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Thanks to the collaborative efforts of the British Council and the NCPA, Mumbai audiences had the opportunity to see German playwright, Roland Schimmelpfennig's THE GOLDEN DRAGON, translated into English by David Tushingham. The production has been directed by Ramin Gray, Artistic Director of ATC (Actors Touring Company), a theatre company in East London. Schimmelpfennig's play brims with metaphors, and not least 'The Golden Dragon'- the ubiquitous Pan-Asian - Thai/Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant, or one of its several prototypes that are found anywhere in the world. But Schimmelpfennig we realize, has located the restaurant in an unnamed spot in Central Europe.
So we are plunged straight into the action in The Golden Dragon, with its various inhabitants, in particular a Chinese boy. It's a busy restaurant with a constant flow of orders and stories - little stories; a peek here, a peek there, all coming together to determine the final destiny of the Chinese boy. The group of all white actors enact several characters in the play, and guide us through various scenes, in the restaurant, in its kitchen, and in the flats of the building above the restaurant
In all of this, stands out Schimmelpfennig's style of writing which precludes the nature of the production. The style also lets the play be more than just a play about migration, the perils of immigration, of economics and alienation. If food provides a ready link to cultures, Schimmelpfennig takes an extreme turn on it till its chorus of orders- all numbered for the table to be served, begin to look absurd, and therefore more poignant in a seemingly matter-of-fact tragedy of the Chinese boy, who has a rotting tooth pulled out in the kitchen with no medical aid. It is impossible for him to visit a dentist because he has no papers.
Parallel to the Chinese boy's situation run different situations through which we are introduced to the other characters -the cooks, the waiters, the girl who is pregnant, her boyfriend who is unhappy about it, the girl's very old grandfather, the restaurant owner, the two air hostesses, the pilot-boyfriend of one of the air hostesses, Steve and his wife- each of them letting us onto some bits of their lives.
Schimmelpfennig's precise instructions have his actors mouth the stage directions, particularly the 'pauses' and the 'full-stops' aloud, and in doing so the playwright adds an interesting layer to the play. We are made fully aware of 'watching' a play. We are reminded we are indeed spectators, yet given the dynamic and continuous action with the actors assuming multiple characters, and moving effortlessly back and forth between a set of scenes, the play stands out as a very competent piece of theatre.
Schimmelpfennig constructs a merry-go-round fable of the ant and the cricket which is an integral part of the play's tapestry. The ant works hard all summer to stock up for the winter whereas the cricket does not do so, and is then at the ant's mercy to provide her the food. The fable, far from being the good old lesson in morals, takes on sinister overtones in the course of the play as the cricket assumes the garb of a sex-worker who is continually exploited. In the cricket's story, we are also left to guess the story of the Chinese boy's missing sister.
Ramin Gray's production complements the text. He has a group of five talented actors who shift through their roles seamlessly; the women actors also take on the male characters and vice-versa. The production design is minimal; the stage is covered from the back to the front in white sheets, and the props are scattered on either sides of the stage. A few chairs are used as required. As scene after scene rolls out, the splattered blood against the white background is a striking image in the play, as is the rolled out carpet with the golden dragon motif on it.
As the carpet is rolled out, the metaphor of the golden dragon strikes at the heart of the play. The Chinese boy has travelled from 'The Golden Dragon' to his real home in China. But he is changed. In an afterlife, he speaks to us of his journey. A while before we have witnessed his family- his mother and his uncle in the gaping hole of his open and screaming mouth as he writhes in pain on the floor of the kitchen in The Golden Dragon.
Schimmelpfennig'splay raises ethical questions, in spite of a framework that is more partial to arousing empathy than creating any actual debate about its looming subject: Immigration. In today's changed order of the world, where China is a future superpower (and largest exporter of immigrants), both facts scare Europe. Immigration is a prickly subject. The economic crisis has destroyed millions of jobs in Europe, making their governments touchy about the impact of immigration on the demand for indigenous labour. The playwright explores the politics of the situation in his own way. Certain flashes in the play make you realise why he is rated so highly (on par to Shakespeare and Ibsen) in Berlin and in Hamburg. At the age of 44, he has written more than 20 plays that have been produced in many countries. It is an impressive track record for a contemporary playwright in the 21st century.
Perhaps politicians in rich countries should be having a sensible debate after all about immigration; instead of pandering to voters' fears of immigrants. Schimmelpfennig helps one realize the pained experience of the immigrant - he suggests that and more. The white/Caucasian characters in the play, with the exception of one of the airhostesses, are all cast in complete opposition to the Chinese boy and the much exploited 'cricket'. They are the villains, who wallow in their own self-centred dystopias. The East/West divide, Schimmelpfennig seems to say is also a moral divide. The visual imagery of all the blood gurgling out of the Chinese boy's mouth is equivalent to butchery itself. It is a subtle but harsh critique of the western world.
The text toys with familiar clichés, most obvious in the cricket's fate and in its unspoken but likely link to the Chinese boy's missing sister. The style by and large remains devoid of any sentimentality though, but towards the end it becomes poignant as we trace the Chinese boy's journey home. Ramin Gray's direction soon enough makes us comfortably tuned in with the different characters and the non-linear narrative, and keeps a crisp pace going. The simple props turn out to be hugely effective; a hairband for instance immediately transforms a much older woman actor into a young girl.
Perhaps what Schimmelpfennig wants to remind his Caucasian counterparts is that while a plate of food can be more readily consumed for its ethnic flavours and taste, entire people and cultures can't be. There are stories, real stories, and some heart-wrenching anecdotes. And yes, there is more to that 'Thai soup with chicken, coconut milk, Thai ginger, tomatoes, button mushrooms, lemon grass and lemon leaves (hot).'
*Deepa Punjani is Editor of this website.
(Picture courtesy: Stephen Cummiskey. The India Premiere of THE GOLDEN DRAGON was planned for four cities- Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Thrissur. The production is currently playing at the Jagriti theatre in Bangalore with shows scheduled up to 29th January. It will then travel to Thrissur for a show on 2nd February at the International theatre festival of Kerala. Click here to find out more about the production and its schedule in India).
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