Stage Review: Thrice (Three Solo Performances from Indian Women) (Pratidhwani)
Stage Review - Thrice - closing October 1, 2023
Presented By: Pratidhwani (Reviewed: Thursday, September 28, 2023)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
Pratidhwani, the Seattle-based arts organization with an aim to give South Asian art and artists more exposure and opportunity in the region, is celebrating its 20th Anniversary, and even though Artistic Director Agastya Kohli is being generally low key about the milestone, it is quite an achievement.. The group promotes not just drama, but South Asian created and performed dance and music as well. Last season’s Refugees in the Garden City garnered a number of Heilman & Haver nominations, and their latest production shows that the troupe has emerged from the darkness of the Covid pandemic stronger than ever. Thrice: Three Solo Performances by Indian Women runs onstage at Taproot Theatre’s Isaac Studio through October 1, and is just that, three short form, one-woman shows performed by the artists who created them. While they are three distinct stories, the thread that connects them all is the search for place and identity, something that resonates in a world where we all, at one time or another, have searched for our own sense of belonging.
Each of the stories, despite their common underlying theme, are told in different and unique ways. A Labyrinth and its Myriad Mirages, written and performed by Divya Rajan is perhaps the most avant garde of the performances, and it’s also the more difficult of the three, and the one I struggled with the most. Its themes of time gained and lost through the proverbial rabbit hole of social media, and the struggle for balance between sharing and leaving oneself open are clear, but the presentation itself feels slow and deliberate, and a bit disengaging. It never really grabs the audience and brings them in, rather it leaves them continually analyzing the play and searching for the message, asking throughout, “Is this what she’s trying to say?” Divya’s performances are known for breaking the fourth wall, but even this isn’t clear here, the audience constantly left wondering whether they are being addressed or if she is reaching out to an implied character instead. All of this leaves a taste of awkwardness in the collective mouths of those in attendance.
The second performance, Aarti Tiwari’s Flow, Swim, Float?! is everything that A Labyrinth and its Myriad Images isn’t. Aarti’s character is energetic and relatable, a social media influencer in search of a true relationship rather than the artificial ones she’s found through her online presence and persona. Caught up in the trappings of “likes” and “subscribes”, Aarti’s shallow online personality contrasts with her underlying complexities as a human who feels like she needs something real. This is such a relatable issue in today’s largely digital society, where we’re all connected and at the same time very alone. Aarti just wants something authentic. The story is told creatively as well, and with good pace. Aarti does a wonderful job in presenting a layered character that is likable, engaging, and sympathetic, and the manner in which she switches moods is impeccable. It’s that moment when you spend time on the phone pretending to be engaged, hang up and then relax your face into your actual mood. Aarti has mastered this and so much more, and has discovered how to tell a relevant story in an accessible way.
Closing out the evening is The Elephant in the Room, written and performed by Priyanka Shetty. This one is a bit longer than the others, clocking in at about an hour, so it could really stand on its own, but not just because of the timing. It is a well done and seemingly autobiographical piece, told with heart and humor, and beautifully delivered. Priyanka walks the audience through her upbringing in India, her decision to leave the software development company she worked for to pursue a career in the arts, and up to literally the moment we see her on stage. It’s the slightest bit meta and the largest bit superb. The storytelling is done craftily, weaving back and forth through the past and the present, with plenty of insight into her conflict between her Indian heritage and the requirements, it seems, of being an American. There’s so much humor in the early part of the presentation, the thought crossed my mind that Priyanka could be an excellent stand-up comic. But then it seems, as soon as she lifts the audience with humor, she blindsides it with a truth so real that it brings the house to utter silence. It’s this moment that makes this play stand out, a moment that has Priyanka questioning her true identity. How much of her is Indian, how much of her has been molded through the impacts of colonialism, and how much has she changed to acquiesce the demands of the American social structure and its inherent mistrust of anyone new or different? It’s this battle that plays out for the rest of the program, and its done with an underlying seriousness that contrasts her humor masterfully.
Pratidhwani has curated and compiled three distinct and unique plays that deal with the underlying struggles of people, specifically Indian women, to find their place and their identity. The production as a whole starts slowly but builds as each new show takes the stage, and ends with a standout performance that fits well within the overall context of the program but could easily stand out on its own against any other full length show that I’ve seen. It’s well worth putting the time in early on to get to the final payoff.
Thrice: Three Solo Performances by Indian Women runs onstage at Taproot Theatre’s Isaac Studio through October 1. For more information about Pratidhwani, this show, and to get tickets, visit https://www.pratidhwani.org/.