Eat like the French March 27, 2009
Bangalore, Karnataka
Eat like the French is a unique multi-dimensional theatrical experience, comprising of a play with food as its central axis, and an exotic postplay food and wine tasting event to complete a tantalising experience. The play 12000 little pies and other delicacies is an adaptation from the book, The Physiology of Taste by the 19th century writer, epicure and gastronome, Brillat- Savarin. Sustained by four greedy women, or ‘gourmandes’ from the book, the play attempts to unravel the perception of the French as a somewhat snobbish and high browed race and their pseudo scientific relationship with the culinary arts. Conceived by French theatre artist Claire Denieul, 12000 little pies and other delicacies is an entertaining and critical insight in to the French and their very Latin roots, wherein refinement and barbarism seem to co-exist in an ironic manner. The troupe behind the play is Wishdom, at Ranga Shankara. For details contact 9986016207.
Added by chitralekha on March 15, 2009
Comments
varun sayal
I will not be doing a play review in here, but would describe what i felt as an avid viewer. In my opinion the play was not good, but it was more so because of some bad theatrical doings in there and not because of the content/script.
Firsty, only one of the 4 ladies (who formed the major part of the play) had a voice which everybody in the auditorium could clearly hear. And I cannot believe it was due to any acoustical problem of the hall, blame goes solely to the actors and the play-director. When it's a dialogue oriented play being performed, not a situational one, and the dialogues carry a bit of an accent (french in here) each word should be thrown clearly into audience's ears, they shouldn't struggle to listen due to low pitch of the actor's voice, and finally lose interest.
Secondly in one of the scenes early on, the music goes on a higher note and the already slow tones of the actors could not be heard, which continued for good 5 minutes. It was very irritating, and suffered the same fate where people were struggling to listen. Early own where a performance should try to captivate the audience, such a weakly performed scene can do worst for the rest of the performance.
And there were multiple problems, some of which i cannot elucidate on, but just mention owing to my limited personal theater experience. These were: minimal sets (which did not help the feel of the play), lots of black outs, and sometimes apparent lack of vocal coordination among the actors, which was specifically demanded by the script.
No wonder the outflow of audience was consistent throughout, as it was only a matter of amount of patience one can have, yet the remaining crowd was very supportive and appreciated even small displays of humor or quality here and there. I saw the full show for my respect for the art and the artist but for no reasons other than that.
Yet positives were there as well, music was good, especially the lady on veena and the guy on the flute, who were plain professionals. Lighting affects showing various caritcatures and shadows were decent and were jelled in nicely with the on stage performance.
I would disagree if someone would say the post-play food servings weren't good, it was, but just for the tasting purpose. Ticket prices were a little higher but its fine as it was a whole more of an experience than just a play-viewing.
All in all the script was good but the players weren't as regards to their performance for this particular script, could have been a more captivating act.
Regards,
Varun
malika2
Are you sure that you were really there at Ranga Shankara this week end?
If you had seen the show you would have realized that the Veena was a Sitar.
.
zangeneh_india
We went to see a show in Ragashankara last friday.The play was directed by Claire.
It was something different, very artistic.The theater was packed with audience.every body was enjoying the show.The show ended with delicious French food and win. We were very please to be there.We appreciate the effort they had put in this show. we are glad to see some artistic shows by French lady Claire and her group. Karan
premsagar
Oh my god! What a horrible experience?
It was worse than the worst Geography class I ever attended.
I am talking about Eat like the French - the play at Rangashankara.
I knew it was going to be about food. But I didn’t imagine that it could be this terrible!
The whole play was awful. Or in my humble opinion, not suitable for this part of the world. We (Indians) don’t like lectures on the food styles of the French, British or Martians or other extra terrestrial beings! We like stories. Good ones. And music.A good story and music that complements the storyline have been the very essence of theatre in India. This play was devoid of both.
There was very minimal music. The 4 ladies dominated 99% of the play. They spoke about the food of the French who according to them are great connoisseurs. While I don’t have any disagreement with that point (I was in France in 2008 and I enjoyed the food there thoroughly), I certainly don’t think they did a good job.
The food served at the end was average. Wine - average. Chicken - below average. Ratatouille and tart - good. Chocolate - horrible (nearly puked after eating it).
And the cost of the tickets doesn’t do any justice either. Rs 350 for this play is either a joke or brash boldness on the part of the producer. (I have seen a few wonderful plays like Mysooru Mallige @ Rs 50, Nanyaako doubtu @ 70, Sadarame @ 100 and 350 for this play annoyed me.)
I would avoid plays like these like plague.
My advice: Please avoid the show even if you are given free tickets.
regards,
Prem
http://www.premsagar.net/2009/03/27/rangashankara-play-eat-like-the-french/