Laughter therapy on call

Get ready for rib-tickling entertainment as the Cheer! Festival returns with two weekends of plays and stand-up comedy acts to explore various ways of spreading joy

Charlie Chaplin made a very effective statement when he once said that “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” If you subscribe to the same view, then get ready for the National Centre for the Performing Arts Cheer! Festival 2014, an event that is all about comedy, wit and laughter, featuring comic plays, workshops and stand-up acts, full with non-stop hilarity.

A still from the comic play, The Open Couple

“Cheer! caught the wave of comedy that was sweeping Mumbai (and the country). Stand-up comedy and comic plays have become hugely popular, and it was time to celebrate the city’s sense of humour,” informs Deepa Gahlot, Head — Programming (Theatre and Film), NCPA.

Started in 2012, this is the third season of the festival and some new elements have been added to make it more interesting. Apart from plays and stand-up acts, the festival will have a show featuring only female comedians, and another one that will be a comedy musical.

Kunal Rao

“The festival has also been scaled up with time, and we have lined up some of the city’s best comedians. There are plays that have been specially created for Cheer! These are intelligent urban plays, not just mindless slapstick,” adds Gahlot.

Anu Menon

Some of the names that will be part of the event are Kunal Roy Kapoor, Sorabh Pant, Anuvab Pal, Papa CJ, Tanmay Bhat, Rohan Joshi, Aditi Mittal, Anu Menon and Kaneez Surka, among others.

Sorabh Pant

Appreciating the mindset of Mumbaikars, Gahlot shares that it’s a good thing that the city accepts stand-up comedy with an open mind. “Just about anyone and anything is lampooned, and there have been no protests or walk-outs so far. It bodes well for a society if it learns to laugh at itself,” she sums up.

Papa CJ

From: June 6 to 8 and June 14 to 15
At:  NCPA, Nariman Point.
Call: 22824567

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