Jacob Rajan spins another remarakble tale

The Guru of Chai
Indian Ink Productions
Maidment Theatre
Until July 16th

Jacob Rajan is an amazing actor and the Guru of Chai is an amazing play

For fifteen years he has been presenting us with engaging stories with a hint of India. Over that time he has moved his characters from the New Zealand corner dairy to the Streets of Bangalore and Delhi.

Even though the geography has changed, the stories still have universality about them with themes of love, tragedy, death and renewal.

The Guru of Chai is told mainly through the eyes of the tea seller Kutisar who encounters seven abandoned sisters in the Bangalore Central Railway Station. In order to survive they sing on the station platform but the local mafia in the form of Thumby and the mysterious Fakir demand protection money.

The local policeman, officer Punchkin, intervenes and becomes their protector with a particular concern for Balna.

Six of the seven sisters marry but Balna, having rejected Punchkin marries the poet Imran who later disappears, presumed killed. Balna now pregnant has to flee Bangalore and with the help of Punchkin, who has been rising through the ranks, starts a new life.

The story come to a head several years later when the young son, Imran who, after being brought up by his six aunts meets with Kutisar in his search for his mother in order to find out about the tragic events around the time of his birth , a quest which leads to further tragic events.

Jacob Rajan plays all the half dozen roles, but not has he has previously done by using masks. Now he conveys the demeanor and emotions of the characters by subtle nuances of the body generally but particularly his expressive face and hands. He also manages to capture the essence of the characters through the use of different voices. It is his combination of acting and mime skills which helps him carry off the task with a performance full of comedy, drama, homespun philosophy and great poignancy.

He sketches in a portrait of India’s underclass and some of the social issues such as the place of women, the ever-present gods who inform and dominate all stages of life as well the weaknesses, joys and sorrows of everyday life such as Kutisar’s fascination with the banned practice of cock-fighting.

He is supported by David Ward who plays Dave, a mute musician, who contributes with a brilliant sound landscape as well as providing the back up on a couple of songs of the street..

He cleverly sets the evening up as a play within a play which he has been instructed to perform by the theatre management to entertain and enlighten the audience whose lives are empty and lonely.

He also uses the audience as one of his many props, engaging with individuals – don’t sit in the front row as well as the wider audience in an extended version of a Monty Python parrot joke.

The Guru of Chai also owes much to co-writer and director Justin Lewis as well as dramaturge Murray Edmond and the charming, sets and costumes designed by John Verryt.