How to Skin a Giraffe

It’s been ages since I stopped doing many things that was very much a part of my life. So, grabbed the chance when a friend invited me to this play, “How to Skin a Giraffe” that was staged in Rangashankara.

Most of us are into a delusion that plays are for the intellectuals. I say, the delusion by itself is a delusion! (Honestly, I could not relate the title of the play with what they showcased on stage. Not that I was expecting the artists to demonstrate skinning a giraffe, simply put, I just didn’t get it man!). Having said that, I was looking forward to a highly incomprehensible play, which might lull me to sleep or give me an ego crunch.

Sitting among a sophisticated crowd that dressed mostly in crisp cottons (the Fab India types), and a bunch of sophisticated, intellectual, and crazy (ex) colleagues/friends made me feel like a duck in a parliament of owls (ahh…finally putting the collective noun to use!). Luckily, I got a place in the second row – less chances of getting distracted by the owls.

The play begun with soothing live music and artists entering the stage, acting like puppets - good enough to trigger the thought, “100 mins of boredom awaits”. Fifteen minutes of that and the play took a twist. The dialogues shifted from English to Hindi and then to Tamil, Kanada, and Malayalam, and were quite simple to comprehend. The artists brought a palette of brilliant expressions on their face. The music became more interesting – kept me wondering how such outstanding music can be produced using simple instruments such as a mouth organ, lute, chimes, and so on. The use of properties was creative and the occasional interactions with the audience made the play even more interesting.

I came out with a flushed face (of merry and laughter), satisfied that I did something awesome after sluggishly spending months, doing nothing that I can talk or blog about. Keeping my fingers crossed that I spend the rest of the year enjoying similar “blogable” stuff! ;)