PASSAGE TO INDIA: Forster, adapt Sherman, till 2.11

A PASSAGE TO INDIA: E M Forster, adapted by Martin Sherman

Shared Experience: Touring till 2 November, info www.setheatre.co.uk

Runs: 2h 45m, one interval
Review: Rod Dungate, 22nd October 2002 @ Warwick Arts Centre (till 26.10)
Performances (Warwick Arts Centre, 7.30)

Story-telling at its most magical, superb company, quite, quite, lastingly beautiful.
Simply story-telling at its most magical. Visually, physically, dramatically a most beautiful experience. Intriguing and challenging in its complexity. Maybe I should stop here (but I won't.)

I have just sat in a culturally diverse audience of the widest age range whose attention was grabbed 150 per cent by the intricacies of Forster's discussion – no distracting chatter, warm laughter when it arose naturally and (most exciting) when the company create an elephant an audible gasp of wonder at the sheer audacious magic of it all.

Forster, in his novel, is taking an intellectual's look at the effects of British rule in India. He is not part of the ruling group and yet he sets out to be fair. Forster sees no easy solutions, starting as he does from the point he's at. Being drawn into this adaptation is like sitting in the middle of a bicycle wheel with the debates and discussions zooming off, sparkling, in all directions. It's exhilarating. Against this the story – the indecent assault or not on young, white, Adela Quested by Dr Aziz - is a simple framework within which the characters exist: the meaning is carried by their relationships. Nancy Meckler, working with this superb company achieves the perfect balance between these elements in Sherman's delicate adaptation.

Central for much of the play is Susan Engel's elderly Englishwoman Mrs Moore. What an interesting character – good without working at it, not good because she runs out of energy, decent through-and-through but without quite knowing what to do with the quality. Engel achieves the actor's ultimate – to create a character without appearing to do anything. Actor and character merge into a seamless and elegant whole whether lightly chatting to the energetic Dr Aziz, or shouting with frustration or simply putting her shawl round her shoulders: at every turn she can twist your heart – and it hurts.

In a way Mrs Moore passes her baton on to Adela Quested – a character who energetically (and honestly) starts out with all the right intentions. She, too, is worn down by the system as it exists and by her own confusions and human inadequacies. Penny Layden encompasses the entire journey with great confidence, taking us with her for every inch of her journey.

The real pain of the story, though, is carried by Dr Aziz and teacher, Fielding. Ian Gelder creates a Fielding who wears a slightly hopeless air: until, that is, we see his friendship with the Indian characters and the particular warmth of it for Dr Aziz. We realise we misjudge him. The hopelessness is in his situation that cannot allow the friendship to blossom as it should. Paul Bazely's Dr Aziz is hypnotic: Bazely's wiry figure is as taut as a spring and one we feel could break at any moment – his vocal and physical outbursts are evidence. Bazely keeps a sharp edge on Aziz, he's not always easy to like. But he's the heart of the play and we love him for it.

In a final torturing moment Fielding and Aziz say goodbye for good: the actors keep the moment buoyant. Aziz wants the friendship to continue as much as Fielding but will not, cannot, allow it to until all cultures can be accepted in their own right as equal partners. Forster knew the world was a long way from achieving such a world: are we nearer to it now? This is the hurt and hope in the story and the play: this is why the young people engage with it as much as the retired people. It is all quite, quite, lastingly, beautiful.

Dr Aziz: Paul Bazely
Turton/ McBryde: Geoffrey Beevers
Hamidullah/ Callender: Antony Bunsee
Miss Derek/ Mrs Turton: Priyanga Elan
Mrs Moore: Susan Engel
Fielding: Ian Gelder
Rafi/ Das: Daniel Hope
Mahmoud Ali: Nicholas Khan
Ronny/ Ralph: Guy Lankester
Adela Quested: Penny Layden
Godbole: Aaron Neil

Musicians: Chandru and Sirishkumar

Director: Nancy Meckler
Design: Niki Turner
Composer: Peter Salem
Company Movement: Liz Ranken
Lighting: Chris Davey
Indian Dance: Sowmya Gopalan
Indian Music Advisers: Chandru, Sirishkumar, Ambika Jois

Tour Remaining: Guildford Yvonne Arnaud 29.10 – 2.11

2002-10-23 11:19:42