Loo habits make for amusing play

BY MICHAEL FIELD

A curious business about sitting or squatting upon the toilet has turned into a sell out play for an Auckland Indian theatre group.

Khoj - The Search, by Prayas, doesn't exactly dwell on the issue, but uses it as a metaphor for the Indian migrant experience in New Zealand.

Its main character, Jamshed (played by Rahul Gandhi), leaves Mumbai to settle in New Zealand and finds it a struggle at work and home. His parents in India worry about him and recall his promise that if he cannot cope in the new land, he will return home.

Getting his body used to the idea of sitting on a toilet rather than squatting ends up being the crucial issue for Jamshed.

Co-writer and assistant director Sananda Chatterjee of Auckland said the basic migrant story drew a sympathetic reaction from audiences but it was the toilet side of thing that had attracted a lot of interest.

"There is definitely a buzz, and a few up-turned noses - but we knew that would happen," she said.

Toilet routines were important to everybody.

"“What I don't get though, is why people have trouble talking about it?

"It's bloody funny to discuss toilet habits. Or maybe it's just Indian!"

That said, the play is light hearted and it's about adaptation.

"It's a question of trying to fit in for Jamshed. Whether it's truly a physiological problem or just a psychological one is up to the audience's interpretation.

"This is just our way of flushing the seriousness out."

Prayas has performed three other plays and Chatterjee said Khoj - The Search was very different.

"The hard part, I think, was to pick what to leave in and what to take out."

Writing their own play, rather than doing some other work, had been good for the group.

"It's a definite confidence booster to see five sold out shows."

Khoj - The Search is directed by Manukau’s Amit Ohdedar who was inspired by author Rohinton Mistry, the Mumbai writer whose work, A Fine Balance, is a long standing best-seller in New Zealand. Prayas – an Indian group dedicated to reaching out to the New Zealand community with art – ran a series of workshops with the community to collect migrant experiences.

Many of them feature in the play.

"“The protagonist is Indian, his point of view is that of an Indian," says Chatterjee.

"It's like when a fresh Indian lands in New Zealand, they are always converting dollar into rupees to check if they're getting ripped off (after six years my parents still do).

"It's the same thing- kaleidoscope only has different shades of your Indianness, as does the story."

Khoj - The Search will be staged at the Auckland Performing Arts Centre in Western Springs from August 27 to 30. For more information visit www.prayas.co.nz or www.tapac.co.nz.

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