South Asian stories on show
Organised by members of the Trikone social group for Sydney’s South Asian GLBTI community, In The Space Between is an intriguing mix of the traditional and the new.
Those wanting a Bollywood musical with all the bells and whistles won’t be disappointed, but the show also has, at its heart, a topic still taboo for much of South Asian culture: homosexuality.
Predominantly a fundraiser for Trikone, the show, which opens at the Cleveland Street Theatre on February 18, combines three intertwining stories penned by three different scriptwriters. Creative director Kunal Mirchandani is the man charged with the task of blending them into one seamless whole.
The stories cross time periods and continents, showing how life for gay South Asians has changed — and stayed the same — over the years.
“Throughout these vignettes, we’ve also incorporated a story from Hindu mythology to tie it all together,” Mirchandani told the Star Observer.
“We wanted to encompass issues that homosexual men of South Indian origin go through, while at the same time making something that’s quintessentially Indian — you’ve got the songs, the melodrama and the slapstick of Bollywood.”
The three stories detail gay men struggling against clearly drawn political, class and social lines. The last, set in present-day Sydney, is about an Indian man who expresses his identity by cross-dressing.
And in a new twist on an old theatrical tradition, all of the female and transgender parts in the show are played by male actors, with a mixture of seasoned and first-time cross-dressers in the various roles.
It’s a bold move in a play full of them, and Mirchandani acknowledged that while India is getting more progressive and liberal since the decriminalisation of homosexuality, he could foresee problems if the play was staged there.
“The mythological element is woven in as an explicit parallel to homosexuality. Putting a traditional Hindu story so close to homosexuality is potentially contentious,” he admitted.
Mirchandani estimated that the audience mix at previous Trikone shows sat at “around 70 percent Anglo, 30 percent South Asian”, and he hoped In The Space Between would have similar appeal for the wider queer community.
“Even though not everyone has seen an Indian film, they know the idea of Bollywood. Kitschy, flamboyant and over the top. It’s a night to leave all cynicism at the door; that’s what Bollywood is all about.”
info: In The Space Between plays at the Cleveland Street Theatre from February 18-20, 25-27. Visit www.trikone.org.au
