11 June,2010 10:00 AM IST | | Priyanjali Ghose
A birdman, rabbits doing naughty stuff, a drag queen, a jazz poet, a parody king and a performer who is the namesake of a vegetable form the part of an exotic performing menagerie in a new show that has no fixed script
If you are expecting an evening of comedy, music, poetry and cabaret all packed together in the Stiff Kittens Medicine Show, be warned. What you go expecting from the show might change by the end of it.
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For this is a freewheeling, non-conforming and completely over the top show.u00a0 If that sounds too much then hold your breath, as there is more to come.
Stiff Kittens, a Delhi based production house is here with The Medicine Show, a line up, to make sure that you have the most wackiest and entertaining Saturday evening.
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Suman Sridhar and Jeet Thayil, the Mumbai-New York lyrical pop duo are also a part of the line up to add to the fun with their outfit S/T.
Describing their performance as anu00a0 "orchestrated pandemonium" singer, actor, and songwriter Suman Sridhar says, "The show is driven by concept, not just craft or talent. We will perform a disco jam with a rap, a murder ballad on two guitars and a solo piano piece about blow up dolls."
Deeply inspired by artistes like Chairman Mao, Marina Abramovic and Ertha Kitt, the act S/T promises Bangloreans sweet and sexy music combined with poetry, music, theatre and storytelling.
The Medicine Show has an interesting history behind its name. During 19th century in America, a band of travelling mendicants who were also entertainers were called the Medicine Show.
The members of this troupe claimed to possess special herbal knowledge and employed blackface comedians, ventriloquists and dancers to help draw a crowd to peddle miracle cures or elixirs (snake oil).
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However, The Medicine Show presented by Stiff Kittens adheres to the concept but with a twist. This one only wants to sell fun.
"It's about bringing together talented and wayward performers to challenge perceptions and notions of what constitutes wholesome entertainment," says Stefan Kaye, the director and producer of the show.
"It caters to probably degenerated retards and ne'er-do-wells, those with morally questionable ideas, hustlers, fleas; perhaps the criminal fraternity."
"We're not really following a storyline; we're just trying to be sexy," declares Kaye, who takes credit for creating this show.
He makes an attempt to explain the concept further, "I never write scripts, my thing is writing music, but I come up with ideas and concepts.
The Medicine Show was first performed nearly two years ago in Delhi. Since then it has been steadily gaining a loyal audience.
The show does not follow a set storyline; even cast members keep changing. So, try as he may, even Kaye can't say how tonight's show will shape up.
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"We have acts that are not afraid to push the boundaries. Each artist comes up with his/her own material and then we try to feed off each other.
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Simply put, the best stuff comes out when we're just sitting around bouncing off ideas and drinking lots of beer," says Kaye. So, sit back and soak in the impromptu madness and mayhem.
At Kyra Theatre, Indiranagar
On June 12, 7 pm
Call 4338 9292
With inputs from Aditi Sharma.
