About | Preview by Elaine Joy Carlin

Kahani—A Social Justice Story

By Elaine Joy Carlin

  

KALAMAZOO, MI—Seventh week has finally arrived at Kalamazoo College and for the members of this year’s spring theater production, Kahani, seventh week is their chance to finally display their creation in front of an audience. With showings in the Balch Playhouse, Thursday through Sunday, and pay-what-you-can entry for students, there are plenty of opportunities to attend.

The performances are sure to inspire engaging thoughts and dialogues about Kahani’s social justice themes. They will also provide a dramatic release for its cast and crew—the light at the end of a tunnel that has been filled with non-stop rehearsals and heaps of creative energy this spring quarter.

Kahani, the title of the play, is not a character. Instead, it is one thread that makes up the fabric of a universal and fundamental human need—story telling. Kahani, in the Hindi language, is the word for story. This particular story will explore the implicit power and hierarchical structures within the family and society in the world of the play which is located in India.

Kahani is a devised play, loosely based on Mai, a novel by Geetanjali Shree who is a Hindi novelist and short story writer who lives and works in India. Devised theatre, also known as collaborative creation, is a form of theatre where the script originates not from a writer or writers, but from the collaborative work of the director and the ensemble. The work began somewhat improvisationally and Kahani has now evolved into a fixed form for its performances later this week.

The student ensemble includes senior Sam Bertken, juniors Kat Barrett (Stage Manager), Abby Wood (Assistant Stage Manager) and Alden Phillips, sophomore Fiona Carey, and first-years Jane Huffman, Samantha Jolly, McKenna Kring, Anya Opshinsky, Cameron Schneberger, & Joseph Westerfield.

Early in third week when Kahani was still in its development this group of actors began rehearsal with a warm-up and character work. As the actors responded to the imagined circumstances of the stage, picking apples, pressing dough, bathing, guest director, Irfana Majumdar, instructed the cast, “Don’t try to get back to your old characters, new characters are fine.” While the script was being devised every aspect of the play was up in the air including which character each member of the cast would choose to portray during rehearsals.

One major social justice issue the play wrestles with is gender roles and relations in Indian society, specifically those revolving around a North Indian middle class family whose matriarch is named Mai. Much of the play involves the different character’s perspectives and relations to Mai, a figure head for her family. As old Bollywood music fills the rehearsal space with a song by Pakeezah, the cast makes group decisions about dialogue and scene. Kat Barrett, stage manager for Kahani said of the ensemble, “They are excellent to work with; everyone works well and is respectful to the process.”

Kahani, a play that because of its devised nature is at times hard to explain, is sure to be an enlightening theatre-going adventure for anyone planning to attend this weekend’s performances. And for the ensemble this is just the first step of the adventure before the they take Kahani to India this summer—you don’t want to miss this dramatic event!