“Dance Like a Man” highlights the conflicts across three generations through the protagonist couple Jairaj and Ratna. Jairaj and Ratna are two aspiring passionate Bharatnatyam dancers. Jairaj’s father, the patriarch, is against a career in dance. Their conflicts, thoughts, aspirations form the core of the play. Darker secrets unfold as the story evolves, jumping back and forth between present and past.
What make this play great are the plethora of topics it touches and the justice with which the play treats each of these topics. The gender-biases are captured through the play, and specially how a man can be a victim. The protagonists are financially dependent on the patriarch shows the monetary realities of a love affair. The characters are very strong, well-written and Lillete’s direction is impeccable. The live dancing performances is the cherry on the top.
AglaPlay Verdict: A very good play, excellent direction AglaPlay Rating: 4.0/5 Language: English Duration: 2 hours
Below are a few relevant links. The web links to other reviews are also provided for easy reference. Do note however that this play written by Mahesh Dattani is has more than a few shocking revelations, which must be experienced to really enjoy the performance. The reviews below (particularly medium.com) sadly have gone to the extent of summarizing the complete story.
Other Links Dance Like a Man Trailer Lillete Dubey Wikipedia Suchitra Pillai Wikipedia Dance Like a Man Review on medium.com [spoilers] Dance Like a Man Review on FII [spoilers]