Not Bollywood

http://www.prayas.co.nz

Not Bollywood

A small theatre group is fine-tuning a bold play about forbidden relationships that crosses language and cultural boundaries in a way New Zealanders seldom see.

THE TERRACE will be performed in October by Auckland based Prayas, the English-Indian theatre group.
For the group, made up of talented members of the Indian community, the play crosses boundaries from a simpler folk theatre they last performed, to a raw exploration of human emotions.

THE TERRACE offers New Zealanders, more used to the Bollywood imagery, a sophisticated insight into Indian life.
Prayas president and play director Ohdedar says THE TERRACE offers an urban setting, involving people who see themselves as elites.

“They are far removed form the true Indian fabric. It is about their friendship, enmity, love, betrayal. It has some scathing observation about society.”

When first performed in India initially in Gujarati and later in Hindi and English, it created cultural shock waves. While the players are Indian, it could be anywhere, an English language play with universal messages about highly charged emotions and tensions caused by an alleged affair.

Last year Prayas performed an Indian folk play Charandas Chor.
Amit says Prayas aims to present glimpses of Indian drama and following on from Charandas Chor they were seeking a contrast.

“We were looking for an urban view, a very modern play. ‘Prayas’, literally, means an attempt. Our plays are attempts at reaching out to the New Zealand community, sharing and integrating. Our medium is theatre, music, song and dance”.

A veteran director of plays in several languages he does it in part as an intellectual challenge.

“I belong to a migrant community in New Zealand and believe that minority culture needs to be portrayed and shared with the multicultural strand of New Zealand society,” says Ohdedar, an engineer.

THE TERRACE will be staged on October 12, 13, 14, 2007 at Auckland Centennial Theatre in Epsom.

Prayas is a non-profit organisation formed by Indians endeavouring to showcase some fine contemporary Indian theatre, in English, for New Zealand audiences – as an attempt at integration.

Its actors, from all over India, come equipped with high level intellectual skills in medicine, economics, business, engineering and dance. As migrants they are anxious to give something to New Zealand, sharing India’s artistic heritage.

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