THEATRE REVIEW : ARCHITECTS OF THE INVISIBLE - RONNIE KURIAKOSE

 

The cast and crew of Architects of the Invisible took a chance here leading the audience astray and then bringing them back into an explosion of creative irony; it paid off ten-fold.

 

Unlike the others, I watched Architects of the Invisible not expecting a story. And I was not disappointed. Like every other plays produced by the PCI this year, this too lacked a story. Not entirely. There were some small extracts that if dissected from the play and read together would qualify as one. But any attempts at that would defeat the very purpose that this collaborative piece tried to achieve. No. There was no story, but perhaps a journey of chance.

 

The play began like plays do – with an uninvited silence and an honest hope that we would be entertained. We sat there for a while peering at the long line of this seventeen member cast expecting them to perform. Apparently, they had similar expectations of us. It was obvious then that this was comedy and comedy, as a genre, never failed to entertain.

 

It was only after a quick bombardment of stats on some of the unusual ways you can die that the play really took life. A well-rehearsed and well-coordinated series of phases followed that depicted the mediocre routines of a familiar morning, tempting the audience to just lean back on their chair and relax. Tempt it did, before drawing us back again to the edge of our seats with a chaotic intervention of overlapping monologues. This was their strength. This almost fluent transition from methodical to disarrayed performance.

 

And then the play ended. Despite the cast’s repeated attempts at testing the audiences’ intelligence with a mock ending, not one budged. But the play had indeed ended. Until then the play had had a serious tone to it. This changed when the play began anew. The cast and crew of Architects of the Invisible took a chance here leading the audience astray and then bringing them back into an explosion of creative irony; it paid off ten-fold.

 

The set was interestingly elegant yet simple enough to be transformed often to fit the verve of the play. Collectively, the cast and crew deserved a word of praise for their light hearted, entertaining and dynamic performance. Individually, a standing ovation.

 

Rating: 4/5