At a time when Gujarati theatre is flooded with cheap comedy and meaningless screenplays, and the audience left only with memories of good plays, WZ promises to satisfy all your emotional and aesthetic needs. Written and directed by Saumya Joshi, this play will soon be announcing its 200th show!
Three characters: Arun Ganatra (Saumya Joshi), an irrational, dominating yet caring father, Vivek (Abhinay Banker), an obedient son seeking growth in rebellion, and Bhanu (Jignya Vyas), the mother, tired of being the “bridge” who now takes on the role of the sutradhar to break out of the family crisis. The storyline is as simple as the hitch of communication between the father and the son.
The play begins with a brilliant depiction of the “6.20 local” Mumbai lifestyle and from there the play finds its way to the audience’s heart through a series of images from your own lives. Beautifully written dialogues do not let you leave the play even for a second. Themes like Mumbai trains and Mumbai rains bring out well the problem of communication in our hasty lives. But the play actually becomes universal with the innate love-hate relationship between any father-son couple. The actors leave no stones unturned to convince you of the authenticity of their characters. Hats off to all the three actors for perfect timing and immaculate dialogue delivery!
After watching several Hindi and Marathi plays and wondering, “Why can’t Gujaratis put up something equally good?”, WZ makes me think, “Can they remake this play in Hindi to reach a larger audience?”
Thank you, Saumya Joshi and company. Looking forward to more plays of this stature.
