Source: Cyberpresse

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070402/CPARTS04/704020580/5088/CPARTS04

"How is it that one never sees Indians in Montreal theatres?" This question was worrying playwrights Alexis Martin and Daniel Briere who for two years have taken an "ethnic turn" in their approach. They have surprised and entertained with laughter everybody on Nouvelle Tele Communautaire de Montreal (New Community TV) with their Bulgarian, Haitian and Vietnamese evenings. Two years later, they've plunged into Indian culture with all the playful comic behavior and quirkiness for which they are famous.

"One likes to be as most incoherent as possible," proclaims Alexis Martin. With 20 years of rich experience in experimental plays, Martin and his partner, Daniel Briere have made it a habit of being present where they are the least expected. In their new work, "The March of Rama," the two play writers take on the Ramayana, a major Hindu epic.

"It is probably the first time that a condensed Ramayana is being staged. The meaning and the importance of the epic has been respected. However we did take some liberties so that we can jump from one type of play to another within seconds," explains Daniel Briere. One obviously had to expect that Briere and Martin would give their personal color to this Indian masala. To narrate the adventures of Rama, they make use of radio-controlled cars, puppets, songs, dance and video projections. "We kept a low tech profile, because we do not have the means of making holograms in 3D," explained Alexis Martin .