The Blue Mug: A Review
Blue mug image by denn
Went to see a play in Hyderabad. Let me say, firstly, the audience was huge. I’ve been in Sri Lanka for years and India is bright lights big city for me. The cast was from film and TV and the scene seemed quite happening. Rajat Kapoor was the star I knew. That said, I didn’t really understand the play and fell asleep during parts of it. Near the end I had about 5 minutes of what felt like lucidation, but I’m not sure. However, I did wake up thinking about it, which is a plus.
Experimental theater is not always enjoyable. Much of the pleasure of art comes from dancing around the predictable, a chord progression, a well-timed joke, the familiar structure of drama or tragedy. Variation within that theme, but on that theme, so as not to jangle the synapses so much.
Blue Mug, however, is not structured in that way. It is basically 75 minutes of monologues with a few conversations. There are engaging actors, but it is fundamentally a bunch of people relating stories about their childhood. Significant portions are in Hindi, or Hinglish, which I missed, but I think I followed the most of it. They say the story is based on the Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks, but I read and studied that book and the relation seems cursory. Besides the patient HM with memory loss, there isn’t that much correlation.
But all that may be besides the point. I’ve said that I fell asleep, but when I woke up the next day I was thinking about the play. Which means, to me, that the ideas had some impact beyond entertainment. Because I was not particularly entertained. But what were they talking about?
After hearing minute upon minute of stories about childhood erections, sleeping on terraces, breaking up, dating, father issues, funerals, people, places, it all starts to blur. There were long monologues in Hindi and uproarious jokes I didn’t get and I started to pass out. Then, however, at the very very end, there is about 10 minutes where the monologues become connected and the actors become somewhat self aware and at the same time start losing the thread. They are then watching each other and forgetting what they say almost immediately, devolving into shapes and movement. Which was, I think a moment.
The entire play was kind of like being inside someone’s brain. Repetitive, self-indulgent, too long and often boring. That is, however, a somewhat interesting simulation to do on stage. The idea of memory in its actual form, not the structured narrative structure we employ to retain and sustain an audience’s fickle interest. It’s not the most entertaining (not that the bits aren’t funny), but it certainly makes you think. I think that’s the point, but perhaps I’m just remembering wrong.
The Blue Mug is a play directed by Atul Kumar. It stars Konkana Sen Sharma, Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Sheeba Chadha and Munish Bhardwaj. As far as I know it’s running till April 11th across India and in the Middle East, Brazil and the US after that.
Today on the 
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Wow! That’s a nice line up of actors…! I’m sure I’d have loved to watch it, but alas! Hope you are enjoying ur India trip,Indi!
hey just saw the play in bangalore. truly, if you don’t understand the language wel and havent been brought up in india, this play is incomplete for you. the whole essence of our childhood filled with different backgrounds, funny punjabi jokes, the circus, the innocence and adolescence , every memory etched perfectly in the play. brilliant performances by all the actors. sheeba, vinay, rajat, ranvir were at their best. konkona had less role. !! would watch it again and agian. !! hatss off guys !!
I was one of the unfortunate ones who caught this play in B’lore yesterday. I was so excited to see a fabulous cast like this performing in B’lore, I had booked this play well in advance with much anticipation. It was BIG LET DOWN. I agree with this review wholeheartedly. I was sorely disappointed with the mundane and repetitive monologues which never led any where. Not only was it boring, some scenes featuring a Punjabi guy with an exaggerated accent were downright irritating and crass. A talented cast like this shouldn’t be wasted on a script and theme like this. Please don’t waste your time and money with this play!
Everyone is entitled to their taste and opinion – but I saw this last night – and me and my friends found it simply brlliant!
Inspite of the organiser bungling pretty much everything they could and one of the actors actually not being able to make it because of personal reasons – as soon as they started performing we forgot all of it and lost ourselves in their anecdotes.
Yes there is no plot – it is their real reminiscences of their own childhoods. I hate to make this a north-south thing – because it definitely is not, if you are open to a bit of an avant-garde theatrical experience – but otherwise this play, by its very nature, may not strike the same chord if you if you did grow up in the ’80s in north India. Especially the humor is very much based on this context. So much of what they say transported each of us to these small memories of our own childhoods.
And by the way, ‘the Punjabi guy with an exaggerated accent’, one of the only two playing imaginary characters in the play, we felt was the archstone that held it together. Brilliantly portrayed by Ranveer – drew claps each time he came on stage and a standing ovation later.
Go see it, if you get a chance!
I agree. Self indulgent faff masquerading as serious drama.
Just watched the play last nite at Prithvi in Juhu in Mumbai. It was a very nice n simple play. The highlights were the stellar star cast of Vinay Pathak, Rajaj Kapoor, Konkana Sen Sharma and a very very very talented Ranvir Shorey!!!
All of them performed brilliantly but for me it was Ranvir. His performance of patient from humble backgrounds who is suffering with memory loss and who incapable of making new memories, really moved me. Especially the bit where he comes face to face with his now middle aged brother after 20 years but in his mind he his brother is only about 20 something.
Ranvir’s character Joginder is unable to comprehend this difference and gets shocked. The way this ‘shock’ was performed really really moved me! Everyone in the audience was gobsmacked with his performance!
People you need to go watch it for the brilliant brilliant performances by all of the artists! You will remember this one for long long time!!!
[...] And then someone not so impressed by The Blue Mug: The cast was from film and TV and the scene seemed quite happening. Rajat Kapoor was the star I knew… [...]