Woody Allen’s GOD is a play written in typical Woody style and demands an audience performer interface that does away with the proverbial fourth wall and throws dialogs around with such ease that you often forget that the author has warned you in advance that everyone is a figment of his imagination.

The wonderful thing about this evening’s performance of GOD by Samahaara was that it stayed true to the original script…mostly. And held the audience’s attention throughout.

Rahul Premchander, with his depiction of a slave who prefers slavery to freedom and as a starving desperate tippling actor did a marvelous job. And so did Abhinav. His quandary with having to come up with a script that has a conventional beginning, middle and end captured the frustration of an author stuck for words and his portrayal of a writer who realises that it is not he who is holding the pen, was admirable.

With the rest of the cast filling in very well what was there in the play not to like?

Well for one, the lighting was poor and unimaginative. But perhaps that has more to do with auditorium limitations than directorial intentions.

The attempt to caricaturise all the other bit characters landed up with some exaggerated in-your-face performances that reminded us that speaking loudly does not mean shouting and loss of clarity is unpardonable.

Both Abhinav and Krishna Shukla need to work in this department.

The absence of a brochure prevents me from taking individual names but the chorus girls performed very fiestily. More could have been done with the Zeus sequence but I am sure there were practical challenges to be overcome.

You need Guts to perform GOD. Well Samahaara proved that they have guts and more. The way they supported the performance including encouraging the two young girls who directed the play was inspiring. Well done Rathna.

And yes Abhinav, please wear cycle shorts when you are in costume the next time. It was the only burr on the otherwise clever costumes. I am sure the intention of the playwrights, both real and fictional was not for the audience to realise that you were not a Jockey Man