A year and going places

Hyderabad: Hyderabad has something to cheer about the upcoming National Centre for the Performing Arts Cheer! Festival in Mumbai this weekend. City’s 71mm Productions’ The Open Couple has been invited to be part of the festival that is slated to begin June 6.

Vaishali Bisht, Anuj Gurwara and Priyanka Vir are already in Mumbai and have begun rehearsals. “This is one of the biggest stages of the country. And they’ve invited us for their festival,” says producer Priyanka Vir. “I am eager to showcase our work in Mumbai more than anything, considering that this is the hub.”

Vaishali adds, “It’s not an easy crowd to please. They enjoy a lot of theatre and comedy and we are hoping that we are bringing something fresh.”

Top names in comedy will be showcasing their acts at the NCPA festival over three days. Among them will be Kunal Roy Kapoor, Tanmay Bhat, Rohan Joshi, Sorabh Pant and Papa CJ.

The city’s very own funny man, emcee, singer and actor, Anuj, remains focused on the performance. “Not looking forward to meeting anyone. I’m just anxious to see how Mumbai responds,” he says.

The production also completes one year this month. “It’s such a great way to celebrate the first anniversary,” says Anuj, adding, “In one year, we were able to take the production to Bengaluru, Pune and Delhi; now we are looking forward to taking it abroad.”

That should not be hard considering that the director of the play, Faraz Khan, recently moved to London. He will thus be missing the NCPA performance. “He is managing the small details from there,” informs Anuj. Moreover, with their eyes set on international platforms, a bit of networking could go a long way.

Besides the relocation of the director, “nothing has changed in the play” that was first staged last June. The Dario Fo adaptation is treated with face masks (make-up) to add emotive emphasis to the plot around a woman who decides that she and her husband should become an “open couple”.