Makes surprise stage entry in one-act play by students of DY Patil at Bharat Natya Mandir, leaves audience in splits

Monkey enters drama competition

Makes surprise stage entry in one-act play by students of DY Patil at Bharat Natya Mandir, leaves audience in splits

One of the oldest drama theatres in the city had a strange visitor yesterday. At a one-act play competition at the Bharat Natya Mandir, the audience was left in splits when a monkey decided to make its stage debut even as students of D Y Patil College were in the middle of their performance.

The students continued as if nothing had happened, but the monkey left others in a tizzy, especially since the episode took place just hours before MNS chief Raj Thackeray was scheduled to arrive for the prize distribution ceremony.

The organisers said Thackeray's arrival was cancelled at the last moment, but the excitement caused by the monkey somewhat made up for the disappointment.

Marathi actor Subodh Bhave was there as part of the panel judging the competition when the monkey episode happened.

Waiting in wings
"The monkey must have wandered on to the stage. While the one-act play by the Treeratna group was on, I suddenly noticed something peeping from the wing," Bhave said. "Only after taking a closer look did I realise it was a monkey."

After it had made its stage entry, the monkey decided to get interactive with the audience.

"The animal wandered among the audience rows and kept hovering around," Bhave said. "We decided to seek help from the fire brigade to get rid of the monkey."

Second entry
Sandip Shinde, one of the organisers, said the monkey was not satisfied with just one appearance on stage.
"The monkey appeared twice on the stage. We were compelled to call the fire brigade and garden department to take him away from the venue," said Shinde.

Rescuers galore
Soon every agency that felt it should be there to enact the rescue of the monkey was rushing to Bharat Natya Mandir.

"We reached the spot around 4 pm and by then the Garden Department had already reached the spot," said Anil Karde, a fireman from the Kasba Peth fire station.

The Animal Orphanage also sent a vehicle.

Dr Gaurav Pardeshi shot a pacifier dart from a gun and the monkey was finally done with its playing the thespian for the day.

The doctor said the monkey would be taken to the animal rescue centre and freed once it bounced back from the trauma.

The play, which the students had heroically tried to keep going but had to stop when the audience began to panic, continued after the monkey was rescued.