Community Media/MASRAH/Shift

"SHHHHhhhiiiffftttt!!....Monday have a nice day!"....this short skit was performed by MASRAH at TCS for their annual award function. The play revolved around the main theme of "routine" and "monotony", where on falling into that routine it looses its charm.

We had a day to come up with ideas/ practice for the performance, as we sat and brainstormed we realized a scene from “BOOMBANDS” another Masrah production., where the protagonist goes through the motions of everyday life with relief of humor /inspiration from the television. So, keeping that in mind we added a little more ideas and went on floor with it.

This being the first time we as the “new” group performed on stage together, we were nervous but had a fun time performing none the less , where we did have to keep ourselves from laughing on stage at the others impromptu act. I thoroughly enjoyed our practice session.

The skit opens with the protagonist sleeping at one corner of the stage and the “TV “(four of us sitting in pairs, back to front) at the other corner and how one’s day starts with the alarm blaring and one going through the motion of brushing teeth, eating, getting to work, waiting for work to finish and finally getting home to eat alone in front of the television. Each routine is highlighted with the word “SHIFT” and the protagonist using the space to move as each step or event in the day progresses. The television is the last stage of the day where she sits down and puts it on, as comic relief of sorts each channel is portrayed by a different person and spoof right from Item numbers, News, Saas bahu serials, etc. On three occasions the television comes to life and moves out of its stagnant place and performs, this inspiring the protagonist the next day, literally making her step out of that box of monotony.

What we tried to convey through the short play was that though one lives their life by a certain routine, one can still hope for an alternative for something to happen to bring about a drastic change for the better and how we have to prepare our own space to welcome that change.