With Mrs. Krishnan, it’s a different party every night
Part scripted, part improv and always a lot of fun
More than 20 years ago, Krishnan’s Dairy announced the arrival of a new theatre company in New Zealand. Now, Indian Ink is bringing a sort-of sequel to the beloved (at home, at least) production to Vancouver.
In Mrs. Krishnan’s Party, Kalyani Nagarajan plays Mrs. (Zina) Krishnan, a 50-something dairy (N.Z. parlance for “convenience store”) owner and matriarch of the Krishnan family. The play takes place two decades after the events of the earlier piece.
Nagarajan co-stars with Justin Rogers, who also co-wrote the play with director Justin Lewis. Rogers plays James, a Maori millennial.
“James is Mrs. Krishnan’s 20-year-old boarder,” Nagarajan said. “She’s helping him out while he’s going to university. She doesn’t really like him, to be honest.”
Despite age and cultural differences, both characters are at a stage in their lives where they’re wondering what comes next.
“It’s about change, and how it’s OK at any age to change,” the actress said. “The basis of the story is that in order for something to change and progress, maybe a dream has to die and you have to think of the new thing.”
Indian Ink celebrates Indian stories, Nagarajan says, but ensures they’re relatable to everyone.
“The base of it (the company) is Indian stories and myths and religions,” Nagarajan said. “But it’s a multi-faceted production company.”
The company was last in Vancouver in 2016 with The Elephant Wrestler, a play inspired by an Indian fairy tale.
Company co-founder Jacob Rajan is from Kerala, India, while Nagarajan’s family is from Chennai, which is further south.
“New Zealand is a really big multicultural hub,” Nagarajan said. “Indian cuisine is the biggest in Auckland compared to other cuisines. My parents emigrated 37 years ago, part of a big influx of people coming to New Zealand.”
The actress brings her Indian classical dance practice to Mrs. Krishnan’s party.
“There’s some intense dancing from this 53-year-old lady,” she said. “I’m 24, and it’s a big jump for me to play a woman who is not only older, but with the depth of being a widow and being a single mother to a 20-year-old boy. Bharatanatyam (a genre of Indian classical dance) helps me ground myself.
“But then there’s also a big mythical legend that runs through the story that takes us from the reality to the fantasy. We get to work on two different planes.
“So there’s a big dance toward the end that is fully Indian classical dance.”
That brings us to the play’s format — part scripted, part improvised, and all party, and one in which the audience is invited to participate. (The Cultch is offering different arrangements, from seats “at the dining table” to “cheeky seats” positioned at stage level.)
“I’d say it’s 60 per cent scripted, and 40 per cent improvised,” Nagarajan said. “It really depends on the night. We could go crazy with the improv on one night, and then make our way back to the script. But the script holds us together to get us through the narrative. It’s a big party and whatever the audience gives us we take and run with. It’s different every night.”
By the end of the performance, a community has formed, she says.
“A lot of theatre shows, you go, you have your glass of wine, you leave and you go to sleep. But for this one, people are hanging out for 30, 40 minutes later, hanging out, eating some beautiful food and having a good time.”
Asked if food is a part of every show, she pauses. “Hopefully. We’ve had some technical difficulties. But every show so far has had an element of food.”
We could go crazy with the improv on one night, and then make our way back to the script.”
Kalyani Nagarajan