It was an amazing concept. Whoever thought of conversations between wives and mistresses, or husbands and lovers was definitely more adventurous than most. And the idea of presenting two distinctly different pieces together and in quick succession - ‘The Stronger’ in English  and
‘Maranoparant’ in Hindi - was even more challenging. But it is Vinay Verma you are talking about. With the more than able Naren Yadav. The surprise package however was the girls.

Unnati Muni Ved, the otherwise quiet, epitome of cool was on fire. She slipped into her role of a dowdy wife to offset the uber chic mistress with such ease that I could easily imagine her actually strangling Sandhya Raju. And Sandhya, what a different Raju…she morphed from one expression to another without taking a breath.

Unnati was given the stage while Sandhya was given the chair (well mostly anyway). And that contrast of a rambling wife and a cornered mistress is what made the image poignant. The dialogues, well actually a monologue, was earthy and middle class and that contributed to the confrontation. The finale was Unnati coming back onstage to sip from the coffee cup…I have never seen a more elegant way of showing the other woman a finger.

If Vinay chose to give invisible cubes of territory to the girls, he took the battle into the sound of voices when it came to the boys. The deep sonorous Vinay with the young, bridled Naren. The arms close to the body Vinay gently stalking the loose limbed Yadav. Oh that was like a ballet.

And the evening was peppered by Pallavi Varma and her friend (I am sorry I forget her name) and don’t you dare say ‘Exactly’…with interesting interruptions that presented not just the plays themselves but also Sutradhar’s concept and the philosophy that drives it.

I like the way Vinay Verma always manages to do something significant for World Theatre Day and I wish him all the best in the many years to come.