

The weight of evam’s biggest production to-date falls feather-light on evam’s youngest director, Manasi Subramaniyam.

Manasi is the co-founder and partner at Landing Stage Youth Theatre Group, an independent, amateur youth theatre group. They work with theatre aspirants of the age group 13 to 19, train them (with the assistance of theatre artistes in Chennai) and produce two plays a year for kids.

She’s currently busy directing evam’s latest offering, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I attended my first theatre workshop in 2002 and have been involved with various productions since then. As a theatre artiste, I have gone from being an actor to a lighting designer to a stage manager to a playwright to a producer to a director. I think I’ve even done costumes and makeup at one point! My learning curve has been both steep and fun. I’ve certainly gained a lot from these experiences and now I can handle various positions in a theatrical production with ease.

Relationship with Evam in the past:

I’ve attended almost all their plays – in fact, I’ve attended the very first Chennai show of most of their plays and I have always thought that what they do is pretty fantastic.

Why did you choose The Importance of Being Earnest?

I’ve been wanting to do The Importance of Being Earnest for a long time now. And when Evam offered me the opportunity to direct, it was the first play I put forth. I think it’s a very pleasant, funny, feel-good play that’s ageless and wonderful.

How is it shaping?

It’s shaping up very well. I’m lucky because I have fantastic actors and wonderful producers. It looks good for now and I’m very confident about how it’s going to do.

About the Evam team:

The Evam team is wonderful. My assistant director, Bhargav Ramakrishnan, is like a boon. He completely understands where I’m coming from, he’s incredibly reliable and he’s a wonderfully composed counterpart to me. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without him. I’m also grateful to my production head, Sandeep, who’s the light-hearted and chilled out person on this team, and who always remembers to bring food for everyone! My costume designer, Medha, is a god-send. She understands exactly what the play looks for, and she also has an extraordinary capacity to bring a definite sense of her own designs and perceptions into everything she does. She’s dedicated and has great taste as well. Sunil as producer has been very patient with me and I’ve interacted briefly with the rest of the team as well, of course, and it’s been, overall, a pleasant working experience.

Outside of Team Evam, the set designer, Mithran has created magic as always. I love his design and I’m very excited about it. The choreographer, Mani, has been remarkable. He’s created some pretty stupendous stuff. And the music director, Anil Srinivasan, has created wonders once more. I’m very fortunate to have the very best team possible working for this play.

The casting process:

Well, I did go through a very long casting process, but I found the perfect cast at the end of it. So I’m glad I went through all that. I now know how lucky I am to have such a great cast!

How nervous are you about the premier?

Not nervous at all! I think it’s going to be a fantastic show. We’re going to blow everyone’s mind – and that’s the only way to do it!

… and we can’t wait to be blown away!

for typos, gravity and other mishaps, check out manasi’s blog-

http://manasis.blogspot.com/

Importance of Being Earnest… The Making

What do you get when you put a bunch of energetic, crazy actors, one sane director and an Oscar Wilde play in the same room?

The rehearsal of the Evam’s production ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, that’s what.

Brief flashback:

Manasi, our sane director (also variously described as young, raring-to-go and ‘having a head on her shoulders’), was handpicked by Evam to direct a brand new play of her choice. She picked ‘Importance of Being Earnest’ by Oscar Wilde. Auditions were held. Actors vanished. Actors stayed. And finally a group of people began to get together at the rehearsal space.

Curious Team Evam bloggers eavesdropped on the proceedings to bring you all the news that’s fit to print.

Shannon, who plays Lady Bracknell, is an oasis of calm in the madness. “Oscar Wilde wanted to express his feelings about the upper classes through this character,” she observes. “She’s not mean-spirited. Just really controlling. Not like me at all,” she adds.

Actors read their lines. And reflect on various doubts in between. ‘What exactly does passionate celibacy mean?’ ‘Was Gwendolyn turned on when Uncle Jack pulled this sleight of hand?’ We wonder too.

Refreshments arrive. Paneer puffs, cashew katli and imported cookies are among the snacks that our spoilt actors have gotten during rehearsals.

Assistant director Baggy believes this is a commercially viable play. It’s Evam’s biggest production to date,  slated to run in three cities with some 25 shows across three months. It’s ’silly but classic British silly’, ‘charming, sweet and fun’ – the adjectives flow freely when asked to describe the play.

KK, actor, producer and Evam director, thinks this is as close Evam will ever get to the Bard. “It’s a great relief to play Algernon. There’s nothing serious about him. It’s very liberating.”

His partner in crime in ‘The Odd Couple’ and actor TMK is excited about the play. It’s a wonderful change to not have Evam directors calling the shots, he finds. “Watching KK being contradicted is fun.” About his character: “It’s interesting to play Jack. Everyone is different with different people and everyone will relate to this character who has a double life.

And so we leave our team rehearsing in earnest. Stay tuned for more updates and the dates of production..