Rebel Talk

I don’t want realism. I want magic!
–Tennesse Williams

That was the line most of screamed when we sat down to discuss about what difference we can make for our fourth production and third creation. We wanted magic, something out of the box…something which people would not see in a  normal Rebelz play.
 
It was great that our plays have been appreciated and got rave reviews for the realism and inspired by life stories produced but the next one should be something which we have never attempted – This was the resolve of the team.

And yours truly promptly zeroed in on a farcical fairy tale script. The team discussed, pulled our hair, fought and squabbled to modify the script so that it appeals to the sense of our audiences. Finally we ended up changing almost 70% of it. The end result was Once Upon a Time in Arabia..OUTA

The show.

This was the Rebelz show with a maximium attendance. We had a whooping 850 odd folks to watch the three shows spread over the weekend. If not for the untimely showers on Sunday evening we would have surely touched the magical 4 figure mark. Still we were happy, elated and …well ran out of adjectives…..  thanks for all those who helped us in this endeavor.

The reactions.

Was the play successful? We are lost for the answers as we could not get a proper scale to measure success, all the scales we had[number of audience, applauses, laughs, once mores] could not suffice as the reactions were overwhelmingly positive. The play took most of them to their school day plays where we had skeleton dances and magical caves opening up [of course with the smoke effect].

The guard who in fact never guarded the villainous vizier got laughs even after the show, his inappropriate ‘hail viziers’ -which were a last minute addition by us -was welcomed with thunderous laughs and whistles.

A few did feel that the show was a bit too slapstick, but then that’s what we intended to do right from the beginning. A show, which did not deal with commitment, pangs or has nothing to do with software engineers

The whole creative team had a ball of time thanks to our evergreen PR team. They worked hard to get the folks in and of course the arduous sponsor hunt which gave us a wonderful partner in TVS Sundaram Honda.

On the whole it was a memorable magical ride created with finesse thanks to the contributions of many a hands and hearts. While we the creators loved making it…the responses, love and adulation from the audience made us realize they lived it.

And here we have snippets from the actors who bought things alive on stage

Ranga Prasad (Double Role – Townie/ Minister)

“This was my first time ever on stage….and I mean any freaking stage man!!!! At first I was wondering how I landed up with this theater-crazy group!!! A couple of weekends with the Rebelz and watching them practice so hard drove in a sense of belonging and a sense of doing something worthwhile!!!. The two days of the show were a laugh riot both on stage and back stage tooJ. It was a great experience playing multiple roles in my debut at theater – I got to be the first man on stage in the role of a townie and also the minister, in the purple (of all colours!!!) robe, who pretended to be listening to the Evil Vizier’s deadly plans to steal river nile err…pile from egypt.”

Sandeep (Hail the Guard and one half of Humpy – The Camel)

“The OUTA experience was just too good…. it was amazing and encouraging whenever the audience applauded my entry on stage, enjoyed and laughed at my dialogues and expressions!!! All credit to Harish, Vinodh and of course my boss the evil Vizier (Partha) who helped me understand the scenes during rehearsals.”

Sritha (Princess Jasmine – more often disguised as Jassi)

“Once upon a time, not so long ago, on a usual sultry Sunday morning, I went for the OUTA auditions.
I walked in to meet a bunch of geeky meek ‘I.T professionals’ who do theatre  – Unusual
They all did warm ups like they were possessed by Damien (from omen)  -Super unusual
I bagged the role of a Princess who had to cross-dress as a Sardarji  – Super duper unusual…

I realized that these “I.T professionals” were anything but the usual and I was here to add more color to their madness!!! They enjoy what they do and more over enjoy it with utmost compassion. Theater lovers with no hang-ups! It was a hilarious task learning how to play a girl who is a boy and a girl who is a girl. The show turned out to be a seller and success!!! We all felt good in our hearts to be part of this production and to have entertained people.

Mahima (Princess Aysha)

“At the outset, my objective of joining the Rebelz group was clear-cut – to pursue my dream of doing theatre. Of course, it also gave me a break from the monotony of work life. But at the end of it all, I can say with conviction that my best takeaway from OUTA and Rebelz was not theatre or an escape route from work; but the company of a great group of people. Of course, show-time was a realization of all our dreams and I’ll always cherish every moment of probably the most exciting weekend I had since I came to Chennai. Thanks a ton guys.“

Divya (Mariam Shahdan)

“Everything about the OUTA experience was exciting…. Right from the Bangalore-Chennai trips that I had to take every weekend to make sure I’m available for rehearsals to the warm-up exercises, rehearsals, lunches and veg puffs. I am yet to correct my walk & talk after having practiced so much of the hunched back, slow walk and the crazy woman’s tone.

Show time was a memorable experience – the crowd, their response, the applause – WOW – what more do you need!!! CHEERS O CHEERS TO REBELZ”

Ashwin (Ali Shahdan – the hero, also cast as the hot belly dancer Gujali)

“I was half way around the world when Vinodh first sent a mail about OUTA. I immediately knew that I had to come back for this one and enjoy that special feeling of being a Rebel once again.  I managed and also got to play the role of the love-struck Ali Shahdan.

Rehearsal sessions at Vidyasagar school went on with full zest and vigour. There were times when we just couldn’t control our laughter seeing others perform – certain scenes were so funny and the actor’s were portraying it brilliantly. On D-day… what happened on stage was magical!! We had so much of fun on stage and after the shows too when we mingled with people in the audience – we had some Malaysian fans also J. All in all a wonderful experience!!!”

Partha (Evil Vizier with the original evil laugh )

“The Vizier is evil!! The Vizier is bad!! – These were the lines my director and script writer brought in to portray that the Vizier is a BAD MAN coz all my efforts to show terror on my face appeared terrifically funny!!! Somehow the Vizier was a big hit with the audience – guess the original evil laugh that I managed to pull off did the trick – haaaaaa haaaaaa haaaaa… haaaaaaa haaaaa haaaaaaa.. (cough cough cough.. offstage J). The entire OUTA experience was awesome!!!”

Bala (One half of Humpy the Camel + Minister)

“I had great fun playing multiple roles in OUTA. I played the roles of one of the minister’s in the Evil Vizier’s palace and one half of Sinkbath’s Ship of the Desert – HUMPY THE CAMEL. Getting into the Humpy costume and just being Humpy was one experience of a kind and was not easy too. Sandeep (Humpy’s other half J) and me enjoyed playing the role – what kept us going despite the difficulties was the kind of audience response we got every time we went on stage as Humpy!!! ”

Bharath (Stinkbath the sailor)

“The stage that theatre provides is the best store house of energy I have ever seen in my life. To come on stage and see so many people seeing you and applaud at your lines is an awesome experience by itself. That’s one of the greatest ecstasies I have experienced. It’s addictive I must say!

The Arabian ride was too good to forget. I am still hanging on to my rope in my dreams!!!And yeah, I miss my weekends with the rest of the Rebelz. I am running out of options to spend it usefully. Rebelz CEO, are you hearing me?? Gimme a role … one more time ”

Harish (Director cum Schoolboy Genie)

“Out of OUTA now… the sense of pride and feeling of being a celebrity is just dying down, but not the spirits. From exercise sessions to auditions to coordinating the music and sets – OUTA, like its name, was one magical journey.

Overall… It’s the beginning to push ourselves towards being professionals at theatre“
(Note: Directors and bosses always have a conclusion )