Six Dead Queens & an Inflatable Henry - A review by Kay S

Six Dead Queens and an inflatable Henry

A Bangalore Little Theatre Presentation directed by Dr. Shatarupa Bhattacharya 

That's the magic of art and the magic of theatre: it has the power to transform an audience, an individual, or en masse, to transform them and give them an epiphanal experience that changes their life, opens their hearts and their minds and the way they think. - Brian Stokes Mitchell

The above quotation of Brian Stokes Mitchell was something I had chanced upon some time ago as I was browsing the internet scouting for some information and it struck a chord in my mind and got me thinking.  As my thought process more often than not is an extensive and long-drawn one, it generally takes upon hues of different kinds and remains until I can solve a mystery or find the logic or reasoning behind what I chanced upon.  This happened very recently on Sunday evening at Alliance de Francaise, Bangalore when I watched a brilliantly and astutely directed play of Shatarupa Bhattacharya, “Six Dead Queens and an inflatable Henry,” under the banner of Bangalore Little Theatre.  This is a play that was originally created by Foursight Theatre and depicts the comedy and tragedy, the misogyny and lament existing in history through the lives of three Catherines, two Annes, and one Jane, the infamously famous ill-fated wives of Henry VIII.    The saying I read made all the more sense and made me think it is so true that art opens your hearts and minds and changes the way we think and many a times forces a thought process that can be intense.  Now that the premise has been set for the play, let me move on to the lady of the hour, Shatarupa Bhattacharya, an actress par excellence who was directing her brilliant cast for the first time.

At the offset, as I entered the theatre hall, I was intrigued and bemused at the way the entire place was set for the play with all the actors of stage carrying on with themselves in their own worlds playing cards or embroidering, or just loitering around pretending to be busy with a background music that was infectious.  It starts off looking like a disorderly act goading the audience who are assembling in the hall and settling themselves to scratch their brains in curiosity about what is about to unfold.  As we were just trying to control our amusement and awe at the nonchalant way they carried about without paying any attention to all of us there, the play started and Voila! - the magic began to unfold.  It was clear at the very beginning that this was going to be a play that is going to making me write a review of class for the director for the musical introductory format of each and every actor playing her role of the queen was a brilliant stroke of direction, especially since the actors delivered it in a way that struck a chord in me.

The fact that this play presents the lamentable and pathetic nature of Henry VIII, the distraught of the queens who had to succumb to the advances of an unattractive fat louse of a man hell bent on producing a male offspring to succeed the throne, and the apathy with which he conducted himself is on one side disgusting indeed.  The brilliance of direction was such that all these despicable qualities of Henry VIII were not on my mind at all as I watched the actors on stage, each one of them belting their dialogues with élan without an inkling of self-consciousness.  The musical numbers, the dialogue, the script, the delivery of the same, the body language, the attitude, the expressions, the voice modulations, the dance, the message behind the entire play were all conveyed at a level where you would expect from the most seasoned veteran actors who have been on stage for years and to see such young talent deliver this quality on stage was heart-warming.  I take the opportunity to congratulate each and every one of the actors who played the roles to the hilt to a point where I could relate to each and every one of them and understand their pain and pleasure, the comedy and tragedy, the weaknesses and strengths of each and every one of them.  I saw this play in a different light for it was depicted as an after-life of all these queens who had lost their lives in different ways meeting and living together post-death.  It was one of the most interesting ways to present their story, innovative to the hilt, entertaining beyond boundaries, brilliant without a doubt.

Shatarupa as an actress had always astounded and overwhelmed me with her prowess in acting and now she has indeed added another feather in the cap with this brilliant direction.  The fact that the play was rendered with “No Holds Barred” shows the outspoken nature of the director delivering a classic piece with panache indeed.  I am extremely proud to be associated with Shatarupa Bhattacharya and more so to write this piece of review bowing down to the entire cast & crew for a brilliantly presented play.  I do not want to single out any of the actors as each and every one played their role to the hilt, excelling in what they chose to portray bringing in their own mannerisms and character to it in a way that it did not feel a minute that the roles they played were of someone else.  Most importantly the language, the dialect, the accent of English was carried out brilliantly.  Overall, I would say this is a must watch for theatre lovers for if you have not seen this, you are missing something!!

Congratulations, Shatarupa on an amazingly seamless, brilliant, excellent direction of this play.  I would love to say, “Hats off to you and the entire cast and crew!” for carrying off this wonderful, tragic comedy, intertwined with humor, satire, sarcasm and all emotions in between in such a professional manner that had me so astonished.  Wish you all the very best for your future endeavors and all your future shows.  I bow down to your brilliance as an actor par excellence and now a director with panache.

CAST & CREW:

Directed by: Shatarupa Bhattacharya

Catherine of Aragon - Ruchi Tandon

Anne Boleyn - Ujani Ghosh

Jane Seymour - Sneha Sridhar

Anne of Cleves - Shraddha Raj

Katherine Howard - Bhagyashree Kakoti

Catherine Parr - Sanchita Poonacha

Produced by - Bangalore Little Theatre