SouthAsianPlaywrights.org

The Man of Man – Sujay Sood

sujaysood — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:17:24 +0000

Synopsis: In lyrical and poetic refrain, an anguished soul in The Man of Man searches for forgiveness for his sin of primal homicide. Man has committed the ultimate sin of killing “the man of man,” a divinity figure, and also killing his Woman in a fit of jealous rage. In a choreographed and lyrical exploration of incidents and motives, Man searches for forgiveness.

Setting: A desert
Time Period: Antiquity

Cast Size: 4
Casting: Man
Woman
Musician(s)

This Play Is: published

Production History: The Man of Man was performed at the Prithvi Theatre’s Play Festival at the Habitat Centre in New Delhi in 1999, and at Aachen, Germany in 2002.

The Gossamer Gyre – Sujay Sood

sujaysood — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:12:21 +0000

Synopsis: Actors rehearsing an Elizabethan play written in blank verse begin to find strange inconsistencies that begin to dissolve the line between their “real” selves and their characters. The first act is set in the environs of Shakespeare’s Richard III. A lord seeks the murderer of his son, while his mourning daughter falls for a knavish rogues iwth dubious moties. The lord’s misstress complicates the story by bringing news from teh kings’ court of imminent capture and execution. But the plot devolves to overlap with the “real” lives of the actors, who flee at the end of act I to find themselves in a Shakespearean “Tempest” in act II.

Setting: Contemporary stage/Elizabethan/island
Time Period: contemporary + Elizabethan

Cast Size: 5
Casting: Lord Goodrig aka Richard, 50s
Mistress Jane aka Eleanor, 40s
Isabel aka Marina, 20s
Arthur aka Sanjay, 20s
Belincara aka Vanessa, a sprite

Design Needs: The second act require a “tempest” sort of feel.
Elizabethan costumes are necessary.

This Play Is: unpublished

Production History: The Gossamer Gyre was workshopped in 1999 in a staged-reading by the Players’ Group at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Mumbai.

Contract – Sujay Sood

sujaysood — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:05:57 +0000

Synopsis: A salesman comes knocking on a cold and snowy night. He doesn’t recognize Cristina to be the ex-fiancé he ran out on a decade ago. As the past is gradually revealed, Seve tries to use the past as leverage to make his sale. The conflicts in the relationship between Devinder “Dave” and Cristina also come to the fore, and the secret which Cristina has kept from her husband for so long is revealed. The play investigates the nature of various types of “contracts” that affect our day to day lives.

Setting: House, American suburbia
Time Period: Contemporary

Cast Size: 5
Casting: Devender Prakash, a naturalized American from India, late thirties
Cristina Gonzalez, a naturalized American from Puerto Rico, early thirties
Seve Skantzas, a naturalized American from Greece, early thirties
Maria Gonzalez, Cristina’ s mother
Pizzaboy, a delivery person
TVSPEAKER: A politician
Seve’s double

Design Needs: Seve’s double is a character who appears during a surreal/dream sequence in which the beginning of the play repeats itself, and the audience isn’t aware that they’re in Seve’s head until they realize that there are two Seves on stage.

This Play Is: unpublished

Production History: Contract was performed in 1999 by the Theatre Action Group at The Habitat Center in New Delhi.

Boundary Conditions – Sujay Sood

sujaysood — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:00:22 +0000

Synopsis: Sheela, newly-wed and newly-arrived to a big town, overcomes her alienation and loneliness by getting hooked onto the daily lessons of the TV TUTOR. Her husband, Govind, is an engineeer who is busy with work and busy with his pals.
The TV TUTOR is somewhat magical in its interactions with Sheela, and she gets herself educated beyond the ken of her husband’s understanding.
Events come to a head during fateful night, the Karvachaut fast, after which violence and resolution one is left to contemplate the role/beneficiality of TV TUTOR in the couple’s lives.

Setting: Apartment in India
Time Period: contemporary

Cast Size: 3
Casting: GOVIND, HUSBAND, MID-THIRTIES
SHEELA, WIFE, MID-TWENTIES
TV TUTOR, A TELEVISION TUTOR

Design Needs: the TV TUTOR needs to be a live feed from an actor backstage to the screen/monitor onstage.

This Play Is: unpublished

Production History: Boundary Conditions was performed in 1999 by Theatre Action Group at the International Habitat Centre in New Delhi.

Blacky’s Trunk (English/Hungarian) – Sujay Sood

sujaysood — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:55:03 +0000

Synopsis: The play is written in English and Hindi (an original version exists in English and French; English/Spanish and English/Hungarian versions also exist).

The structure of the play is such that a spectator how knows only one language either English or Hungarian will be able to understand the entirety of the play by the end of both acts.

Setting: A Beach

Title: Blacky’s Trunk (English/Spanish) – Sujay Sood

sujaysood — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:53:12 +0000

Synopsis: The play is written in English and Hindi (an original version exists in English and French; English/Spanish and an English/Hungarian versions also exist).

The structure of the play is such that a spectator how knows only one languageâ either English or Spanish will be able to understand the entirety of the play by the end of both acts.

Setting: Beach

Blacky’s Trunk (English/Hindi) – Sujay Sood

sujaysood — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:50:24 +0000

The structure of the play is such that a spectator how knows only one language either English or Hindi will be able to understand the entirety of the play by the end of both acts.

Setting: A Beach
Time Period: Anytime

Design Needs: The trunk is essential to the play. It needs to be large enough for an actor to fit in. The trunk must also have a flap at the back for the actor to be able to get out.
There is paraphernalia in Braman’s backpack as well as in the trunk, as will become clear during a reading of the play.

This Play Is: unpublished

Production History: An English/French version of Blacky’s Trunk was performed in 2000 at the Boston Conservatory.
An English/Hindi version of Blacky’s Trunk was performed in 2004 by the South Asian Theatre Group at the Boston Actors Workshop.

Awards Review Quotes: Awards, Accolades, Great Review Pull Quotes, etc.

Blacky’s Trunk (English/French) – Sujay Sood

sujaysood — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:49:19 +0000

Synopsis: The play is written in English and Hindi (an original version exists in English and French; English/Spanish and English/Hungarian versions also exist).

The structure of the play and the nature of physical and verbal repetition is such that a spectator how knows only one language either English or French will be able to understand the entirety of the play by the end of both acts.

Duration: 2 hours, ~1 hour each act.

Note: Suggested size of Blacky’s Trunk: 6 ft long by 3 ft high by 2 ft deep.

Setting: A beach, anytime

Time Period: Any time

Cast Size: 5
Casting: Atman: motivated in life by the physical
Kala: in search of artistic expression
Maya: ruled by the desire of the seductress
Braman: motivated by the scientific
Child: (preferably of indeterminate sex)

Design Needs: The trunk is central to this play. It should be sufficiently large to contain the actor for a brief period, with a backside flap for easy exit.
Sand is a requirement for the Child’s sandbox.
Braman’s bag has some essential paraphernalia, as will become clear in the play.

This Play Is: unpublished
Production History: The play was performed in 2000 (english/French) at the Boston Conservatory, and in 2004 in English/Hindi by the South Asian Theatre Group at the Boston Actors Workshop.

Sex Industry: Indecent Job and Closets Full of Juicy Plums – by Bina Sharif

binasharif — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:00:33 +0000

Synopsis:

INDECENT JOB: A sexually charged, wealthy banker wants to have his own private club with scantily clad dancing girls.

CLOSETS FULL OF JUICY PLUMS: A step-father sleeps with his adoptive young daughter.

Setting: A strip club, an apartment, a school

Cast Size: 6

Casting:

BANKER, white American male

DANCERS (5), female

Accusation – by Bina Sharif

binasharif — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:56:12 +0000

Synopsis: Ten young men are wrongfully accused by their neighbors of various petty crimes, such as jumping rope in the apartment.

Setting: A courtroom, an upscale French restaurant in NYC

Time Period: 2000

Cast Size: 13

ACCUSED MEN (2), 18-20 years old. The remaining 8 men are represented by signs taped to empty chairs.

JUDGE, white American female

DEFENSE ATTORNEY, white American male

JUDGE’S HUSBAND, white American male