American playwright Neil Simon’s play ‘The Good Doctor’ has quite a few actors from the media and advertising fraternity. ‘The Good Doctor’ is a tribute to Anton Chekov, one of the greatest writers in Russian history. The result is a comic mixture of farce, black comedy and thoughtful humour, accentuated by moments of poignancy and incredible wit.
Presented by The Aravali Centre for Art and Culture, the play consists of eight playlets, strung together by the character of The Writer, who provides the central link and is, obviously, Anton Chekov himself.
The cast includes Amar Raj Singh, Managing Director, Pizzakraft Pvt Ltd; Rohit Ohri, Managing Partner, JWT; Ramesh Thakur, CEO B2B.C Direct; Dr Nevin Kishore, Senior Consultant (Pulmonologist), Max Healthcare Centres; Vanessa Ohri, lecturer at NIFT; Ruby Kapoor, Chief PR Manager, HUDCO; Gagan Singh, CEO - Projects and Development Services; Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj; Geetu Verma, Executive Director Pepsico; Ravi Kapoor, Managing Director – Asia, Tukatech Inc; Vikas Verma, Founder and CEO, The Colour Factory chain of stores; Revant Ohri; Anubha Bahl; Farah Amrit Kiran Singh; and Shubra Prakash. The play has been directed by Sunil Gupta, Managing Partner, Research International, while the sets have been designed by Sukrit Singh, CEO, Encompass.
The short stories or snippets comprise – a working-class man sneezing on the back of his rich boss’ head at the opera and can’t stop apologizing; a rib-tickling portrayal of the fate of a priest with an excruciating toothache in the hands of an inexperienced, over-confident ‘dentist-to-be; a highly successful seducer ‘of the other men’s wives’ reveals his fine art as he sets out to ensnare his latest victim; an eccentric woman creates a riot in the office of a government infected bank manager, demanding money that she insists is due to her; a manipulative mistress and a guileless governess; a young girl with her heart set on being an actress; a tramp who earns his living by drawing; and a liberal father who decides to gift his son a ‘lesson in the mysteries of love’ on the occasion of his 19th birthday.