At first blush, it may seem odd that New Zealand should have a thriving Indian theatre presence. One of the last settled places on earth, its colonial past has meant that many of British conquerors of India are honoured in New Zealand by having cities named after them - Auckland, Hastings and Napier among them. Auckland even has its own Khyber Pass and the city's exit southward is marked with a hamlet called Bombay.Happily, most of New Zealand's 4.2 million people have little idea of who their cities are named after and have welcomed Indian migrants since the 1890s. Among them is a group of Indians who decided to give to New Zealand a taste of the theatre culture they had back home. Prayas Cultural Group, headed by Amit Ohdedar, aims to stage productions based on the works of noted Indian playwrights with available and established English translations.In its most recent production, Prayas marked the 150th birth anniversary of
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). At the time, New Zealand was also hosting the Rugby World Cup, keenly waiting what turned out to be victory to the national side, the war dancing All Blacks. Ohdedar had no doubt, talking to New Zealand media, that
Tagore was still relevant. "No matter how much you want to stir me up, my belief in Tagore will be steadfast like the nation's belief in the All Blacks," he said. He selected Tagore's 'Tasher Desh' or The Kingdom of Cards, to perform. Its cast was again a mix of cultures and people - and the audience the same. Ohdedar was passionate about it. "My entire existence, my cultural identity, rests on Tagore - almost. To a Bengali, Tagore is still as holy as goddess Kali and as important as a fish curry cooked in mustard oil."
While Tasher Desh is a satire on the class system, using cards to show a kingdom's people trapped in countless inane rituals, it had no trouble translating itself to a New Zealand audience. Ohdedar believed that reflected the power of Tagore. "What is amazing is that each of them cast and crew could almost immediately relate and get excited about the play - some see the humour and cleverness of the dialogues, some love the songs, others see the political subtlety of the text," Ohdedar said. "His philosophy of freedom of humanity based on enlightenment through education and emancipation of poverty and injustice through an equitable social order are equally relevant and applicable in the present day world."
Prayas' first play was Habib Tanvir's 'Charandas Chor', in English, performed in 2005. It was a sell out, winning great reviews and drawing notice in a city where live theatre has at times struggled. Various state and local arts bodies welcomed Prayas and helped fund the productions.
Another play that won a lot of media attention, and big audiences, was 'Khoj' - The Search, using squat toilets as a metaphor in dealing with Indian migration to New Zealand. Ohdedar, with Sananda Chatterjee, wrote and directed the light-hearted account of adaptation, inspired by a Rohinton Mistry short story. Prayas held workshops with Indians to collect stories of their experiences in New Zealand.
