The Hindu Business Line : A peep into the <B><I>Dressing Room </B></I>

INDIA has made it to the Super Six in the World Cup. With the entire country reeling under the cricket fever, the Mumbai theatre artists could not be far behind.

Even so, their interest in the most popular sport in the country is a tad different. And no, they are not organising celebration parties or raising funds for their favourite cricketers.

Rather, they are putting up a play that takes an insightful look at life beyond the cricket field.

A first of its kind on the Indian stage and aptly titled, The Dressing Room, the play is not so much about the cricket played on the field but about the games played in the dressing room of the teams.

Most cricket lovers possess sound knowledge of things related to cricketers records, fielding positions rules, batting averages et al. But, the one aspect of cricket that people rarely get a glimpse of is the dressing room of a stadium. And, this play focuses just on that.

The play, directed by Sanjay Srinivas and Joy Fernandes, attempts to demystify the `dressing room', bringing some of the drama out of the `room' to the centre-stage.

The play revolves around the incidents that take place in the fifth match of a five-match one-day series between India and Australia with the series tied at 2-2.

The match is dogged with controversy right at the start with the selection of an unknown player just for the last match of the series.

The plot thickens as other players see the Captain using a cell-phone several times in the dressing room, raising their curiosity especially since the usage of cell-phones in the dressing room was banned a couple of years ago.

Add to that, the ambiguity surrounding bits of the cell-phone conversation leads players to believe that the captain may be talking a bookie. Result. The team falls into three groups with each suspecting the other two of conspiring with the Captain.

Sanjay Srinivas, who is also the producer of the play, said, "A lot of research has gone into the play. Several cricketers (past and present), umpires and coaches have contributed towards the play".

The play has its light moments too — one of the main highlights being the commentary imitating Tony Greig and Navjot Sidhu.

The play will be staged on March 9 at Mumbai.

Srinivas said he aims to stage around 50 shows during the year.

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A peep into the Dressing Room