Seven.11 turned out to be insanely good, and if you’re in NYC you have only five days left to see it. This series of seven short plays, each 11 minutes long is absolutely hilarious, and the performers were obviously having a blast.
I love this deeply about NYC, you can see desi American scripts you can’t see performed anywhere else: it’s custom culture. Anuvab Pal’s piece was good, as usual, but the consistency was surprising — maybe five or six of the seven microplays were really, really good, or at the very least funny, and the rest is forgivable. The off-off-Broadway aspect of the whole endeavor lowers expectations, but I could see some of these, fleshed out, doing well on a large stage. Soonderella is destined to be a cult hit. It’s definitely the only desi parody musical I’ve ever seen. Debargo Sanyal’s stammering, braying swain F-F-Fofatlal brought down the house. Pal’s Paris is a sharper, more malignant Before Sunrise; as in Chaos Theory, he has quite the ear for the advance and reverse of flirtation, it’s love as war zone. My only real complaint is the purely classicist flavor of the references, Sartre is no longer a young Turk. Color Me Desi is a takeoff on Goodness Gracious Me’s rude boyz, and S.A.M.O.S.A. (South Asian Men Organizing Sci-Fi somethings) is a gut-busting Asian version of Napoleon Dynamite. And the in-jokes were fabulous. One actor had a line in the first piece, ‘C’est la vie — it’s your line.’ In the final play, the same actors: ‘C’est la vie.’ ‘Deja vu?’ Winky tone, blink and you missed it.
As in Indian Ink, Lethia Nall was intense, had sharp timing and nailed her accent, she’s a rock star. Andrew Guilarte mugged wondrously beneath a floppy wig in Soonderella and as a taped-glasses nerd in S.A.M.O.S.A. He didn’t have all his lines down for Paris, but was a pugilist just the same; those who can pull off both intensity and craven silliness are rare. Kavi Ladnier played the funniest, five-foot-tall, female Jamaican thug I’ve ever seen. John Wu resembled Lou Diamond Phillips and gave off a murderous ‘tude.
As befits the format, the Tenement Theatre is a miniature, and I’ve seen some small theaters in my time. This one is like a railroad apartment, tiny, warm and housed in a single room of a former Lower East Side tenement. True to the convenience store spirit, think fast and cheap; unlike a 7-11, think delicious.
Previous post here.
I went to see Seven.Eleven on a recent trip to NYC and loved it. Esp. Soonderella. Wish we had that kind of space for experimental desi theater out here in the Bay.
I saw 7-11 earlier today and absolutely loved it. My favorite performers were the two (cute!) desi men in the cast — Debargo Sanyal & Andrew Guilarte. They each appeared in four very different roles and were fantastic in all of them. I especially liked “S.A.M.O.S.A.” & “Color Me Desi” & “Soonderella”. Everyone should go check this play out — it’s worth the trip!
I was fortunate enough to catch the final performance of this play on April 21st. It was just fantastic. I loved all seven plays, and all seven actors (although I must admit that Debargo Sanyal was the most impressive–the guy has Kal Penn-esque genius comedic timing!). I look forward to seeing 7-11.2006 next year and encourage all theatergoers to do the same!!
I checked out this play at a Sunday matinee performance. It kicked ass! Yeah, that cute boy who played Fofutlal and i think three other roles was superb. Actually, they were all really great! And this is coming from someone who rarely goes to the theater! I hope to catch this show again next year, for sure.
This was my very 1st play in NYC- and I LOVED it!!! The actors were all TERRIFIC! I’ve never seen so much desi talent!
My husband and I went to see a new musical yesterday here in Manhattan called “Love Sucks”, starring the hilarious 7-11 actor DEBARGO SANYAL. He plays four different roles in the show, and is brilliant in all of them. I highly recommend it! Show details here– http://www.nymf.org/Show-174.html