Play presents comedy with Hindi flair
A local theater troupe aims to bring a barrel of laughs to Columbia County Nov. 15 with their production of the Hindi comedy Honeymoon Circus.
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"The way the whole play is put together, there will be a lot of comedy," said Bharat Khosla, actor and member of Caravan Corporation. "There are a lot of punch lines out there, so people will definitely enjoy them."
Caravan President Ravi Verma put a modern twist on a short play written in the 1960s by Satish Dey, an Indian writer and playwright.
Verma, who also directs and acts in the play, said he modified the play to make it relevant for the audience. He also incorporated humor from shows such as Everybody Loves Raymond .
The play is centered on a shrewd building caretaker who rents out the same property to two tenants. Neither tenant is aware of the other and each uses the space at a different time of day.
The commotion created from the deception results in a "situational comedy," Verma said.
The play is set in India and actors will mostly speak Hindi.
"They can relate to the country they left back," Verma said of the audience. "They can still correlate with the situations that are shown in the play."
Costumes and makeup came from India and the United Kingdom.
"Many times people come for the body language and costumes," Khosla said.
The play starts at 4:30 p.m. next Sunday at the Jabez Sanford Hardin Performing Arts Center inside the Columbia County Library. It will last for about 21/2 hours with an intermission.
Tickets cost $25 to sit in the theater's first two rows and $15 for all other seating. A $5 discount is offered to students.
Caravan consists of members from India, Pakistan, Burma, Vietnam and other parts of South Asia. The group's mission is to "provide an outlet for creative community involvement, to create multilingual participatory performing art, while seeking to produce innovative entertainment with sharing cultures, arts and heritage of world community," according to its Web site.
Verma and Khosla urge people to buy tickets in advance because plays have sold out early. To purchase tickets or for information, call (706) 495-6837 or (803) 507-0591, or e-mail theatercaravan@gmail.com.