Guru Of Chai

Indian Ink are back in town with a new production at the Hannah Playhouse, Guru Of Chai. As it’s only on for a short run (1^st – 11^th August) I’d booked tickets for the Sunday matinee when they were first released, for fear of missing out. This was months ago.

At a much later date, Hutt Valley Orchestra decided that their next concert would be on the same day, at the same time. Nicola therefore missed out, as she is the mainstay of their viola section. I went instead with Elizabeth, and caught the bus into town as Nicola had the car. We arrived in plenty of time and took our seats in the theatre. The Hannah Playhouse, formerly home to Downstage Theatre Company, is now a tragically underused resource after Downstage went bust in 2013. It’s now owned by Wellington City Council, but they don’t do much with it.

Guru Of Chai is an older work from Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis, the creative team behind Indian Ink, who have been responsible for such shows as Dirty Work, Paradise, or The Impermanence of Ice Cream, Mrs Krishnan’s Party, and The Pickle King, and all of which I’ve seen over the years. In this revival, Jacob plays all the characters, to the musical accompaniment provided by Adam Ogle on guitar and special effects.

The main character, Kuitsar, has a chai stand in the main railway station of Bangalore. There he meets seven sisters, abandoned by their father, who sing at his stand and earn more money than he does selling chai. They are menaced by Thumby (he has no thumbs), a henchman of the local crime lord, The Fakir, but are rescued by Officer Punchkin, a policeman who oversees the station. Punchkin then assumes a protective role as the sisters get older, and all but one get married. The youngest, Balna, stays at the station, and eventually Punchkin asks her to marry him. Balna refuses, and Punchkin is promoted away from the station. Eventually Balna meets a poet, Imran, and they get married and have a son, Little Imran. The story is spread over several years, but always narrated with humour by Chai-Wallah Kuitsar. There’s also a parrot, and Jacob wears his customary prosthetic teeth throughout, to get into character. It is, as always, hilariously funny until you get to the ending, when it all takes a very dark twist and becomes quite serious. Indian Ink don’t always do happy endings.

Another stunning show from Indian Ink, if you get the chance go and see it! Given their now international standing, It will almost certainly get to Australia, and may make it to the UK as well.