Its 5:15 am and Warren Ellis has blown my mind. Volume 1 of Transmetropolitan is a clear reminder of two things : (a) its takes more than guts to write fuckhead every three lines and make it cool. (b) when it comes off, reading fuckhead every three lines is totally cool.
But why is counter culture so inspiring? Why is it always prefaced with the commitment of blood, gore and tears against the bloody odds - no takers, no publishers, no readers and obviously no money? Because art is worth jack. Unless someone is willing to pay for it.
As sole driver of Last Minute Productions, a new pet venture of mine that's frankly come into sorta ambition (largely because of a grand total of two plays successfully survived), I'm inclined to believe the path to theatrical prominence in Mumbai (that people will be willing to pay for) is hugely treacherous.
We've been lucky so far. Very very lucky. Touch head.
'The Diary' was a random experiment - as random as it could get, in its conception, completion, execution and performance. Perhaps why it remained thoroughly original and vaguely inspiring. The writing was honest and the performances were evocative and quite entertaining. The lack of finesse in the performances got cleaned up as we did it again and again.
Making it to the Black Horse was pure benevolence from people I genuinely have not had any connect with. At all. People say they must have seen something. I think they were just really kind. Which in a crab killing hole like Mumbai is almost life altering.
We still fucked up the show a bit - the ending was a little all over the place and the lights and sounds got their mandatory 'one fuck up a professional performance' deal spot on. And frankly the crowd wanted more. With some more scenes and a bit more work, this one's going to be around for a while.
Which brings us to the bringer of redemption - JBDY 2010. A huge production that I managed to completely fuck up a few years ago in MICA. The scars must run deep for some of us to still think its better to bury this (despite 15th August) and move on considering we've spent a good part of two months getting our head around it. Because frankly, the revised play is miles ahead of the first monstrosity. Hell even the video is worth a watch - for about 45 odd minutes.
I for one, have learnt the concept of direction beyond 5o minutes- well not quite, considering my production manager found the entire second act 'an experiment' a day before final performance. Kudos. And that we managed our first freaking dress rehearsal only hours before the final play. Double Kudos.
Still the first act shows hope, some decent acting, good music barring one gigantic fuck up and some pretty entertaining dialogue - thank you Mr Datar may your soul rest in peace, for you gave us the best ice breaker. Act 2 frankly was amateurish - a clear indictment of my failings as a director and a producer - we just didn't give it enough time. The acting was average, the direction was uninspired (barring a few wooden steps) and the climax predictable.
But you have to hand it to our group - we made it look as good as we could despite my failings. And some of the improv stuff was out there with the best.
On a more positive note, I loved working with amateurs. Their energy is infectious and their willingness to open up to the experience putting aside their woes of jobs, launch parties, grinders, cell phones and personal baggage is hugely beneficial when it comes to the pursuit of excellence to whatever extent.
But how do you pursue excellence with an entire team of working professionals in other fields? Do you redefine your boundaries of expectations because of the people you work with? Or do work with people who fit in to your expectations? How do you remind someone that they are responsible for something or they're well ... hell can I even fire them? Or do you accept that the toil of the fucking commute in this rainy hell hole will take its toll on everything that ever mattered to you?
If I go by the words of one of my actors, we'll never go pro unless we do this 24/7, not after a job. Well try your luck mate. I think, you'll find squat even then. Attitude is not a function of time spent on something. Its usually a value thing. Of how badly you want something, and how you show it.
I'm going auditorium hunting in a few hours. And I will find us a venue. And we will do JBDY again. Soon. And by god, we'll nail it. If we do 'The Diary', we'll do it better and bigger. I owe myself this much. We all do. Big role or small, we've worked for it. And if we haven't, we will now.
LMP needs an attitude change and fast. Else, this blog becomes a ghost. Not a reality.
