Echo
I liked the topic for the storyline, and liked how the technology was used to show difference between Dunya's real life and virtual life. The in process feel was really unique for me, enjoyed it.
Wasn't a fan of the swearing, but that's my preference.
A lot of relevant material and thoughts that I could relate to, and I cringed at some of the tweets for being racist and extremely narrow in scope, which is a good reaction to have when watching one's shadow self on screen. Unsure how I would have felt if it was aimed at my race and ethnicity, though.
The humour was put in good intervals... especially loved the phone charger interludes, could tell a lot about the character just by that.
I personally am not a fan of theatre and plays based in modern times, with a lot of emphasis on technology, yet I can see there would be an audience for this work.
I found the script was really tight and intricate, the scene changes, lighting and audio were very inventive. I wasn't too sure what Jane's character was doing to progress the character or story, but as it's the beginning, then audience will find out later. I did find Jane very annoying, and I wasn't too sure about Dunya's mental health state and also whether I liked her as a person or not - which left a lot to the imagination...
Loved the part when Dunya is listening to a voice note and doing her thing on the chair!
Azaad
I really liked how it was written, a lot of passion, pathos, anger, humour, and irony... the scenes were very well ordered, and it was easy (for me) to understand what was going on in each scene without having to go back to my own knowledge about the British Raj. The music complimented the scenes, and it was fascinating to see Mohit change characters - especially with that tin and the Fair & Lovely and casting director scene... lighting was really good.
I would genuinely look forward to seeing the entirety of this play, as the subject matter is something that I always want to learn more about other perspectives.
It wasn't clear to me if this was a fictional character or based on a real Sikh individual - that was the only confusion.
I also like that the play didn't rely on profane language, and a lot was related through first person narration and then scenes with just one actor but could imagine the other characters. Ideally could work as a one man play.
I liked this the most of the three I saw, mainly because I relate a lot to historical drama and connect a lot to the Raj period and being a desi in India. The style was a bit reminiscent of the type of work I saw and related to in Lagaan and A Suitable Boy (4 part series), with the modern bits that are equally important and were written with attention to detail (loved the Eastern European character, though not entirely sure whom he was speaking to, guessing it was the protagonist?).
The death scene was poignant.
Perhaps more time allowed between scenes to allow the viewer to register and compute the previous scene.
I don't watch plays often, this I would definitely want to watch in full. Acting and writing were really compelling... feel gutted now to have missed Life of Pi in the theatre, as Mohit would have been compelling to watch. Might catch it in RichMix.
Perhaps a title different to Azaad will come about as the play is completed... Azaad is good, yet I feel it will appeal more with a title more reflective of the intricacies of the storyline.
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