Style over Substance: A review of the Mumbai edition of the first Going Solo International Theatre Festival in India
Deepa Punjani
British actor, playwright and director Pip Utton was in Mumbai recently along with actress Jailoshini Naidoo from South Africa. Both presented their solo shows as part of India's first 'Going Solo International Theatre Festival' (19th September-21st September 2013) organised by Teamwork in collaboration with the Edinburgh Fringe. All three shows - two by Mr Utton and one by Ms Naidoo are about a time in history. While Mr Utton's shows ADOLF and CHURCHILL refer to prominent historical figures in world history, Ms Naidoo's AT THE EDGE talks about the inhabitants of Cato Manor in Durban in South Africa at the time of Apartheid legislation in the late 1950s.
Mr Utton has established a reputation as a solo performer who impersonates famous personalities. His distinct characterisation, speech and body language aided by appropriate make-up and dress give immediacy and life to men such as Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill. Mr Utton's grip over the two performances is solid. Both plays have minimal design and props, and leave no trace of the actor's presence. He has completely become the two characters who could not be more different than the other.
Pip Utton in ADOLF
Yet these solo acts in themselves are nothing special and are constrained by the nature and the duration of the performance. In ADOLF, Mr Utton predictably brings centre stage, Hitler's spiel and spurious ideology on the strength of which he commanded his followers. An interesting part of this show comes in the latter half when Mr Utton steps out of character. He takes on the role of the stand-up artiste and cracks jokes; but some of those jokes in the shows in Mumbai at least, were not in good taste.
Sure, as some of us figured in the end that what Mr Utton was driving at, was to show that warped ideologies such as Hitler's still exist in different parts of the world and that we haven't really exorcised those ghosts of extremism that divide mankind. But the roundabout way in which he chose to do that with some jokes thrown in for good measure, didn't particularly create an impression and did more by way of damaging the credibility he had established during the first half of the performance.
There were at least two jokes; one about how the British had civilised India and the other about his Hitler's wig made from the pubic hair of Palestinians that appeared downright racist, even if that may not have been Mr Utton's intention. Remarkably, members of the audience who find release in unwarranted laughter were also silent in this time. We just bore it politely. Mr Utton made an artistic choice to drive home the dangers of xenophobia but little of it was successful. More dangerously, his own politics remained unclear and his effort at a contemporary take on the subject was in a way, self-defeating.
Pip Utton in CHURCHILL
In CHURCHILL, Mr Utton yet again revs up his actors' arsenal but the rhetoric does not quite hold as Churchill is reduced to mouthing his witticisms, of which we know only too well. His quotes like ''A good speech should be like a woman's skirt...'' sound straight from a section of 'Quotable Quotes', and what do we care for Churchill's racist views about Indians and his bitching about Gandhi? In that sense Churchill remains as unattractive as he was in his lifetime. In Mr Utton's idolised portrayal of the man, the only thing that characteristically came forth was that Churchill was full of himself. But this singular aspect does not do much justice to the more crucial elements that Mr Utton could have chosen from his hero's biography. The only time we come close to Churchill in this performance is when he reflects his fall from his heroic stature post the Second World War.
It's also a pity that while both plays are about the two men who were most central to WWII, there is little effort at connecting the two trajectories. One is obviously just the villain, and the other comes across like a showman, merely inflated by his clever words. Even otherwise, there are hardly any shades to explore, or insights to contemplate. Beyond Mr Utton's excellent impersonation and what is common knowledge, neither show takes any risks, and remains superficial.
Monologues about famous men may be tough to pull off in terms of the sheer amount of biographical material that is available to choose from. But artists must make their choice and it is their choice that determines the course of their creation. They must take the responsibility for what they say and assume. Just as Mr Utton feels that Hitler's poison runs deep, he should also know that racism is a prickly subject. It isolates even if it is meant only in jest. Were it the kind of deliberate politically incorrect humour, then it might have been a different thing. That kind of humour is couched in a narrative of its own and its merits need to be understood in context. This is not the case with Mr Utton's style. He may be given benefit of the doubt but as a solo artist Mr Utton should know this more than anybody else that the first impression is usually the last one.
Jailoshini Naidoo in AT THE EDGE
Jailoshini Naidoo's AT THE EDGE in comparison was benign. The actress relates a number of stories about the impoverished inhabitants of Cato Manor who have to bear all kinds of indignities but who yet find the joy to live. Apartheid-ridden South Africa was ugly and the Indian inhabitants who Ms Naidoo enacts out for us are creatures of will in a hard place. But these humane stories, sometimes supported by accompanying text projected in the background, come across as anecdotal than real. While Ms Naidoo is a capable actress, most of the characters she plays, appear more like caricatures. There are only a few instances in which one can actually relate to the pain and suffering of Cato Manor's inhabitants. The humour too is forced and the laughter is more provoked by Ms Naidoo's portrayal of the characters rather than from the moment in which the character finds itself.
For me the only story that stood out among the others was the last one in which an embattled resident stoically refuses to leave his house after his land and house like that of his neighbours has been seized by the government and has been declared a zone for white people only. Much to the chagrin of his wife and his children, he stays firm to his decision. But even this story is partly marred by melodrama. To Ms Naidoo's credit she plays several characters modulating her voice and adjusting her body language as she feels fit, but more often the result is a cross between slapstick and melodramatic.
India's first Going Solo International festival brought in strong actors who are undoubtedly skilled in successfully carrying out a show on the basis of their individual strengths. Nevertheless all three shows raise important questions about artistic responsibility and about skill and style versus content.
