Nature vs. Nurture – Review by Sandeep Krishnamurthy

I was telling Vani and Mausam that the play was really about “nature vs. nurture.”  OK.  That bears explanation.  They were both puzzled. 

"देखेंगे. पहले शांत हो जाइए."

Nath and Seva are both political creatures.  It is just that their philosophical bases are different.  Nath is part of the “nurture” school.  He believes that context is unimportant.  What matters is that the person applies himself or herself through education.  He believes that one can overcome the disadvantage imposed at birth.  He believes that Arun the writer is really a symbol of what is possible.

On the other hand, Seva is the “sensible” one.  While Nath’s public self is aligned with his private self (this is the root of his naivete), Seva is really somewhat of a hypocrite.  While she joins Nath publicly in espousing modern values, deep down, she really feels that Arun cannot be trusted because he is one of “them” (i.e., dalits).  Of course, if you confront her, she will deny it- as all good hypocrites do.    What appears as rationality or common sense is really Seva’s belief that people rarely rise above the culture & constraints that meet them at birth.  She is really from the “nature” school.  Some people are just different.  Can “they” be trusted, she asks.

Jay Prakash is the audience.    He is trying to figure out which argument wins here.  Immature.  Inexperienced.  He can see minor inconsistencies- but not deeper ones.

To me, the “free will” of Jyoti must not be discounted.  She has an ego that encourages her to suppress reason.  Even though all signals are negative, she wants to go ahead.  This is her ego at play.  She thinks she knows better than both Nath and Seva.  She would have gone through with the marriage regardless of the opinions of her parents.

"आप सोचिये ठंडे दिमाग से."

Overall, a very complex play.  While the actors and their august director (I mean, Agastya director- sorry for the phatta) really must be lauded for attempting a masterpiece, the Director’s notes were really accurate.  This was complex, layered, complicated and it must have taken a lot emotionally to fully internalize the dilemmas faced by the characters.

Sandeep Krishnamurthy

Sandeep Krishnamurthy is the Associate Director, Graduate Services and Associate Professor of Marketing and E-Commerce at the University of Washington Bothell. He obtained his PhD from the University of Arizona in marketing and economics. He has developed and taught several innovative courses related to E-Commerce to both MBA and undergraduate students. He has written extensively about E-Commerce. Most recently, he has published a 450 page MBA textbook titled- “E-Commerce Management: Text and Cases”. His scholarly work on E-Commerce has appeared in journals such as Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Quarterly Journal of E-Commerce, Marketing Management, First Monday, Journal of Marketing Research and Journal of Service Marketing. His writings in the business press have appeared on Clickz.com, Digitrends.net and Marketingprofs.com. His comments have been featured in press articles in outlets such as Marketing Computers, Direct Magazine, Wired.com, Medialifemagazine.com, Oracle’s Profit Magazine and The Washington Post. Sandeep also works in the areas of generic advertising and non-profit marketing.

Greater than the Sum – A Review by Srivani Jade

I thought the play came together in a really compelling manner, even though the story-line had some holes in it– for example, Nath’s obvious lack of due diligence regarding Arun’s character, and, quite mysteriously really, neither member of the family suggesting to Jyoti that she take her time in courtship and then make a decision that is in her best interest. Seva seemed to be the only voice of reason and common-sense, but her character seemed to give up too easily on a matter as important as a daughter’s marriage.

"साहित्त अकादमी का पुरस्कार सोई मिलने बाला है!"

Contrary to many reviews of this play both here and in India, I see this less as a commentary on the caste system (or even bringing social discourse into one’s personal life), and more as an up-close-and-personal look at the institution of marriage, and the reasons for which we we marry. How inextricably marriage binds together, not just two individuals, but entire families…for better or for worse!  And how domestic abuse and violence damage entire families in their wake!

Despite my reservations about the story-line (or maybe because of it), I give extra credit to the brilliant direction and acting, and all aspects of theater that were incredibly successful in this instance, in drawing us into the play. We enjoyed Nath’s bombastic dialog-baazi, we cried at Seva (and later Jyoti’s) plight. We bristled along-side Jayprakash who glowered silently from a corner, angry and helpless, and usually just one step away from taking on his brother-in-law. We hated Arun for being an abusive drunk and a wife-beater, and for playing the dalit card so predictably well. And of course, we had all kinds of confusing emotions for Jyoti, who we thought was hasty and stupid in her choice, and somewhat arrogant for taking on a “project” and being so confident about “changing” an individual (that too, a stranger) for the better by becoming his wife.

“गुस्सा अाया है असल में उसपै, अरुण पै…”

I especially enjoyed Aditi’s sensitive portrayal of a myriad emotions that crossed Jyoti’s face as she went from hesitation to decisiveness to hurt to anger throughout the play. We cried and laughed, and swore and despaired, at the “real life” that was unraveling before us. Usually, I take the time to marvel at the costumes and take in the set arrangement and the lighting, or to admire the long dialogs the actors have committed to memory (here, Jayant steps up to the plate like a seasoned actor). But this time, I took away a giant feeling, a gestalt of an experience that was greater than the sum of its parts. Isn’t this what theater (or any art for that matter) is supposed to achieve?

Srivani Jade is a Seattle/WA based singer, writer and engineer. Recipient of several artist grants for original work in classical  music, and founding editor of Ragavani Journal of South Asian Music and Dance. She also serves on the board of Kirkland Performance Center, a vibrant international art house, and helps curate an annual performance series called Namaste Kirkland. She is a passionate teacher and enjoys a growing student following in the Seattle area. www.srivanijade.org

After Kanyadaan, it’s time for vidaai!

Dear friends,

As the metaphorical curtain goes down on KANYADAAN after two weekends of wonderful performances, I wanted to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who came to watch the show. Nearly 600 people saw this play – which is nothing to laugh at considering the serious – though extremely engaging – drama that it is. Big round of applause to all of you.

A special thanks to the entire cast – who worked through an extremely complicated set of characters and challenging situations. On its surface, the Devlalikar family is just as ordinary as any other, but very quickly it becomes obvious how different most of these characters are from us. Not a lot of us have any personal experience with the type of social issues this play explores, nor necessarily a lot to draw from as far as the idealistic, rigid or extreme stances they take. In order to step into the lives of these characters, and to make them our own was the greatest challenge for the team – a challenge we feel we successfully met.

Without an effective crew, no cast can give their best. Our technical crew stepped up to support the project and did a terrific job. Roshith Rajagopal turned his actor hat around and took over as the stage manager. We had some fresh blood in the team with Ritika Virmani as the props coordinator and Apeksha Godiyal did an impressive job with the website. And then we had the support of our veteran lighting designer Maggie Lee – the only lighting designer I know who doesn’t shy away from designing shows in a language she does not understand! A big thank you to those who work in the shadows to make the rest of us shine in Maggie’s lights.

One of the most critical aspect of a production are the box office staff, ushers and other volunteers who are the face of the production team and welcome our guests to each show. Many thanks to each of our volunteers who managed the front lobby and the doors with professional grace and ease. Thank you.

Just as much as the cast and crew, we are thankful to their families, friends, employers, managers, roommates and hiking buddies – who too have to make a lot of sacrifices. If it wasn’t for supportive spouses and cooperative bosses, our productions would never work!

And last, but certainly not the least – all our volunteers, PR personnel, card distributors, email forwarders, word spreaders, facebook status updaters, friends and supporters – we thank you for your help. Theatre is a team sport, and without the support of a complete and dedicated team like yourselves, the Pratidhwani Drama Wing would not be able to put together the shows it has been able to, and hopes to continue to do in the future.

Thank you all for all your support to KANYADAAN. We’ll see you soon at the next production!

-Agastya
Lead, Pratidhwani Drama Wing

The Fight Within… – A Review by Subhag Oak

Kanyadaan is one of the toughest  & most bold plays in the then landscape of Indian socio-economic conditions (we are talking about 1980s, I believe when it was first staged). Times have changed but the story still remains contemporary .  Tendulkar’s thought of the “oppressed becomes the oppressor” holds relevance with the current Taliban sponsored world-wide terrorism or the Maoist mayhem in India.  So hats off to Pratidhwani drama wing for staging this classic Tendulkar literature.

"इसी लिए हमने उसे सह लिया"

I wouldn’t go too much in details about the story-line but in a nut-shell its all about “fight with oneself”. The Dad’s fight with caste-ism , Mom’s fight to get her daughter married in a stable house, the daughter’s fight to be happy with her own decision, the brother’s fight with his helplessness and the “groom”’s fight with his own identity.

All the characters performed well but I should definitely make special mention of Aditi Chaubal. Her diction, expressions and the command over emotions and language made the experience special for me.  Jayant was good with his huge monologues.  Nanda was at ease and Bhushan supported very well.  I did feel Ankur was a little misfit for the role but did his part well enough to captivate the audience.

Pratidhwani is local org and we all should support this special effort. I think all the “Seattle Rang-Karmis” should go and watch the show, learn from it and get enriched!

Kanyadaan: A review by Shahana Dattagupta

It is with much anticipation that I attended the opening night show of Kanyadaan, a play by Vijay Tendulkar, directed by Pratidhwani’s Agastya Kohli. The reasons for my enthusiasm were multifold; for one, I’ve been a fan of Agastya’s (and Pratidhwani’s) work for a few years now, and second, I had personally worked with all members of Kanyadaan’s talented cast in last year’s incisive political satire, Ek Tha Gadha, Urf Aladad Khan. But most of all, from what little I knew of the play (and the playwright), it promised a complex plot of important societal concerns that the actors, no doubt, would find challenging to portray, and the audience, perhaps, would find equally challenging to process.

"कुछ कहते हैं तो गुस्ताखी पर उतर अाती हो!"

Given the challenging complexity of the characters, the performances by the cast were considerably accomplished. Jayant Bhopatkar, playing Nath, fills the stage with his booming, bombastic monologues that reek of a nauseating brand of “democratic” patriarchy. Nanda Tewari, as Nath’s wife Seva, plays beautifully, his complicit complement in maintaining the status quo, carrying that curious blend of feminist independence and practical subservience that is so characteristic of many of us empowered (Indian) women. But the actors who held my eye the most were Aditi Chaubal, playing Jyoti, and Ankur Gupta, playing

Arun. It couldn’t have been easy to step into the shoes of an abused woman, trapped between her idealistic upbringing and her misplaced muse, or those of an oppressed dalit flitting between mouthfuls of crass expletives and self-flagellating, indulgent remorse. I found my heartstrings empathetically connected with Jyoti throughout the play, beyond reason – beyond the need to understand, judge or admonish her. And quite paradoxically, I found Arun’s condition just as poignant; he too was an anchor for my heartfelt attention, once again, beyond my need to understand, judge or admonish him. Both Aditi and Ankur came out on top, bringing forth with surprising ability, the complexity and contradictions of these two central characters, each of whom manifests the societal conditions and conditioning that Tendulkar wants us to consider.

"हम केवल अनाज खाते हैं!"

Bhushan Mehendale, playing the support role of Jyoti’s brother Jai Prakash, embodies to great effect, the emasculation of his father’s domineering presence, and the confusion and repressed frustration of an under-expressed youth. Even C.P. Ramakrishnan and Ravi Sathyam, appearing briefly as insolent sidekicks of Arun, demonstrate with their body language alone, that no role is a small one. The performances left no doubt in my mind that Kohli selected a great cast and nurtured the best out of them.

In terms of storyline flow, on occasion, the rapid-fire pace of the deliveries disabled me from stopping to ponder, to read more between the lines, to connect more fully to the complex characters, especially with Jyoti’s and Arun’s. I missed the whitespace – the larger canvas that might have better held and cradled the complexities and contradictions portrayed – and for this reason alone, some of the turns in the plot may have come across as somewhat simplistic and not-so-believable. Yet, a tight cadence was necessary to keep the intensity and tension of the storyline; so, achieving a fine balance was undoubtedly no mean task.

"किस भगवान को जगाऊँ?"

My heartfelt kudos go to director Agastya Kohli and the entire cast and crew of Kanyadaan, for taking on this challenging subject and play, and for orchestrating yet another thoughtful production for the Seattle Indian diaspora.

Shahana Dattagupta is a Seattle-based writer, actor, classical vocalist, visual artist and architectural designer. Her first book, Ten Avatars, has been received with enthusiasm and acclaim by Seattle readers, and has recently become more widely available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other online retailers.

The Unsung Heroes

What goes on in the wings and control booths rarely earns the same recognition as the actors, director and the playwright. And many times,  these unsung heroes of ours, who go by code names of Stage Manager, Prop Designer, Make-Up Artist or Crew, apart from doing their regular jobs, pull off something very special which audience are completely unaware of. Friday, opening night of Kanyadaan was one of those days.

While we actors were basking in the limelight of our Friday performance, we all knew the show wouldn’t have been the same without our props coordinator’s ‘acting’ that day.  You read it right, our prop coordinator’s acting! After Thursday’s preview show, we unfortunately had to dismantle our set and wrap up the props, because the theater had a booking for another show before ours. And somewhere in midst of all this, a prop knife got misplaced.  We realized it when we were arranging props on the table just before the show. The house is open, people are in, just 20 minutes from the show, and we are missing an important prop.  Agastya, our director was not comfortable letting me go on stage with a real (even if blunt) knife in my pocket – to avoid the slightest chance of injury. We started looking for a plan B, tried to find things that could pass for a knife. I started cleaning a blade meant for smearing paint or something and was experimenting sitting, standing and walking with it in my pocket.

And at that time, Ritika, our prop’s coordinator decided to take responsibility of salvaging the situation. She asked us to focus on the show and immediately left the theater in hunt of a blunt/toy knife. We had lost all hopes that she can get us something which Agastya would let me use, particularly because it was almost 8 PM and most shops had closed by then. She hopped from store to store, from Target to Toys-r-us, testing out really any store open at that time to find potentially anything that could serve as a replacement. On top, the battery of her phone had died, so she could not really look for prop/costume shops around her. Finally, she found a shop, which was as expected closed, but now began the real acting. She managed to find the owner and jump started the actress within her, to plead how badly we needed a knife. Her performance was clearly convincing enough as the owner agreed to that this was a worthy cause and opened the shop. And lo! we saw her returning back well in time before the knife scene, with not just a possible replacement, but exactly the same knife that we had lost, and I had been using in all the rehearsals – completely removing the element of using an unfamiliar prop.

The show went off extremely well, people came and congratulated us for our performances but we all knew who was the star performer of the day!!!

Opening!

After months of preparing, planning and rehearsing – we are finally ready to share this wonderful story with all of you. I hope you’re able to come and see it, and stick around to talk to any and all of us after the show. Happy opening!!

Why Kanyadaan?

I was visiting my family in India when I finished reading this play. I walked over to my brother and said, “This is a really complicated play to do.”

“Don’t do it then”, he remarked nonchalantly.

“No – not from a production perspective – it’s super easy to produce. But it’s a hard play for actors.”

He thought for a second about what I had said, and then replied, “in that case, you must do it.”

Kanyadaan is a difficult play because it is an intense story, about a lot of different things, and in order to do justice to the conflicts and dilemmas, we as actors must be able to find both sides of the argument within ourselves. Why does Jyoti make the choices she does? It’s obvious to me she shouldn’t. But the actress playing Jyoti must find a justification for her behavior.

Why is Nath so blindly committed to his beliefs? Despite his wife’s strong opposition, he is unwilling to see the other side, until it’s too late. Is Arun simply a product of his environment and upbringing, or is there something more sinister at play?

As actors, we do not have the right or liberty to judge our characters and condemn or celebrate them as weak or strong willed people. It is our job to step into their shoes, walk a mile or two, and try and make sense of what their constraints are, and how they have to compromise around those constraints.

Ultimately, if we are able to take a moment to sympathetically try to understand a character’s behavior; perhaps we can do the same for our fellow human beings off the stage as well before we judge them as gentle-people or scoundrels!

A Little Give and Take – आदान प्रदान

It is obvious to me that theatre is a team sport. It takes a writer to create the story and the characters, a team of actors to bring the characters to life, a director to keep them honest and in the spirit of what the playwright intended (or to deliberately deviate from it) and a slew of designers who put together the set, props, lights, and costumes. The final product is always a collaboration – and never entirely the work of just one individual. But the most important partner in this collaboration is ALWAYS the audience!

You can ask any group of artists involved in a production – rehearsals can be a lot of fun, an experience full of exploration and discoveries – but once the play is ready, actors can hardly wait to get an audience in the house. Because, as soon as the audience shows up, everything changes! Characters take on a new energy, stakes rise in conflicts and everyone – including the audience – starts actually living the moments together instead of just saying the words on a script. As the audience changes from one performance to the next – so does the show!

Then how could we stage a whole production, without actively engaging such an important partner! Especially when the production is of Vijay Tendulkar’s KANYADAAN – a play that touches on so many issues of social significance, in a rather unconventional way.

With this in mind, we’ve scheduled a “talk-back” – a dialogue and meet-n-greet event with the cast and crew of KANYADAAN on Sunday, May 16th, immediately following our 4:00PM performance. This event – co-hosted by CHAYA -  is an opportunity for us to meet with you and hear your thoughts on the play and our production of it. It is also an opportunity for you to ask us any questions you might have about the play, the process, the characters, or anything else that you’d like to ask about.

The discussion will be steered and moderated by Shahana Dattagupta. Shahana last appeared on a Pratidhwani stage in Ek Tha Gadha, and has been long affiliated with Chaya as a trained volunteer. She is also a musician and a writer – celebrating the recent publication of her book Ten Avatars.

We hope you’ll come and see the play and stick around to share your thoughts with us. If you’re unable to attend on May 16th, please make an attempt to see Kanyadaan during one of the other seven performances. Always, we look forward to receiving your feedback via emails or in person.

Additional details available at http://www.pratidhwani.org/kanyadaan/aadaanPradaan.html.

Jyoti

"प्रवृत्तियों से?"

“Jyoti is an interesting character,’’ Agastya mentioned, when the entire cast met for the first reading of the play. After the reading, I felt there was no way I could relate with this girl. She seemed reckless and stubborn to the extent of messing up the most important decisions in her life. I constantly felt I would be mad to do such a thing, or I would never do this or that. So how on earth was I going to play this character when I couldn’t agree with anything she did?

It was initially very challenging to look through Jyoti’s eyes. To me the question was: How could a girl who seems so independent, be at the mercy of her ideals in spite of the obvious happenings around her? For a long time, I felt anger towards her. I continued to think of the situations she faced, and the price she had to rightly pay for the seemingly mindless choices she made.

Our team met for discussions and we analyzed characters. Gradually, I started becoming aware of how helpless she was. In fact, I began to see some factors common between her and me. I realized that we all come at crossroads in life, where our decisions are purely driven by our ideals. When deep inside we feel that it’s probably not the best decision, but then we still make choices based on our practice of standing by our principles. And we try holding on to an optimistic belief that things will get better. Chances remain that they may not, and that can be a big blow.