3/29/2003 » Theater

Saw ‘Midnight’s Children’ on stage—Rushdie was there, a fire hose of ideas, so much sex on stage, Mala and Meneka played hottie and mother yet again, and both are fly. Saw it at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. The Apollo is tiny, much smaller than it appears on Def Comedy Jam.

The play suffered from being a literary adaptation: moved really fast, missed a lot of the charm of individual scenes. Sacrificed the advantages of live theater for broad coverage, and didn’t come up with its own innovations that you can do only in plays, e.g. character affectations. It was really like Harry Potter, an adaptation, doesn’t stand well in its own right.

I liked the play, great historical video, professional production, but it stood on the novel’s shoulders rather than developing an art form in itself. The script could’ve used a good trim. A slower pace, a focus, the treats of slow intensity—this felt like hurried, bad foreplay, as pantomime-farcical as the mock sex scenes. Focus on a few key scenes, slower, work the magic of electric interaction between witty people on stage. A Neil Simon or Tom Stoppard-style richochet. This felt more like Cliff Notes, the hurried, panting coverage. Just like Amina yelling at her husband, ‘Please, just a little longer,’ then whacking him on the back in frustration :)

Meneka Das and Mala Gedhia played the same roles as in ‘14 Songs’ in London: Meneka played the mother, Amina, and Mala, Pia the hottie. In ‘14 Songs,’ Meneka played Pooja and Mala, Nisha. Kulvinder Gir tossed in some funny Punjabi in his picturization of Picture Singh.

Afterwards I went to a cafe in the Village, and they were playing ‘Aaja Soniya’ and bhangra, which is very rare in NYC. I started missing intense nights at smooth cafes on Brick Lane. Was overcome by Londonlonging and checked tickets for air and ‘Bombay Dreams.’

Just how many times did Zubin change in and out of his trousers in this production? Fifteen? Twenty? I missed the symbolism.