You should come join us!&rdquo; says Noel Gomes, even before we begin talking about his Nouveau Art Play Reading group. Clearly the Mahadramebaaz, a moniker he sometimes uses for himself, is passionate about theatre and his enthusiasm is infectious. <img alt="" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jul/Play.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 325px;" /> The group, which Gomes founded just three weeks ago, grew out of a passion he shared with a few colleagues. &ldquo;I work as a scriptwriter for short non-fiction films and my colleagues and I would often get together after work. One evening, I suggested we do a play reading. We picked The Glass Menagerie and the experience was amazing. On a whim, we decided to go public,&rdquo; he reveals. Let&rsquo;s meet up With help from his colleagues, Gomes created a virtual group on Meetup.com, shared the idea on other social networking sites, and has already hosted two reading sessions successfully. &ldquo;The first session on July 7, held at wine bistro Ivy in Khar, had 11 &lsquo;Dramebaaz&rsquo; participating. I picked Tennessee Williams&rsquo; A Streetcar Named Desire for the session. One of my main motives is to encourage people to be someone else for those three or four hours,&rdquo; says the 32-year-old, who hopes to include musicals, poetry readings and introduce costume dramas in the future, too. Each session starts off with the picking of chits to determine the character a participant will play. &ldquo;We also switch characters around at the end of an act or a scene, so that everyone gets a chance to read. The idea is not to find someone who is perfect, but to involve everyone present,&rdquo; says Gomes. While readers aren&rsquo;t always spot on and improvement is encouraged, the group isn&rsquo;t looking at preaching the perfect way. Props to you The second session, a reading of short play Andre&rsquo;s Mother, involved props too. &ldquo;It is about a boy who talks about his lover, who has died of AIDS. In the play, the characters release a white balloon, to help them get over Andre&rsquo;s death. I brought a bunch of white balloons along with me, so that we could release a balloon each, too,&rdquo; recalls Gomes. After the play readings, the Dramebaaz often discuss dialogues and shares experiences with each other. &ldquo;At the second session, for instance, we talked about AIDS and the notions people have about the disease,&rdquo; says Gomes, adding: &ldquo;Right now I&rsquo;m just glad no one leaves the sessions midway, even though they last about three or fours hours,&rdquo; he laughs. The group will meet next on July 27 to read Shakespeare&rsquo;s Taming of the Shrew. Call: 9930824773 (Noel Gomes) or log onto http://www.meetup.com/Nouveau-Art-Play-Reading-Groupu00a0

And you're welcome to join in. The Nouveau Art Play Reading group meets on alternate weekends to read aloud and enact plays. Their stage? A friendly neighbourhood restaurant

They're making a scene

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They're making a scene

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