Three two-artiste plays that have stayed with me

Let me touch upon today on three memorable two-artiste plays, one that I staged and the two others I wish I could have, but for circumstances conspiring against me.

One of the most popular romantic comedy of the century was a play called Same Time Next Year. It was later made into a successful motion picture and remains to this day one of the most widely-produced plays in theatre history. The movie was nominated for 4 Academy Awards and 3 Golden Globe Awards. It follows a love affair between two people, both married, who meet once a year. Spread over five scenes, we are shown changes over the 25 years in manners, morals and attitudes, hilariously mirrored by the lovers.The play has wit, compassion, humour and a feel for nostalgia.

I first saw the play in its Gujarati adaptation performed under INT banner. We decided to produce the original English play. We cast Ronnie Screwvala and a young actress called Dhun Billimoria to play the lovers. Both had earlier acted for me in a play called Cactus Flower. Ronnie was a theatre enthusiast before his iconic rise to fame. He went on to establish the UTV Group where he produced many hit films, both popular and artistic — the likes of Chennai Express, Barfi!, Guzaarish, Jodha Akbar, Peepli Live. He was listed amongst 25 of Asia’s Most Powerful by Fortune Magazine. I feel proud today that at one time he shared the footlights under my banner.

Next, let me come to a play called Love Letters, an evocative, touching and frequently funny play. The text comprises of letters exchanged between two people, both born to wealth and position, who are childhood friends, become romantically attached but later go their separate ways. He excels, she flunks, he goes to war, she gets married. However, they continued to share confidences by way of letters to each other. The play was one of the finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in the drama category and is being revived on Broadway this year.

I loved the play the moment I read it and decided to produce the same, when a theatre colleague claimed he had secured the performing rights and wanted to produce it himself. He never did. Meanwhile, my wife and I moved to Dubai. A couple of years later, much to my delight, I learned that my daughter Shernaz, who had established Rage Productions along with Rahul DaCunha and Rajit Kapoor, was able to secure the rights. She and Rajit played the two roles. My gut feelings worked and the play was a resounding success, completing over 200 shows and it continues to run to this day. The well known director Feroz Khan produced the same in a Hindi adaptation called Tumhari Amrita with Shabana Aazmi and Farooq Shaikh playing the two roles. 

Though cut off from my theatre pursuits, my leisure hours in Dubai were spent reading plays, which I sourced from abroad. I would tick  the ones I thought I would stage once I returned. One such play was again a two-artiste play called Tuesdays with Morrie. It was a deeply emotional play with a generous dose of laughter. Much to my disappointment, I read that the play was soon opening under the joint banner of NCPA & Akvarious. I went to see the play. It was truly magical. I laughed, I cried. The theme song The Very Thought of You still haunts me.

There are many other such plays in my collection that I would love to stage .My  children tell me, “Dad you are 84 now. Take it easy. Relax.” I read out to them a quote by Paulo Coelho: “One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do them now”.

The author is a well-known stage personality