CURRY TALES - To 18 June

CURRY TALES: Written and performed by Rani Moorthy
RASA with Library Theatre, Manchester at Birmingham Rep, The Door
Tour to 18 June 2005
Runs: 1h 30, no interval

Diverse, rich, funny and moving art and curry, what more could you want?
I'd expected CURRY TALES to be a kind of stand-up comedy routine. Well, it is stand-up (at least most of the time) and it has a great deal of comedy. Rani Moorthy's curry tour though has a surprising depth it makes it as satisfying as the dish at its centre.

Moorthy achieves this in a series of monologues or mini-plays; each of them is set in a different geographical location. It starts in Mumbai with the owner of a new curry house and coffee bar welcoming us to her grand opening. She's of the sharp as a knife upper-middle class and Moorthy's eye for comedy has her character explain 'in England they all eat curry, in India we all eat pizza.' Her mission is 'to bring curry back to India.'

As the show progresses the journey becomes darker. The most touching of Moorthy's creations is the elderly Asian woman in Malaya. She's literally tied to her cooker; this is her son's idea since soldiers from constantly warring factions will, he believes, think she's mad and not bother to kill her 'They all kill Indians' she informs us. Moorthy's performance here is simple, effective and incredibly moving. 'Lot of history and geography in my family' she says, and this allows her to repeat an earlier line 'Lot of history and geography in a curry.' Life and food are drawn together.

Less successful is Moorthy's Asian woman in Trinidad, yet this is, perhaps, the most surprising, so it would be a pity to lose it. This character is the second of Moorthy's characters and it may be that the shock of the inherent apparent incongruity (our lack of knowledge!) is too great too early on (before we have learnt 'how the show works'.)

It's always marvellous watching a performance in which you learn something this is one of those. It's diverse and rich. And then there are the curries too. Moorthy cooks as she acts. Terrific.

Director: Linda Marlowe
Designer: Rachana Jadhav
Lighting: Jake Taylor
Video: Arthur Smith
Music: Jaydev Mistry

2005-02-10 19:38:00