Dance like a Man
PUBLISHED August 22nd, 2014 07:32 am | UPDATED May 9th, 2018 03:13 am
Playwright: Mahesh Dattani
Produced and Directed by: Lillete Dubey
Cast: Vijay Crishna, Joy Sengupta, Suchitra Pillai and Lillete Dubey
DANCE LIKE MAN is easily the longest running Indian play in English having performed over 350 shows, and is also an original one! Performed extensively across over a dozen cities in India and at the Watermans Art Centre in London, ‘Dance like A Man’ has also done a 2 week run Off Broadway in New York at the Tribeca Arts Centre, and performed at the Portland International Performing Arts Festival in Oregon, USA, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and in several cities around the globe including Auckland, Singapore, Dubai, Colombo, Lahore, San Francisco, Stanford, Houston, Dallas, North Carolina, Chicago, Washington D.C, Kuala Lumpur,Kathmandu, etc.
The story of Jairaj and Ratna, two Bharat Natyam dancers past their prime, is contrasted with that of their daughter Lata, who is on the brink of establishing herself as a brilliant dancer. Her imminent success creates tension and jealousy, and the audience is drawn into the dark secrets of family relationships and conflicts between generations. The play probes the surface of the characters to question their deeper motivations, but the mode is comic rather than tragic, even though the concerns are serious, and you are never sure whether to laugh or cry.
