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Business News/ News / Business Of Life/  It’s a story about everyone
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It’s a story about everyone

From work-related crises to heartbreaks, an Australian playwright will narrate how she has dealt with life's drama

Lally Katz during a 2012 performance in Sydney. Photo: Heidrun LohrPremium
Lally Katz during a 2012 performance in Sydney. Photo: Heidrun Lohr

NEW DELHI :

Meet Lally Katz. She’s an acclaimed playwright, is obsessed with psychics, has been through her share of break-ups, and finds comfort in talking to an imaginary friend, Apocalypse Bear, “who isn’t particularly sweet". All these and some more elements make up Stories I Want To Tell You In Person, a fourth wall-breaking narrative about Katz’s professional and personal life.

US-born Katz, who is known for surreal, whimsical plays like Neighbourhood Watch, will narrate the semi-autobiographical production where, barring the Apocalypse Bear, she plays all the characters—from Cookie, a sassy New York psychic and pharmacy shop owner, to her cowboy boyfriend and Anna, a rude old Hungarian lady who offers advice on life. “It’s about a woman trying to have it all," says the Melbourne, Australia, based Katz, who is in India to present the 80-minute show in five cities. The show was first presented in New Delhi on 3 February as part of the ongoing Bharat Rang Mahotsav festival by the National School of Drama.

The production begins with Katz, who is doing well in her career, sulking over a failed relationship. “That’s how it works, isn’t it? If you’re successful at work, your love life is in a mess, and if you have a great lover, your work sucks. That’s what happens throughout the show. You can never really have it all," she says. Whenever Katz feels low, her imaginary friend walks up to her. “He’s supposed to console me. But he does nothing, just stands with me on stage. He’s one of those friends who, on your fat days, will tell you your swimsuit has shrunk."

Stories I Want To Tell You In Person, which first opened in 2012 in Sydney, saw Katz making her acting debut—kind of (her first stage outing was actually playing the role of a rabbit in Frankenstein, a “long time ago"). “Initially, Lally was sceptical about playing the part; she was looking at the play from the psychic’s perspective. She was like, ‘No, it’s embarrassing, who cares’..After much discussion, she realized that her story was indeed the heart of the play," says director Anne-Louise Sarks, who focused on ensuring that Katz could “find her space, and comfortably and honestly narrate her story in a conversational manner".

Will Stories I Want To Tell You In Person resonate with the Indian audience? “It’s a story about everyone. What am I going to do with my life? Will I ever find love? Will I ever reach the place I want to? The play asks questions we ask ourselves almost every day," says Katz.

Stories I Want To Tell You In Person will be shown on 5 February, 8pm, at the HK Arts College, Ahmedabad (seating on first-come, first-served basis), and on 9-10 February, 8pm, at the Jagriti Theatre in Whitefield, Bengaluru. Tickets, 300, available on in.bookmyshow.com. The show will also travel to Thiruvananthapuram (12 February) and Mumbai (13 February).

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pooja Singh
A journalist with over 15 years of experience. A Chevening fellow and graduate of Columbia University, New York
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Published: 04 Feb 2016, 09:42 PM IST
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