Mela – A Festival of Short Plays

Over 20 years, we have staged plays in Hindi, English, and Tamil. In November, we celebrate India’s heritage by staging a bouquet of short plays, each witty and humorous, each in a different Indian language. The scripts are by playwrights all over the world, including masters such as Satyajit Ray, Anton Chekhov and Dorothy Parker. Each show will consist of nine short plays staged in quick succession, and will have super-titles in English.

1. Here We Are (English) Written by Dorothy Parker, directed by Kamala Subramaniam On their honeymoon, a newly-wed couple fight, annoy, amuse, and exasperate each other.

2. சாரி ராங்க் நம்பர் (Tamil) - SORRY WRONG NUMBER Written by Lucille Fletcher, directed by Savitha Samu Crossed phone lines reveal a plot to kill a bed-ridden woman, who must now protect herself.

3. एक एप्रिल (Marathi) - 1 APRIL Written by Yogesh Soman, directed by Niranjan Page Four hostel room-mates play a prank on a fifth one, and more is shared than planned.

4. বারীণ ভৌমিকের ব্যারাম (Bengali) - BARIN BHOUMIKER BERAM Written by Satyajit Ray, directed by Abhishek Das A thief comes face to face with the man he stole from years ago.

5. ਮਾਮਲਾ ਗੜਬੜ ਹੈ (Punjabi) - THE PROBLEM Written by A R Gurney Jr., directed by Sareeka Malhotra A wife tells her husband she is pregnant and the child is not his. The husband has secrets of his own.

6. छोटी छोटी बातें (Hindi) - TRIFLES Written by Susan Glaspell, directed by Neha Goyal A man has been murdered. Men investigate, but the women conduct their own, very different, investigation.

7. పంటి నొప్పి (Telugu) - TEETH Written by Tina Howe, directed by Bharadwaj Pudipeddi A neurotic woman with a toothache is treated by an over-zealous dentist who is also an NTR fan.

8. મનુ લાવ્યો માંગુ (Gujarati) - THE PROPOSAL Written by Anton Chekhov, directed by Pratiksha Rao A marriage proposal leads to a hilarious quarrel about land and cattle.

9. भूख लगी है, खाना दो (Haryanvi) - OUT AT SEA Written by Slawomir Mrozek, directed by Surender Singh Three men starving on a life raft must determine which one is to become dinner for the other two.