Gujarati performances get crafty

While Gujarati plays and narratives have always been loved due to their content and performances, creating the correct ambience is the newest rage it seems. From handing out brilliantly crafted invitation cards in accordance with the theme to welcoming the audience in creative ways even giving out small gifts or props related to the theme of the play, the makers are coming up with lots of interesting ideas for the audience to enjoy the play more.
Says Shyamal Munshi, who recently staged a musical on medical satire, “We gave out small strips of ‘humour pills’ and welcomed the audience with people dressed as surgeons who sprayed them with water from syringes.” Other theme performances that have seen such ingenuity ‘Geet Gagan Ma Pankhi Tahuke” which had origami bird invites and yet another one called ‘Performance Polyclinic’ which had a multifaceted invite that could later be used as a photo-frame and calendar. At one performance of “Kuriyat Sada Mangalam, Kuriyat Sada Dangalam”, a play on marriage woes, the theater was dressed like a mandap, audience was welcomed in complete wedding style as baraatis with ‘ittar’ and flowers and invites resembled kankotris.