Critical Reflections on Made in India

As usual, the following caveat applies to the following opinions: they manifest 'thought-in-progress', not a dogmatic conclusion. The matter of Made in India, Tamasha's theatrical study of post-colonial surrogacy, continues to engage me, especially after a splendid session with Toonspeak's Young Critics. 

At the risk of stealing their ideas - although the ideas' limitation, naturally, rest with me - they inspired me to reconsider two aspects of the performance: whether it can be categorised as a 'feminist' play, and the difference experiences of watching and discussing it.

Through my admittedly minimal definition, Made in India is clearly a feminist script: it is concerned with three women and issues of hierarchy and power. While the disembodied voice of the male politician could be interpreted as the intrusion of patriarchal authority, the power-play comes through the relationship between the women themselves, with the wealthy European, the India Doctor and the financially vulnerable surrogate competing for dominance. 

Casting these conflicts within a context of masculine oppression explains perhaps the ferocity of the battles, and the surrogate's statement of 'my body, my choice' reveals the author's familiarity with wider debates around reproductive rights: nevertheless, the designation 'feminist' here does not necessarily imply a framework of patriarchy is necessary to understand the content.

Made in India does not market itself as an explicitly feminist play: the company is more interested in defining itself in terms of 'new voices' and support for frequently excluded stories 'inspired by diversity'. Made in India, equally, does not provide a solution to the various moral conundrums conjured in the production: the virtue of surrogacy itself is undetermined, let alone the particular hierarchies it imposes on the women. 

Some of its most dramatic moments come when the hierarchies are tested - as when the Doctor threatens to end the European's treatment, and points out how, from the very start of the play, the European has been dominating through her financial power. 

But the hierarchies are in constant flux: it is only when the surrogate attempts to take control that it become apparent that, ultimately, only the position of the most vulnerable can be seen as static.

In my writing of the review (and here is where things might get awkward), I found myself enjoying the experience far more than I enjoyed the 'lived experience' of sitting through the play. Not

massively - there was plenty in the scenography and performances that were pleasurable - but the unfolding of the ideas as I wrote (and then discussed) revealed depths to the script and an encouragement not to embrace any particular resolution but further explore the issues. 

My 'four stars' - roughly - correspond to a statement that Made in India achieves what it sets out to do, with the additional comment that it provokes informed conversation. That's a very particular definition of quality.

And what does that definition imply? That the pleasure or quality afforded to a production is not merely a measure of 'production values' or 'aesthetic excellence', but includes the subsequent experiences that it informs. Made in India is a superb choice for a discussion between Young Critics, because it forces further debate and an opportunity for the critics to impose their subjectivity - and maybe even question it. 

I'll be interested to see how our next discussion on Cuttin' a Rug goes: my hunch is that it might offer a less immediate engagement, and more on theatricality than the substance of the plot, themes and relevance.

I have always insisted that the reader recognises my personal subjectivity, and - being a bit cheeky - only respect my opinion in so far as they are aware of my tastes. My dramaturgical hero Lessing thought that the critic could educate audiences into good taste, but I don't share his rationalist optimism. 

Taste is not absolute, it is the point of connection between a spectator's personality and an art object. I like stuff that forces me to think - even at the cost of insulting my personal beliefs. I'm sure that reveals something about my personality that I'd rather not consider. 

Briefly returning to Made in India, it is a great show for anyone who shares that taste, who believes in theatre as a location for the public discussion of ideas. To be fair, critics tend to like work like that, because they have to have a public discussion about it. I like art that inspires what I shall cautiously call my art. It's not as great show for someone who wants to be simply entertained and laugh or even have a big emotional catharsis. 

My Name is.. Dramaturgy: Sudha Bhuchar @ Edfringe 2015

My Name Is… | Tamasha

8 – 30 Aug | 19.25 – 20.45 (1hr 20 mins)

A verbatim work that tells the real story behind the headlines of 2006. When Gaby disappeared from her Scottish home, it was assumed that her Pakistani father had kidnapped her, until it emerged that Gaby may have fled of her own accord, To her mother Suzy’s distress, Gaby declared: ‘Myname is Ghazala’, and turned her back on Gaby and seemingly, the West. Written by Sudha Bhuchar. Directed by Philip Osment.

What inspired this production: did you begin with an idea or a script or an object?

Sudha Bhuchar: The one thing that inspired this production was me reading the following article. It really moved me as to how this real life love story had gone wrong and fed wider agendas around ‘islam and the west’ when it was such a deeply personal story. I then managed to make contact with Adrian and Cathy who wrote the article and through them made contact with Molly and her parents. 

I went to Pakistan to interview Molly and her father and subsequently to Stornoway to interview the mother. I transcribed the interviews and thought I was writing a ‘fictional’ play based on the family’s story. I kept coming back to them in their own words and the play was eventually crafted out of that.

Why bring your work to Edinburgh?

The festival is such a great place for audiences from all over and I feel this piece resonates with a really diverse audience. Also it is a deeply Scottish story with themes that resonate widely so I felt it would be a great ‘festival’ show that unites local and festival/international audiences. We are delighted that we also have a tour of Scotland to follow so that multi cultural audiences in other parts of Scotland can see it on their doorstep.

 

What can the audience expect to see and feel - or even think - of your production?

The audience can expect to see three people telling this deeply personal story with humour and warmth and laying bare the emotional heart of what the family went through. There is a poignancy around knowing that it is ‘verbatim’ testimony but crafted in a way that isn’t static but deeply engaging I hope. The production is uncluttered and unadorned and at the heart is the truthful acting and simplicity that captures the complexity of the situation. I have tried to show all the different points of view and ask the audience to think about how personal stories can feed into wider political agendas. I hope the audience will feel for all three protagonists and are moved by the piece.

 

The Dramaturgy Questions

 

How would you explain the relevance - or otherwise - of dramaturgy within your work?

I always value working with a dramaturg and endeavour to do so in all my work as well as having particular points in the journey where I invite feedback from peers and audience as I make my work. With My Name is… as the process has taken so long to come to the genre that I have ended up with, I have had a lot of feedback from colleagues including the director James Mcdonald.  

Lin Coghlan worked with me right the way through and helped me to clarify ‘how’ the story eventually got told; ie crafted through verbatim testimony but edited and arranged in such a way that was informed by a structure that came from all our conversations and Lin’s response to the various drafts.

 

What particular traditions and influences would you acknowledge on your work -  have any particular artists, or genres inspired you and do you see yourself within their tradition?

I am sure there must be artists and genres that have inspired me but it’s hard to pin point. I started making theatre through meeting other young British Asians like myself who were second generation and had lived our childhood elsewhere (in my case E Africa and India). It is coming together in our experience of ‘otherness’ that inspired me to go into theatre by accident. I joined Tara arts group and through theatre learned about my culture, history and connections to how I was in the UK. 

All that and collaboration with colleagues like Kristine Landon-Smith (co founder of Tamasha) and seeing work like A raisin in the sun by Lorraine Hansberry that made me look to theatre and voices that were missing in mainstream theatre. This led me to forming Tamasha and exploring how to make work which is inspired by being British Asian and looking at the world through that lens. I am always drawn to deeply personal stories that illuminate wider themes about the human condition. I always like to write from the ‘small’ story and widen the landscape from there. 

So for instance I was inspired to write about children and their experiences during the partition of India rather than write about the complex politics of what led upto it. I have valued working with colleagues like Phil Osment (director of My Name is… and a long-term dramaturg for many of Tamasha’s writers) who also makes urgent and relevant work through starting from people’s personal experiences. He has a huge body or work that he has written and makes inspiring work from research.

 

 

Do you have a particular process of making that you could describe - where it begins, how you develop it, and whether there is any collaboration in the process?

My process does always seem to start from a seed of an idea. An article, a short story or something personal like eating in Balti restaurants in Birmingham (inspiration for Balti kings, co written by Shaheen khan) and wondering about the lives of the people in the kitchens. I love to research and often record interviews and it’s from that research that I start to write. I often have a workshop process and love to collaborate with actors and co write (as with Kristine Landon-Smith in a lot of Tamasha’s work). Sometimes we have taken a book like Rohinton Mistry’s A fine balance and used a longer rehearsal process to explore how the adaptation with be crafted from improvisation with actors and exploring the physical language and imagery of the piece.

 

What do you feel the role of the audience is, in terms of making the meaning of your work?  

The audience is a vital part of giving ‘meaning’ to the work and at different times have played a pivotal role. Much of my work has come from researching communities; for instance Strictly dandia which was about the Gujarati community and it was very important to me that the community feels that a mirror has been held to them to enable themselves to be reflected in all their complexity and that they feel an ownership to the work. It was deeply important to me that the family who My Name is… is about similarly felt that their story had been given a deeper meaning that rang true to them and also was offered to wider audiences to promote understanding and dialogue.