A comic clash of egos

Hilarious in parts, “Shaadi Ke Mandap Mein” is a light-hearted theatrical piece on Indian wedding

Formed in 2016 by young theatre enthusiasts, Adaakar Theatre Society aims to evolve a kind of theatre created by professionally trained actors in collaboration with amateur performers. The effort tends to be successful as manifested in “Shaadi Ke Mandap Mein” presented by the group at India International Centre this past week to a jam packed hall.

The script, devised by Param, Guneet and Prince, seeks to provide the audience with a light-hearted theatrical piece. The writers who have directed the play have not written an elaborate script but capture comic situations in an Indian wedding which are witty, flippant and abound in series of clashes of egos between the members of the bride and bridegroom families. In these weddings, making a mountain out of a molehill is not uncommon.

Inane issues

In “Shaadi Ke Mandap Mein”, different type of characters behave in a ridiculous way of raising meaningless issues to a level which mostly remains unresolved.

The play opens with the arrival of the party of bridegroom on the stage which enters through the auditorium with loud celebratory dance. A group of young women in beautiful traditional costumes welcome the party with a song and a glint of mischief in their eyes.

The members of the bridegroom respond to the songs with their repartees. This rivalry takes place in a joyous spirit. During the Varmala event, in which the bride and bridegroom face each other with huge colourful garlands, the narrative takes a turn. The bridegroom is accompanied by his brother–in-law, a clever prankster while the bride is being conducted by her brother-in-law.

As the bride tries to garland the bridegroom, the brother-in-law lifts him to a height not possible to be garlanded. The situation evokes laughter. Now it’s the turn of the brother-in-law of the bride. To outsmart his rival he holds her tightly with both hands and lifts her up to enable her to garland the bride-groom.

This triumph of the bride makes the guests laugh long and loud. Lo and behold, the bride slaps hard on the face of her brother-in-law which stuns the assembled guest. This unexpected situation brings the marriage ceremony to a standstill.

Now the bride and her brother-in-law appear as arch rivals. The insulted and deeply hurt brother-in-law demands that his sister-in-law should apologise to him publicly. He claims to be only performing his duty to have an upper hand in the ritual. On her part, the bride blatantly refuses to apologise and justifies her act.

She accuses him of sending her indecent jokes with an intention of developing intimacy. The brother-in-law refuses the charges vehemently and refuses to allow marriage ceremony to be conducted until the bride apologises.

Instead of marriage rituals, the confrontation between bride and her brother-in-law becomes the centre of interest for the guests. A number of guests pretending to be wise try to solve the acrimonious charade, making them an object of ridicule. Drunken guests try to intervene without any result.

A lady judge who appears to be a close relative of the bride tries to resolve the issue showing her pompous character and arrogance of high place in society. She too fails.

Though the comic idea is fine and it keeps the audience in good humour. But as the play moves towards climax, it becomes bereft of comic invention and wit. It becomes repetitive and drags to an abrupt end.

The stage is aptly designed to create the ambience of a weddingcelebration and blocking is conceived in a way that provides effective exits and entries for the performers.

Admirable performances

Guneet as the brother-in-law of the bridegroom, who appears in most of the situation and a self-styled arbitrator, gives a brilliant performance. Param as brother-in-law of the bride creates a convincing portrait of the man who is publicly insulted and humiliated. Prince as the father of the bride exudes the required anxiety. Anjana as the bride and Deeksha as the judge act admirably.

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