Drinking, smoking and sharing some gyaan with a common man was the almighty himself in Cyrus Dastur’s When God Said Cheers. Iknoor Kaur watched the drama
What if one fine day you find God by your side, enjoying his evening drink like any one of us. It might sound amusing or you would think we are going to tell you some fantasy tale. But this was an important part of Cyrus Dastur’s play When God Said Cheers. Dastur managed to not only chill out with God, but also got into a brawl with him over a glass of whiskey.
Written by a student in the US and adapted by Anurag Kashyap, the 11-year-old play, was staged for three days at Hotel Golden Tulip in Chattarpur.
The play was directed by Cyrus and Tom Alter took the stage as God. If you are an ardent believer of God, the play might shatter you a little. God gave the audience an insight into the “big system” which he does not have control over. Dastur, who plays a common man in the play, was in a bar reading a newspaper. An affluent, smart yet witty man comes and starts sipping on his glass of whiskey and introduces himself as God. What happens next is a series of spats between the two. While Cyrus blames God for the mess India is in right now, God keeps himself occupied with drinking whiskey and smoking a cigarette.
What came as an eye opener for the common man was the God’s clarification — it is incorrect to dump all of one’s problems in life on his shoulders. In his words (from the play), “When I made you, I didn’t tell you to wear clothes or build civilisations. I just created you to exist and it was you who complicated your life. So, why blame meIJ”
Witty dialogues and smart punchlines had the audience glued to their seats throughout.
God’s statements like, “There is no purpose of humans in the world” and “humans should not think because they are not capable of it” made Cyrus almost burst into tears. God shared that humans have free will, however, they like to think logically and that is why they try and construe something out of everything.
Stellar performances kept the audience interested for over 55 minutes. The last five minutes of the play were repetitive.
Alter was in one of his best roles so far, while Cyrus was a true reflection of a common man.
Overall, the play fell slightly short of a five star.