Each August I look forward to one particular phone call; the one that invites me to be part of the Bandra Zonals. Sometimes as director, most times as judge and occasionally just to find them scripts.
For fifty-five years members of the St. Andrew’s Church parish have battled each other in a variety of performing events. The competition is fierce and the preparations intense. The parish is broken up into four geographic zones — south west, south east, north west and north east. All based on where you live in relation to the church.
Aside from the parish bonding, the zonals also build up a community of performers. Each July is spent rehearsing, writing, singing and practising. The suburb of Bandra, and the Catholic community in particular, has always been known for their musicality. A theatre director once told me, “You have not finished casting for a musical, unless you have attended the Bandra Zonals.” And how true that is. Some amazing bands have come out of there, and the Catholic influence in Bollywood is well documented in the play Jazz.
Over the years the zonals have given mainstream theatre some stellar talent. Noel Godin in Man of La Mancha and Brian Tellis in Evita, shone like beacons in the musical theatre of the 70s and 80s. The 90s saw breakthrough directors like Karl Mendis and Etienne Coutinho (also the director of Jazz). And the 2000s have seen ‘newbies’ Warren D’Sylva and Daniel D’Souza become forces to reckon with.
As always this year’s one act play buffet followed a familiar pattern. One “classic”, a few about faith, and one riddled with “in” jokes that is usually the crowd favourite. The first play was about finding true love. Another was about a large family wedding with an outstanding set of a huge picture frame in which almost fifty actors stood as though in a photograph; each moaning and complaining about a fellow relative at the wedding.
Daniel D’Souza roped in his brother, cousin and another friend to do Duck Variations. The incredibly difficult play was splendidly performed, and the fact that there was just a park bench on the massive St. Andrew’s stage did not detract from the production, but in fact added to it. Daniel has grown immensely as a director from zonal to zonal and it is wonderful that a talent like his has had an outlet all these years.
Warren D’Sylva, on the other hand, prefers to write his own pieces. The last time I was there, he wrote a spin off using Beatles’ songs. This year he went the popular route — Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson retire in Bandra. Suddenly they hear that the entire audience of the Bandra Zonals is dead. What follows is their investigations and interrogations. Among the accused are choir members, zonal committee members, and jealous directors. All jokes replete with references from within the competition. Even the character of Daniel D’Souza pops up, being accused of killing the audience because they don’t appreciate his esoteric work. In spite of the numerous “in jokes”, the play was still enjoyable to the outsider. The performances were excellent and the design was ingenious.
The amazing thing about the St. Andrew’s Parish Annual Zonal Talent Contest (yes that’s the actual name) is the effort that is put in to make the performances as strong as possible. The calibre of the work is remarkable, even though there is only one performance and no regular public attends.
The plays also allow the community to laugh at itself, its own idiosyncrasies and foibles, without deriding any others. It’s for the community, yet not ethnocentric. I can’t wait for the phone to ring next August!