Nostalgia extravaganza

Amateur theatrical productions served as much needed interludes in my academic

humdrum. I am not just reminiscing from a passive observer's position. Yours truly
was quite the dabbling thespian or stage hand; whether it was in the slapstick
revues that were the products of the overactive minds of !A's troupe autankee or
the societal and at times slightly risqu" productions at my alma mater #$%& that
somehow slipped through the notice of the burgeoning orthodo' elements. Acting
on stage or simply being part of the whole shebang served as an e'pression of
creativity that sliced through the banality of hitting the te'tbooks( or the sack for
that matter.
)he notion of a blood*sucking +end has plagued the perceptions of many a
hyperactive imagination. I am not talking about the pint*si,ed mosquitoes that -it
about serving as a veritable nuisance( and have o.*late morphed into dengue
dispensing darts. )he sine qua non of many a horror story is the vampire( a human
hybrid whose penchant for human blood stems from its need to sustain a
semblance of e'istence( if you can call it that. onetheless( the general take on
vampires has been from an objective of inciting dread and repulsion( especially via
the quintessential personi+cation of !ount /racula( whose creator 0ram &toker
quite possibly took his cue from the accounts of the 12th century 3uropean 4lad the
Impaler a.k.a /racula or 5&on of the /ragon5 alluding to his distinct royal bloodline.
ow the troupe called autankee is known for being anything but macabre. &o they
took the central theme of the various /racula phenomena and ran with it( so much
so that they made everybody lose their breath in trying to catch up with their
slapstick comedy. )itling their gut*wrenching production as 5/racula 6i 7apsi(5
autankee staged it to a rollicking reception. 8ollowing a loose storyline of a 5/ubai
return5 eligible bachelor who turns out to have a craving for what was inside the
veins of his prospective bride rather than above them( the play was interspersed
with outrageous musical numbers choreographed to the likes of pop hits such as
5!otton 3ye 9oe5 by :edne'.
8ollowing closely on the heels of the success of Dracula Ki Wapsi( autankee
ambitiously geared itself up to treat its growing fan following to another rollicking
rollercoaster ride tricked out with ghostly vibes. #ending it the moniker of 50hoot
6ahani(5 the troupe pitched it a la 5;hantom of the <pera(5 infusing it with a score
that memorably drew from the haunting melodies churned out by the likes of the
rock banshees =ueen( typically 50ohemian :hapsody5. A motley crew conjured up
some of the most mockingly macabre and frightfully festive shenanigans that
unleashed ripples of copious laughter amongst the packed audiences at >all III of
the Alhamra !ultural comple'.
%y own theatrical forays at college +rst alighted upon a whimsical yet delightful
play( frivolously titled as My Best Friend's Afair. I played the role of the 5%y5
character who was perpetually trying to give advice on matters of the heart to his
5best 8riend5 who started lusting after every girl who threw a mere glance his way. I
followed this dramatic e'cursion up with one that treaded along more traditional
pathways that meandered around a village setting. I played a local upstanding lad
braving the wrath of the local overlord in trying to seek justice for a girl who had
fallen victim to his carnal cavorting.
%y last staged escapade was one that indulged in the multi*layered intricacies of
mimed fantasies( contained within a production titled as 5>I%5. )racing the
emergence of human consciousness from its seminal animalistic state( it wormed its
way through the various transitory stages of sentience( discovery( identity( doubt(
regret( fear( adversity and an eventual elevated e'istence. Ironically( this
e'trasensory ability of the human society at large is e'actly what is being
undermined by the esoteric elements of our society. )hey are hell*bent on
ramrodding the 5ew 7orld <rder5 that will reduce its subjects to a culled*o. lot of
regimented worker units. >ence it is upon us to wean ourselves from slick sensory
sedatives and strive to defy every decree of the duplicitous powers that be.