Three’s a Crowd is a compact, darkly comic, culturally specific play that uses a 25-year marriage to explore the impact of social changes, delivered in a satirical style.
Staged & produced by Crescendo Theatre and Film at Chatswood’s Zenith Theatre, Three’s a Crowd is a sharply written play; fast, talky, and deliberately provocative. This is yet another feather in the cap of Jyotsna Sharma, the writer and director of the play
The story centres on Indrani and Ravi, a long-married couple whose relationship is tested by the social changes unfolding around them. Ravi’s growing devotion to a Guruji begins to strain his relationships with both Indrani and their children. Through props and stylised references to noisy newsrooms, Bollywood glamour, and reality-TV excess, the production captures the outside forces shaping public discourse and private lives alike. At its heart, the play asks whether their marriage can endure the intrusion of these “third parties” as well as the relentless cultural noise pressing in on it.
The play draws on the high-voltage atmosphere of real-life newsrooms, familiar Bollywood references, and the heightened absurdity of reality television—touchstones the audience readily recognised. Its satirical targets include a self-styled guru facing sexual-abuse allegations and environmental encroachment claims, a loud-mouthed television news anchor, a Bollywood actor who has undergone abuse, and the exaggerated, almost unreal personalities of reality-TV culture.
The marriage plot is the central theme for broader commentary on belief, identity, and change. The play has inadvertently or purposefully tackled the rising trend in “grey divorce”. It refers to couples separating later in life, often when children are adults, retirement is approaching or underway, and the couple is reassessing how they want to spend the rest of their lives. The couple in the play confronts the emotional strain of a grey divorce, as the intrusive third force weakens their long-standing relationship and unsettles the life they have built together.
Neil Joachim, as Ling Kishore, had the audience in stitches with a lively and well-timed comic performance as a gay personality. Aditya Dave was equally entertaining in the dual roles of Aarav and Rehaan Kapoor, bringing distinct energy and humour to each character. Across the ensemble, the cast committed fully to their roles, sustaining the play’s fast-paced, satirical spirit.
The male characters bear the brunt of much of the play’s verbal sparring, including sharp put-downs from the women. The Hindi insult “chutiya” is used liberally, giving the female characters a sense of liberation, confidence, and empowerment.
True to the statistics that women initiate roughly 70% of divorces, Indrani ultimately chooses to divorce Ravi, supported by the sisterhood around her, by delivering a final, defiant parting “chutiya” insult.
Credits:
- Upala Sunthankar – (Indrani Das)
- Mihir Vora – (Ravi Dave)
- Poornima Menon – (Noor Khan)
- Viren Vather – (Swami Dhyan Purnam)
- Neil Joachim – (Ling Kishore)
- Aditya Dave – (Aarav and Rehaan Kapoor)
- Ruchita Dhiman – (Nalini Arora and Veena)
- Shivanie Dheeraj – (Safiya and Molly Philips)
- Jyotsna Sharma – (Miss Boss)
- Photographs – Balzinder Balz
- Backstage – Mansi Gandhi, Rushi Dave, Aditya Patankar
- Lights and Sound – Jay Murrin and Mehran Mortezaei
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