A review of Kultar’s Mime

Demitra Alexandria - a 22 year-old Greek Australian actress, singer and writer - reviews KULTAR'S MIME show in MALACCA, Malaysia.

By Asia Samachar -

May 22, 2016

3958

| Review | Malacca, Malaysia | 22 May 2016 | Asia Samachar |

The Kultar's Mime team at the Q&A after their show in Malacca, Malaysia on 22 May 2016 - PHOTO / SAHEB SINGH — The Kultar’s Mime team at the Q&A after their show in Malacca, Malaysia on 22 May 2016 – PHOTO / SAHEB SINGH

By Demitra Alexandria

“When I walk the streets of Delhi today

I still see blood mixed with the dust

Each silent stone does seem to say

Scream out aloud you must you must

Relive those terrible days of fear

Faces in the crowd seem to leer

Blood soaked earth it speaks to me

Are you so blind you cannot see?”

-Excerpted from ‘Kultar’s Mime’.

Sitting in the remarkably beautiful Heng Ann Association Hall in the Malaysian city of Melaka, waiting for the play ‘Kultar’s Mime’ to start, is an enthralling experience even before the play begins. The audience, in small groups, is brought into the space with an ‘art gallery like’ tour of the set, a remarkably effective technique in breaking the wall between the performer the audience, creating an intimate connection with the story for the audience.

The set is simple and beautiful, made mainly out of 8 vibrant paintings lined up along the back length of the stage. The paintings, specially commissioned for the show, depict elaborate scenes adorned with feelings of beauty, fear, pain that we later connect to the play’s stories. A delicate watercolour of a Banyan tree, caught my eye in particular.

The play, written entirely in verse, tells the story of a group of American artists memorializing the suffering of their people by honouring the suffering of someone else, specifically the children of Delhi in the 1984 pogrom. The play quickly becomes a play within a play as the cast transports the audience into the lives of four Delhi children. Surrounded by the sparkling colours of the hall and the audience’s ornate dress, I was easily transported into the world of the play within the play.

Director Mehr Kaur is as vivid in movement as writer Sarbpreet Singh is with poetic language. The cast relies on body language and repetitive gesture as much as the text to bring the characters to life. What make this production most effective is the cast’s committed passion to the play and the narrative. It is clear that the actors care about the stories they are telling. Their commitment to both maintaining the integrity of the playwright’s poetic language and the director’s visual interpretation of the language is admirable. Even a non-English speaker would be entranced by this production. From top to bottom there is not a weak link in casting. The performance is sincere and raw from all cast members.

‘Kultar’s Mime’ was written roughly three years ago, based on a poem of the same name, written by Sarbpreet Singh roughly 25 years ago. The play broadens its universal appeal by cleverly incorporating extracts of H.N Bialik’s poem ‘The City of Slaughter’. This poem, about the crimes and suffering inflicted upon the residents of Kishinev, a Russian city, during the early 1900s, opens up the play to all the people of the world, reminding us of a message too often forgotten.

“Incorporating The City of Slaughter into the script makes the point that no matter who you are, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim or Christian, it is wrong to attack anyone because of their beliefs,” stated Sarbpreet Singh in the Q&A following the performance.

Yes these are the children of Tilakvihar

These are their stories of blood and gore

In the corners of Delhi near and far

Go and ask you’re sure to hear many more

Each of these children is a living shell

Each day each lives in his private hell

at did all of this roam free

Live under the leafy shade of the tree

That was planted deep by the Party’s Hand

How can they touch their faithful dogs

The Party machine’s most valuable cogs

Whose writ does run throughout the land

You may plead for justice till you die

There’s none to heed your desperate cry

-Excerpted from ‘Kultar’s Mine’.

Arguably, one of the most interesting parts of the production is the Q&A session with the cast and writer following the play. Cast member Rose Fieschko commented during the session: “The characters became alive for us when we started meeting survivors of 1984, so to me this is the most important part of the show.”

Cast member Ross Magnant, who has been with the show for two years, further commented: “We meet people touring who have been affected either directly or through family connections by these horrific events and are thankful that we are sharing this story, and that solidifies for me why I’m here performing this play.”

Kultar’s Mime will be performed four more times in Malaysia before the ensemble returns to the US. This show is a cultural must see, both for Malaysian Sikhs to connect with a painful chapter of their history and for non-Sikh theater lovers as well.

Cast: Ben Gutman, Rose Fieschko, Cassandra DeMarco, Sydney Grant, Ross Magnant

Directed by J. Mehr Kaur

Written by J.Mehr Kaur & Sarbpreet Singh

Stage Management: Geena Forristall

Demitra Alexandria is a driven and multi-talented 22 year old Greek Australian actress, singer and writer. She is currently following the Kultar’s Mime tour of Malaysia.

Kultar’s Mime shows in Malaysia:

21 May (Sat) at Malacca

23 May (Mon) 7pm at PJ Civic Centre

25 May (Wed) 7pm at ACS School Ipoh

27 May (Fri) 7.30pm at Penang PAC

29 May (Sun) 6pm at Temple of Fine Arts, Kuala Lumpur

Book tickets here (http://www.kultarsmime.asia)

(TICKETS ALSO AVAILABLE AT VENUE)

Kultar’s Mime theatre workshops:

Two Theatre Workshops for young adults 16-30 year olds:

28 May (Sat), 9am – 12pm at Gallery 1, Penang

29 May (Sun), 9am – 12pm at Dewan Mengkula, Fakulti Bahasa dan Linguistik, Universiti Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur

[ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs in Southeast Asia and surrounding countries. We have a Facebook page, do give it a LIKE. Follow us on Twitter. Visit our website: www.asiasamachar.com]