Journey To The West

Tara Arts
by Ajay Pamneja (June 2002)

This stage presentation was not the Chinese folklore about the Monkey's journeys and the inventions which got the Gods and demons struggling to establish supremacy but about the migration of people from India to Africa to The West (mainly UK). Equally as colourful and gripping, though. This piece of theatre was a feast for the eyes. 

The play can only be enjoyed if you watch all three parts completing the Trilogy of the journeys made. The first part is mainly educational and very important because it has now given me a good understanding of why all the migration started in the late 19th century. The very opportunist and astute British utilised the vast manpower available and exploited the exploratory and enterprising nature of the people of North and Western India to offer them work in Africa when the crops were failing and droughts were regular. The story of a Punjabi (Fateh Chand), a Gujarati (Mehta Ji) and others have been very well 'constructed'/told around the events of the time. The costumes and the lighting do take the credit for making the first part of the trilogy so interesting and enjoyable. The struggles of the travellers, their families in India, their enterprise to settle down in the new lands are very aptly conveyed by the perfect storytelling techniques with the use of very few props. The sounds of the stone grind-mill add to the creation of the near perfect atmosphere. 

Part II tells the story of the forced migration of these enterprising settlers in the African cities of Nairobi and around the lush green parts of Lake Victoria. Their migration to the UK and the struggles in settling into a yet another very different culture and amongst people who did not want them there. Again the utilisation of the sountracks from that era created a wonderful atmosphere to understand the true story of the New Immigrants. This is the part of the trilogy I missed, but was told by many in the audience that this was the best part (always happens to me!). Lots of people in the audience could relate to that period as it was 'them' whose story was being told. 

The third part was set more in the second generation Asians who were growing up in Britain in the 80s and 90s. Suddenly the Asians were splitting up into groups of Punjabis, Gujaratis, Muslims and many more. The struggles in Africa which had united all the immigrants were replaced by the affluence and success which led to classes, groups and splitting - once again of the Asians. The story of the youngsters is again interspersed with some Bhangra and music of the 80s to build the storyline. The identity crisis suffered by an offspring of an inter-caste marriage (which had become very acceptable in the African Asians!) is very well projected. The suffering of the females in this family structure is also conveyed through very strong undertones in the storyline. The statement by one of the characters in this part so truly summarized the Journeys- "There are three types of people in this world - Whites - who have all the land but are never happy, Blacks- who have no land but are always happy and the Browns - who are always travelling in search of more".

Tara Arts have definitely surpassed their previous productions in this run of the tour. Five years in the making and it shows! The fine cast of actors who can also double up as Circus artists/troupers and can so easily switch between different accents (from Indian to British to the Masai) are a definite credit to this tour of Journey To The West. The true power of Theatre Of Suggestion has been harnessed to tell an epic with very few props. The sounds created by the actors form the music and the melodious voice of Najma Akhtar provides the songs to this production. The only musical instrument - the traditional Indian Harmonium has been used very effectively. 

The only criticism is that watching one or two parts of the play does not tell the whole story and the temptation to watch all three if you have seen one is very strong. The pricing of the plays did not yield to this possibility as watching all three surpassed the costs of watching a Westend show. The language style used was very 'elitist' at times (especially in the Part III) and did not lend itself easily to the English of the commoners at times and that made me wonder if the script was written with only the beau monde audience in mind. Other than that this production was aesthetically pleasing, educationally - a milestone, technically brilliant and should be in some way made a part of the national syllabus for all schools.

To get a better understanding of creation of this piece of theatre click here.