‘Yoga Play’: A corporate comedy

Yoga Play, A new production heading to Riverside Theatres later this month throws light onto the world of athletic leisure-wear; a world often embroiled in controversy.

A comedy set in the orbit of yoga apparel giant Jojomon, the play follows the journey of a new CEO hired to rescue the company from a scandal created by the former leader.

Sounds like a plan, only this one is going from worse to even more worse.

For the rescue plan, CEO Joan puts her CFO Raj in the firing line and requires him to go way beyond the call of duty, setting the way for a biting satire filled with plenty of great comedic moments.

Nat Jobe, who will be playing Raj in the show, spoke to its unique qualities: “What’s interesting about Yoga Play is that it is about a leisurewear company involved in a scandal, but below that there are some really heavy themes that the piece dives into.”

“The piece is written by Dipika Guha, who is an incredible writer, and a lot of her work has these themes of multiculturalism and the idea of home, and that is a very big part of this piece,” Jobe said.

This Australian premiere is directed by celebrated US director Mina Morita (Berkeley Repertory Theatre) for a season at Brisbane’s La Boite Theatre and at Riverside Theatres, where she and the cast are currently in rehearsals.

“Mina is an absolutely visionary director. She is incredibly creative, insightful and collaborative,” Jobe said.

“She and Dipika have known each other for a long time and they have been working on this piece and preparing it for the Australian run.”

Speaking of rehearsals, Jobe commented: “It has been a fascinating rehearsal that has given us so much to dive into. There are some huge themes in this, and with Mina and Dipika having such a close relationship, Mina knows how to dive into those themes. These themes that are at the forefront of the media at the moment are all touched up in this play.”

“That has been the most incredible thing about coming into rehearsals and finding the depth of conversation that we have gone into over the past week.”

The title Yoga Play implies a certain amount of physicality in the form of downward dogs, low lunges and bridge poses and the cast here do not get off lightly.

“We do some yoga sessions as part of the rehearsals and the hilarious thing is I’m terrified,” Jobe said. “But what’s so cool about it is that I have dived into it has opened us all up in an amazing way.”

Yoga Play
17-26 Oct
Riverside Theatres, Lennox Theatre
https://riversideparramatta.com.au/whats-on/yoga-play/