This play made the audience feel like they were in Malgudi, standing before the river Sarayu, and sitting in the classroom of Albert Mission High School.
The play, a combined effort of Madras players and Landing Stage attracted the attention of the audience the moment it started. Those little jokes and and the innocent air put on by the actors sent the audience into peals of laughter, made them clap their hand and a whistle or two could be heard.
The actors really surpassed themselves. The meekness and innocence of swami , the ‘I am the strongest’ act by mani throughout the play and the ‘’know it all’’ air by Rajam. (respectively Ujwal Nair, Shyam Sundar and Ajay kumar) was so genuine.
The actors also include P.C Ramakrishna as the cart man , Mohamed Yousuf as the history teacher and principal of the board high school, Shankar Sundram as Mr.Ebony and the meeting spokesperson; TT Srinath as the policeman and played many other roles and Sushila Natrajan as Swami’s grandmother.
The play ran without stopping. Even the rearranging of the scenes was made like a part of it. The curtain was not at all used. There were entrances from the audience side.
Both the beginning and the end used the aisle between the seats. The house was full for the performance. It was a mixture of young adults, kids who had come with their parents and some even their grandparents!