THEATRE: CLUB DESIRE

A PASSIONATE DESIRE CLUB

Les Menezes reviews the 21^st century theatre musical update of Bizet’s “Carmen” featuring Palomi Ghosh

The National Centre for Perfoming Arts and Arpana presentation of “Club Desire” was the fund-raiser event for the Blind Society of Goa on 23^rd September at 7 pm at the Kala Academy auditorium.

The director, Sunil Shanbag  and the young female writer, Sapan Saran, establish from the very outset that this is a gritty, direct-in-the-face capturing of the essence of the Carmen story in the context of modern India. 

The Desire Club owner kick starts the action with his favourite F word and splatters it across his limited 300 word vocabulary throughout the play in a very energetic and colourful performance.  This on-the-ball man of action, who prides himself on achieving so much with so little, brought to life the successful  Indian entenpreneurs of small businesses. In contrast, Jayam,  poet, author, well read and totally in command of sentence structure and word meanings, is out of sync with the pulsating world of clubs, dance music  and free love. The clash of characters  generates a sprinkling of laughs unheard of in previous versions of the intensely passionate story of destructive love that characterises the original Carmen opera by Bizet.

The music of Bizet’s opera has captivated music lovers everywhere for a long, long time; nonetheless the music here composed by Suhaas Ahuja and Rohan Hastak  plugs into the new Indian urban punk rock and electronic dance music with hard hitting rhythmic underpining  and throbbing pulse. The musicians on-stage created the Club Desire context with zest.

The teasing, taunting, irrepressible, Carmen is replaced by Chahat, free-spirited, morally unconventional, provocative and unattainable to any man. Palomi Ghosh steps into this role that fits her like a tight glove. Palomi breathes Chahat inside out. And amazingly brings to the surface numerous insights into the character of the original Carmen.

Sapan Saran has created a more complex portrayal of a liberated woman based on Carmen in an innovative up-to-date rewrite in the modern urban social and cultural context. Palomi who is loved for projecting the essence of Goa’s greatest singer in an uncanny life size portrayal in "Nachomia Kumpasar", repeats the magic here with a vibrantly alive creation of Chalat .

Palomi’s entry and her first song hit the hot spot with gusto. The music is loud and Palomi’s voice with its wide dynamic range and her gyrating, arm-swinging, 'pull-out -all-stops' body movements, reinforce  and punctuate the music.  The star of "Nachomia Kumpasar"  has greater talent in store. She's playing to a 'live' audience and she keeps them entranced them with her dynamism and charisma.

Jayam and Chahat belong  to mutually-exclusive worlds. They meet and sparks fly but an unusual, passionate, obsessive love engulfs them.  Soon, divisions on notions of language, love, sex, morality and freedom pull them apart. For example: he knows the origin of words and their meanings; for her, words are merely sounds that express emotions. Her music uses sounds to improvise these emotions. The mercurial Chahat cannot and will not bend in the wind of reason or logic.

The wonderful  song :" heart is a verb"  is very touching. Chahat’s songs with the lyrics written by Arundhati Subramaniam thrown up on a screen were an integral part, echoing  the inner reality of the events.

The entry of DJ Abeer, a successful producer and performer of electronic dance music, creates the tragic love triangle with the ousted Jayam , desperately clinging to his love, out for revenge. Failure shadows him to the tragic end.

His entry also ushers in discussion on creativity.  These spirited  arguments, brilliantly scripted, on love, sex, morality, fatherhood, mother love, freedom, language, creativity, music, expressive sounds build up the conflicts and congruences between the characters and are a unique feature of the play. The predictable outcome is given a delicious twist with the Armadillo song written by Asif Ali Baig, based on a Bolivian fable. It frames the central story with a lovable whimsical touch and brings a  satisfying twist at the end.

The  entire team  from the young writer to the old experienced director, the stunning Palomi and her fellow actors, the musicians and all the crew came together to give us an unusual theatre experience.

JAZZ : BETALBATIM CONCERT , 10 OCTOBER 2004

HERITAGE JAZZ TO SET GOA ABLAZE WITH MUSIC

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 Betalbatim. Sunday 10^th October. 6:30 pm. Rebelo Mansion. A sense of occasion  prevails over the extensive grounds dressed for the event – the building and trees festooned with lights outlined against the sky, manicured pathways and lawns; tents, tables, chairs , a bar and a food servery enticing relaxed enjoyment; and a serious involvement zone with chairs attentively curved around the semi-circular stage built around the central tree that spread its luxuriant foliage protectively over the stage.  Keen enthusiasts poured into the two arms of the L-shaped arena and overflowed everywhere in the ample surroundings. The sound system carried the music to everyone.

         

 People arrived dressed for the occasion, their clothes reflecting their attitude to the event.  Some were in evening dress, resplendent with jewelry, shawls, the works. Some came in their Sunday best while others holidayed with their clothes, casual, unusual, comfortable.  Mixture and experiment was the keynote of the evening.  The mood echoed the sense of enjoyment, participation and readiness for anything.  And they got more than they bargained for. 

Sanjay Deshpande opened the evening with a Suitar solo.  He has designed a sitar which can be played standing slung around his neck like a guitar! The sweetness of tone and the fluidity of notes was a delight.  Nothing could be sweeter than his Suitar.

Gopalnath Kadri and S Harikumar squatted on the stage and battled harmoniously exchanging, echoing, intertwining, interacting, competing, collaborating in infinite explorations of the tonalities of saxophone and violin sonorities.  H. Subramanian with his ghatom and gandhira and R. Balachandran on the mrubangam spiced up the central happenings with supporting and interjecting percussive effects.  The audience was totally captivated.

Then hell broke loose.  And the people went wild.  Lester Goudinho, drums, Colin D’Cruz, bass, and Carlos Gonsalves, percussion joined them in unforgettable fusions.  This was an indescribable experience.  One could only surrender to the magic.  You had to be there to feel the energy of the moment.  This was live music at its best.  Knife-edge jazz.  Harikumar had not played with Kadri before nor had the western jazz musicians with the Indian musicians.  Yet here they were creating the most incredible music.

          

The Roses in Harmony comprise three members of the Rose family – Marshal, saxophone, Mozart, guitar, Connie, keyboard, brother, nephew and niece of the famous Alfred Rose.  Our stellar jazz trio from the previous item – Lester, Colin and Carlos – completed a tight jazz ensemble which projected Goan musicians playing inimitably.  Cool jazz for a really cool night.  Each member a soloist blending together in enchanting musical cocktails – stirred, shaken, jiggled, frothed to perfection.  A welcome mixture to be sipped lingeringly after the heat that came before.

S Harikumar climaxed the evening with the two Indian percussionists, Subramanian and Balachandran, and the Goan jazz trio, Lester, Colin and Carlos working themselves into a frenetic competitive interaction showcasing the virtuosity and creative genius of each musician.  The brilliance of the violinist was unbelievable as was his humility in providing opportunities for others to shine in challenging solos that he instigated.  Neither the musicians nor the audience wanted the evening to end but midnight was creeping up so Harikumar brought the concert to a close with an amazingly inventive rendition of the National Anthem.

Jergson Rebelo, his family and Armando Gonsalves were the inspiration and the motivating force that brought the concept of Heritage Jazz to life.  The overwhelming success of the evening has fired them to carry the torch to other Heritage homes and set them ablaze with memorable jazz concerts.

 LES MENEZES