Indian Embrace
by Carol Dance
Riverside Theatre,
Parramatta
Wednesday 21 August 2013
Reviewed By Ben Oxley
"You must welcome waiting. You can only wait for what you cannot change."
Two cultures. Two families. Together at a life-changing sacred city. In a story that from the outside is reminiscent of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the characters form a bond due to the release of their respective worries.
Set in Varanasi, India, but with Sydney on its horizon, Indian Embrace bridges the divide between culture, generation and change.
Indian Embrace stars Ambika Asthana, Neel Banerjee, Shashidhar Dandekar, James Herrington, Steven Menteith (a Westerner who has travelled extensively in India including Varanasi) and Lucy Rasheed.
Anger is stirred up in family rivalry, but then the greater disaster is remembered, which brings them back together. Perspective is the great key to understanding why, and quiet reflection is valuable in an unusual backwater. The six cast members have longings, and those that are shared in the play appear to resolve, where the unresolved seem not as important.
Shashidhar Dandekar shines as the world-weary father figure Vikram, with perhaps the best material. He generously allows other actors space to build their characters.
John as the older, distant Australian brother, shadows Menteith's own wide travels. He is believable in the combative scenes with his sister Pamela (Rasheed), while his friendship with Vikram is the strength of the play.
Pamela and Chris slowly unfold and explore their respective nirvanas, while Roopa entertains with aspirational characterisation, of a young woman bent on going to Australia, for her the exotic idyll. The short roles of Ashwin and Sanjay allow Banerjee just enough room to give well-paced vignettes to lift away from the larger drama.
Neat direction from Lenore Robertson, in an intimate space, with effective lighting from Richard Neville gave the sense of a decaying boarding house caught in between two worlds. Suspended material cloths are the screen, on which are projected the vivid hues of the mighty Ganges, perhaps the main silent role in the piece.
Carol Dance has made a fashionable subject very personal, very real. She explores how we deal with trauma, and asks are we able overcome great personal sadness and still manage to maintain relationships. The meaning of life is summed up in her lines for Vikram: "You must welcome waiting. You can only wait for what you cannot change."
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