The Hindu Business Line : Body Language

The plot is simple: Two world leaders meet, posture, maneuver, and do all the things that politicians do and finally find that they are more like each other in spite of their public disagreements. The funny thing is that the brothers speak an invented language. Instead, the brothers use a fine blend of gestures, song, dance, and inflections in the voice to display their feelings.

One could easily make out the leaders' fierce rivalry, their one-upmanship, their petty and irritating mannerisms, their wariness in talking to each other and the very public disagreements they have just for the benefit of their audience. At some places, one could imagine the leaders saying "Yeah, right!" or "You know what... " or "Listen. Listen!" to each other. One could also easily picture two political rivals or two heads of state meeting in front of the audience instead of Barnaby and Jonathan.

It is amazing to think that one could enjoy a play so much without any dialogue. It also explained the importance of context when people are watching and hearing but not listening. The audience was perplexed for a few minutes when the play began and it finally dawned that we were still trying to understand the gobbledegook that the brothers were saying in spite of the fact that we already knew they weren't using any recognisable language.

The duo performed at the Smt. Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium, Chennai. They have a few more engagements at Jamshedpur, Kolkata and New Delhi. Contact the nearest British Council for more information and passes.

Switch off mobile!

The play also made another point: Mobile phones have turned many otherwise nice people into inconsiderate ones. In spite of a request that people switch off their mobile phones, phones were ringing, beeping or singing. And some were rude enough to actually take their calls ignoring their neighbours. There was also some furious texting going on with the beeping delivery reports punctuating every message.

These people spoiled the evening for the few who switched their phones to silent mode or some who even switched off their phones. There will be a day when people attending a play would have to leave their mobile phones at a counter.

Incidentally, the play was co-sponsored by Hutch.

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