One actor and one musician will make present-day India, with its ancient gods and state-of-the-art technology, come to life in “Guru of Chai,” being performed at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center.
One actor and one musician will make present-day India, with its ancient gods and state-of-the-art technology, come to life in “Guru of Chai,” being performed at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center.
Jacob Rajan, co-writer and star, and Justin Lewis, co-writer and director, have taken elements of the Indian folk tale “Punchkin” and woven it into a simultaneously humorous and heartbreaking story about a humble chaiwallah, or tea seller, whose life is forever changed when an abandoned young girl brings a busy Bangalore train station to a stop with the beauty of her singing. Kutisar, the chaiwallah, dispenses wisdom as well as tea, while finding himself at odds with his conscience, the gods of his Hindu religion — and the omnipresent Starbucks.
“It certainly is an India of my imagination,” said Rajan, a New Zealand actor-playwright whose parents are from India. “But that station in Bangalore I know. The amazing thing about India is it breaks my heart and fills it every time I go over there. I find it as difficult as most Western tourists, but I have that link that ties me to my motherland. I guess I view it through a very different lens, and I think that’s what comes out in the work — the love of the place, but also, the heartbreak of the place, as well.”
Rajan takes on the mannerisms and voices of 16 distinct characters in the production, including an overweight policeman and seven singing sisters. The show has traveled internationally, and in 2010 he won the Chapman Tripp award, New Zealand’s equivalent of the Tony, as the nation’s best stage actor.
Rajan, who uses masks, puppetry and magic in his productions, said the main character, Kutisar, is based on his recently deceased Balinese mask teacher, Nyoman Sukerta.
“He was immersed in the spiritual tradition of masked dance, and yet longed to have a Facebook page,” he said. “His feet were planted both in the spiritual and the venal Western consumerism. He was an odd mix and a very flawed human being, which we love in the theater. So, basically, I just gave him some (costume) bad teeth and made him an Indian.”
David Ward, the theater company’s musician, is somewhat of a magician also, making a four-string banjo sound amazingly like a sitar.
“David is a trained jazz musician and he came on as a fill-in for another musician (Conrad Wedde) who went on to subsequently have an amazing career with an indie band called The Phoenix Foundation,” Rajan said. “We thought it would be for a short time, but that’s been 12 years now. Dave has slowly taken on composition and musical direction and totally become a one-man band. He’s a calming presence on tour, as well. He’s Buddhist. We can arrive in any mayhem … and we just look to Dave to calm us. He’s added more character into his role as a living soundtrack. He’s so wonderful to watch, he’s a danger to steal scenes and I have to keep my eye on him. He’s a neat sidekick to the guru, and I think that’s attributable to the Buddhism, that he’s completely focused on what’s happening on the stage and supporting me with his wonderful music.”
Rajan and Lewis founded the Indian Ink Theatre Company in 1994, creating six original plays, all still in production. “Guru of Chai” was launched in 2010, playing at first in people’s homes.
“We’d walk up to your house, clear out your living room and set up an entire theater set in your house, and then you’d invite your friends and neighbors in to see it,” Rajan said. “I think the idea of it at the core is a storytelling piece, the caveman entertaining his fellow cave dwellers. … And then, when we moved into theaters, it was just the process of expanding that bubble to include more people. But I think the feel of it is still quite intimate and a joy to perform.”
Rajan said he’s looking forward to Hawaii and has enjoyed bringing the play to the United States
“New Zealand audiences are very conservative in terms of their response. They love the show; they love our work and our work does very well here,” he said. “But when I go to America, it’s standing ovations every night. To get a New Zealand audience to stand is quite something. We’ve done it, but it’s like blood out of stone. In America, the emotion is so available and the audiences respond to the show in such a visceral way, it’s gratifying for a performer because, ultimately, I’m an actor and I just want to be loved. I love the American audiences. They really get it.”
Tickets are $25 general, $20 discount, and $15 students and children 17 and under, available at the UHHPAC box office.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.