Disclaimer: The following post is neither a review nor a critique since this is the first time I ever watched a play live. I feel I’m neither an expert nor am qualified enough to pass an opinion. I was so overwhelmed by the experience that I don’t care if I sound biased.

Gograhanam at Lamakaan was probably the most intriguing 45 minutes I have spent watching something live.  Now there aren’t many performances I have seen life but I can safely say this will stand among one of the best considering the future too. By virtue of the sheer joy and excitement this play had given me, this ranks very high among the creative pleasures I indulge myself.

Gograhanam is a play written by Tanikella Bharani in 1986 and Octopus studios deserve a huge round of applause for their decision to perform it again. At a time where Telugu Theatre is getting fast obsolete, their faith and conviction in performing and presenting this play to an enthusiastic audience is immensely commendable. That is not to say that they scored only in their choice but have backed it up with absolutely flawless performances from the entire cast. For the entire duration of the play there was never a dull moment or a false note in this biting satire on the atrocities our society commits against women in her day-to-day life.

Another specialty of Gograhanam is that by virtue of it being a street play there are no props or set pieces with the performers and the live music setting the tone for everything that happens on stage. Bharani’s lines in chaste Telugu are thankfully devoid of limitations imposed by more celebrated medium like cinema and all the actors were competent in their diction and natural in their histrionics. The play was quite famous garnering applause from numerous performances all over the country in its days, so to say its direction, staging and blocking were impeccable would be to state the obvious.

Paraphrasing the playwright’s words “While the popularity of the play is welcome, it’s relevance even after 25 years of its conception is disappointing and ironic.” I doubt even Shakespeare would have a hard time taking pleasure in this. I wish this play be performed and watched more since this delivers an important message for every one of us to learn without assuming an admonishing or a preachy tone.

Kudos are also in line to Lamakaan for all its support and encouragement it has provided to the performers and their efforts to invigorate Telugu Theatre.

As a footnote, I would like to add that during the course of the performance, there was a loud music band celebrating a neighbor’s marriage, which could have caused a loss of concentration to the performers. If they have felt anything, they did not show it, for we never felt it. Having some experience in noticing the discomfort actors face at any minor disturbance, I felt that the entire cast has done a fantastic job to stay in the mood with all the noise around. Bravo.