Free-spirited English poet Flora Crewe (Brenda Meaney) reflects on a painting by Nirad Das (Firdous Bamji), an Indian artist who is fascinated with London in Indian Ink, Tom Stoppard’s epic romance that weaves decades, continents, and cultures. Photo by Kevin Berne.
Indian Ink by Tom Stoppard. Directed by Carey Perloff. American Conservatory Theater (ACT), 415 Geary St., San Francisco, CA. (415) 749-2228 or www.act-sf.org.
January 14 – February 8, 2015
INDIAN INK is beautifully staged at A.C.T. [RATING:4]
American Conservatory Theater’s (A.C.T.) artistic director Carey Perloff continues her unabashed love affair with Tom Stoppard with the production of Indian Ink in association with Roundabout Theatre Company. Like the fictional poet Flora Crew (Brenda Meany), the major character in the play, she has found an intellectual soul mate in Stoppard. The theatrical love affair between Stoppard and Perloff is abundantly apparent in Perloff’s brilliant direction of the play. Such intricate direction is absolutely necessary to make the always verbose Stoppard palatable to diverse audiences. However three hours of a Stoppard play can and does wear thin.
Like Stoppard’s Tony Award winning Arcadia the action of the play shifts between two time frames, often with scenes from both eras intercutting each other. Initially it is the 1980s England where Flora’s sister Nell (Danielle Frimer) is sharing Floras letters with Eldon Pike (Anthony Fusco) an American biographer. Pike’s fascination with the unfinished portrait and its unknown painter piques his inquisitive nature allowing Stoppard to move the action back and forth in time filling in the background with nary a sentence of exposition.
The play originated as a 1991 radio play In the Native State for BBC with the stage version opening in 1995 in London. It had its American premiere (where else?) at A.C.T. in 1999. Since that time Stoppard and Perloff have re-worked the script and it received a sold out production in New York by the Roundabout Theatre.
Flora is a free-spirited British poet who arrives in Jummapur, India controlled by a Rajah (Rajeev Varma) with the tacit consent of the British Colonial office. She is here to give a lecture to the Theosophical Society and to recuperate from an unexplained illness. During that lecture Das has created a pencil sketch of Flora and upon presenting it to her he expresses his great interest in London and desire to have a British personality. This allows Stoppard to insert references to the Bloomsbury Group and other well-known 1930s luminaries. Flora then consents to allow Das to paint her portrait, not in the manner of a British artist but as an Indian painter.
As the play progresses other characters are introduced and references to Indian inequities under British rule are expertly inserted in the dialog as love blossoms between Flora and Das. Mystery concerning the portrait and an ancient priceless miniature painting of a nude given to Flora by a Raja play a pivotal role in story line. However the storyline is just a vehicle for Stoppard to demonstrate his intellectualism.
The play is handsomely staged, acted and directed. I quote and fully agree: “Neil Patel’s pristine scenery, subtly lit by Robert Wiertzel, enables the large cast to fluidly negotiate the play’s two worlds with minimal props. Candice Donnelly’s gowns for ‘ Brenda Meaney’ are breathtaking, but she has also dressed the other actors to period perfection.” However, to this reviewer and guest the running time of three hours, including the intermission, detracted from a beautiful love story unfolding at a time of cataclysmal upheaval in India.
CAST: Flora Crewe, Brenda Meaney; Coomaraswami, Ajay Naidu; Nazrul, Vandit Bhatt; Eleanor Swan, Roberta Maxwell; Eldon Pike, Anthony Fusco; Amish Das, Pej Vandat; Nirad Das, Firdous Bamji; David Durance, Philip Mills; Rajah/Politician, Rajeev Varma; Dilip, Kenneth De Abrew; Resident, Mike Ryan; Englishwoman, Mary Baird; Englishman, Dan Hiatt; Nell, Danielle Frimer; Eric, Glenn Stott.
CREATIVE TEAM: Tom Stoppard, Playwright; Carey Perloff, Director; John Carrafa, Choreographer; Neil Patel, Scenic Designer; Robert Wierzel, Lighting Designer; Candice Donnelly, Costume Designer; Dan Moses Schreier, Composer and Sound Designer; Janet Foster, CSA, Casting; Dick Daley, Stage Manager; Megan McClintock, Assistant Stage Manager
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com
Free-spirited English poet Flora Crewe (Brenda Meaney) reflects on a painting by Nirad Das (Firdous Bamji), an Indian artist who is fascinated with London in Indian Ink, Tom Stoppard’s epic romance that weaves decades, continents, and cultures. Photo by Kevin Berne.
