The Dramatic Arts : J R Alwar Elumbukoodu

J R Alwar Elumbukoodu is written and directed by Augusto and produced by Augusto creations. J R Alwar Elumbukoodu tells the story of a contractor and an architect conspiring to make an old couple sell a land by planting a skeleton in it and scaring them away. But the problem arises when they steal it from a nearby school.

I have no clue under which genre J R Alwar Elumbukoodu falls under. Not because it covers so many varied topics, but rather because I don’t think even the director knows. I guess it is supposed to be a black comedy, but I'am not really sure.

I am unable to put up a cast list for the play, because I haven’t received one from the director, as of yet. So on with the review.

Direction, Story- Screen Play – Augusto
Music- Guhaprasath S
Lights – Kalaivanar
Sets – Padma Stage kannan
Cast - S Pothilingam (Inspector Nawab Raja Manickam), N S Karthikeyan (Constable), K Raja (Skeleton), K S Palani (Maistry), Smt. Uma Shankar (Jaya Mami), S K jayakumar (Venkataraman), Bal Raj (H M pappayan), S Suraj (Physics Srinivasan), R Kathiravan (Reporter Adhar), R Purushothaman (Contractor ajapathy), Santhosh (Electrician Shanmugam)
Production – Geethanjali Raja for Augusto Creations



What I Liked:

The acting is functional and for the most part, it doesn’t seem too bad. None of the characters were memorable, but they did their jobs without many problems. In the case of this drama, I really don’t have any favourites in terms of the characters. I am just happy that they weren’t annoying.

The strongest part of the drama is the Music and the lights. The music by S Guaprasath is absolutely incredible and chilling. It maintains whatever is left of the play's suspense, and makes sure the audience stays in their seats hoping something exciting will happen. The lighting is also top notch, and the effect provided by the UV lights is pretty good. The lighting and the music together make sure the audiences don’t leave.

I have no details on hand about the makeup, but it was functional, and I have no complaints there.

What Could Have Been Better:

This play is a technical mess. It has so many execution problems, that I am baffled that an experienced creator like Augusto hasn’t noticed it. There are so many loop holes in the story, and the flashback scenes are poorly executed to the point where props from the future are there during the flash backs.

The story is unnecessarily convoluted and padded, when a real feeling of suspense could have been provided very easily, and that too by someone who as good at doing it like Augusto. Once again, I am telling this with reference to his previous plays.

The UV lights were used to show a fluorescent skeleton, but I am surprised that no one told the actors not to wear white when the UV is being operated.

The sets by “Padma Stage” Kannan were barely functional, with ropes hanging and props missing. The story feels bloated with unnecessary characters.The characters of the electrician and reporter were not required for the story. I guess they were added for comic effect, but I will never know because they were never funny.

One of the characters is named Jaya and the amount of jibes the characters take at the current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu using this name seems amateurish coming from someone so experienced in writing. Augusto has provided a start for so many big players in the drama field today.

And for the love of god, please test the jokes before using them on stage. The most important aspect of the joke is timing and when the timing is missed, it become annoying.

The thing that bothers me most of all, is that seeing this I believe that Augusto feels that whatever he brings to stage will be successful. I can’t deny that he has brought brilliance to stage time and time again, but that doesn’t mean that whatever he puts up on stage must be considered perfect.

I hope that he notices the faults at least now, and makes some amends, because just having great music, lighting and half decent acting just doesn’t cut, at least according to me.

Final Thoughts:
I am still surprised at how bad J R Alwar Elumbukoodu is and I hope that it improves, in any way it can, because it sure does need it. I am sure Augusto can stage masterpieces but this is not one of them.

I give J R Alwar Elumbukoodu 1½ out of 5 stars.

There is a lot of polishing needed, so that it just doesn’t seem like cheap thrills. Future dates of J R Alwar Elumbukoodu will be put up here. Until next time:

Peace!!!

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