Last semester I had was required by my acting professor to watch a professional play.  I chose to see a performace of a play called "Rafta Rafta".  It was an amazing and spiritual experience.  I learned so much from watching this play, and continue to use this knowledge as an aspiring actor.


 



Bryn Berg                                                                                                                   May 18, 2011

Theatre Arts 110

Live Performance Critique

 

A Critique of Rafta Rafta

            The Old Globe presented Ayub Khan-Din’s Rafta Rafta on April 22nd, 2011 on the Donald and Darlene Shirley Stage (a proscenium stage).  Khan-Din is an established playwright, and mostly known for writing the play “East is East” that was made into a successful film in 1999.  Khan-Din developed Rafta Rafta for England’s National Theatre, and it was an enormous hit which led to this production being performed in the U.S.  This production was produced by special arrangement with The Agency (London) Ltd.  Rafta Rafta was directed by Jonathan Silverstein.  The story takes place in present day in Bolton, which is a middle class neighborhood of Greater Manchester, UK.  The story is based around two Indian families that immigrated to the UK who are the Patel’s and the Dutt’s.  The parents of each family came to the UK in their very late teens.  The play opens with a wedding between the son of the Dutt family and the daughter of the Patel family.  This pretty much set the tone for the plot as much of it revolved around the aftermath of the families joining together.

The set was a simple replica of a two story suburban home which was all that was really needed since the actors brought humor, fun, and vibrant energy to the stage.  I actually had to bring myself back to reality during intermission because my mind had escaped me, and became so tied up in the internal conflicts taking place between all of the characters.  I found this play to be very educational in so many ways, and extremely enlightening.  A viewer of this play can be taught a lot about the Indian culture, the differences of viewpoints between older and newer generations of individuals, the big picture of the growing pains that come with a new marriage, and how important it is to respect your loved ones hopes and dreams in this life.  The recently married son in this play was not able to perform sexually for his new bride, and had a breakdown because of the severe stress he felt from his family not understanding him.          

            I feel that the performers were very well casted, and all had a great understanding of Stanislavski's “magic what if”.  The entire audience also seemed very engaged during the whole performance.  This was evident from the many laughs that came from everyone surrounding me.  The giggles were a result of the many humorous lines, and scenes during the performance.  The dialogue was delivered flawlessly, and everyone was very natural and did not over act.  I was also very impressed at how well all of the performers connected with each other, and the relationships were believable. The younger performers faced a challenge that was executed in such a talented fashion.  They were of Indian decent, but had to put on a British accent since their characters were born and raised in the UK.  Never once did I see any of them go off track from putting on the pretend accents.  I did notice an interesting contrast between the older and younger cast members though.  The actors that played the parents appeared to be much more relaxed on stage, and I also observed that they were having fun.  The actors playing the kids of the parents (they were either in their late teens or early twenties) were great, but did not seem as comfortable on stage.

 My favorite actor was Geeta Citygirl Chopra who played Lopa Dutt, the mother of the newly married son.  I chose Chopra for many reasons, but the one that stands out the most is that she seemed to be having a blast with her part, and relishing being on stage from start to finish.  Chopra had a lot on her plate when it came to her character.  She had to be the peacemaker between her the huge conflicts taking place between her husband and son, her new daughter in law and son, as well as other various family members.  There was also the factor that she was carrying around the secret of being unfaithful to her husband when she was very young.  Chopra was also very pro-active in helping her partners in every scene, and expressed her objectives with precision.  This led to me always being able to visualize her characters super objective which was for her entire family to blend together peacefully, and to respect and understand one another.

            The script was a simple story, but beautifully written.  I would even go so far as to say it was brilliant.  It is a plot that anyone can understand, and most likely relate to no matter of your age, class, or education level.  The script reminds us of important morals in life that are so obvious, yet we easily forget them a lot of the time.  The play to me conveyed that tensions between family members sometimes occur due to the fact that they only want only the best for one another.  This was especially prevalent between the father and newly married son.  The dad wanted his son to work a steady factory job like he did so he could provide security for his new wife and any children to come.  Having a blue collar profession was enough for the father, and gave him everything he wanted in life.  His son wanted more than what his dad was pushing him to do career wise.  The son was born with a taste for the arts, and a lot of creativity.  His father could never seem to embrace this (it was revealed in the play that a major reason for the difference, as previously mentioned was that his mother secretly had an affair with his best friend so he was not his biological father).  The dad was constantly poking fun at his what he thought was his offspring for always listening to classical music, and not having a sense of humor.  The author of this play reminds us that even in a family dynamic every individual is unique. Even though originality can throw a wrench in a family we must embrace and respect it.   It will also ensure that you do not waste any time being distant from a family member or relative over small personality misunderstandings.  At the conclusion of the script you see the father finally giving in to his stubbornness regarding the differences between him and his son.  You actually see the dad getting this lesson the playwright is through my eyes trying to teach everyone, and shows the plays purpose.  I viewed it as a ray of sun sunlight poking its head through on a cloudy day.  His character almost even seemed childlike when he made this change in himself because he was so excited about having a new relationship built on actually getting his son’s personality.

            I think a large amount of this plays success is owed to the director, Jonathan Silverstein, and of course the playwright, Ayub Khan-Din.  In the play program Silverstein mentions that he knew this would be a challenge for him as a director as he is “a nice Jewish boy from Rhode Island”, and didn’t know how to relate to Indians living in Britain.  However, he took the title of the script to heart.  Rafta Rafta in Hindi translates to “slowly, slowly”.  Silverstein was able to take this as meaning “as in any relationship, it takes time to get to know one another.  This is a lesson to which anyone, no matter what culture they are from can connect”.   I feel Silverstein’s approach was basic, but extremely profound.  This play will always have a huge impact on me for the rest of my life because it was such a powerful learning experience, and has taught me to have more patience with the members of my own family.