The world rejoices as Barack Obama wins the US presidential election again. In the euphoria of the celebrations Bombay theatre makes a small footnote. This weekend the final curtain is drawn on a play that lampooned his predecessor, George W. Bush.
While most art is eternal, plays are required to be “relevant” in order to be continually performed. There are numerous plays rooted in very specific social and political milieus that often run the risk of becoming ‘stale’.
This could happen with staging technique, narrative structure and most damagingly, with plot. In this case, our very own beloved, The President is Coming. The play was a bit of a phenomenon, no one knew what to make of it. Is it a bold satire, mad-cap comedy or banal slapstick? But when the play opened in 2007, it was a massive hit. Every time we think we have exhausted the audience, houses still go full. It made a group of young actors very popular, and writer Anuvab Pal a household name. So successful was the play that is spawned not only a movie but also a book!
The play revolves around six Indians who are determined to be selected to shake hands with George W. Bush as the US President makes his official trip to India. Had Mr Romney won, we could perhaps have comfortably replaced Mr Bush with him, but Mr Obama does not give us as much fodder for satire.
This was recently made even more apparent to us, when we played at a college in Mumbai. While the audience laughed and enjoyed the play immensely, all the Bush references were met with… silence.
The average age in the audience was 20; which means they were not politically aware when Mr Bush was in power. It’s the same reason why comics make more Mamata jokes now, than Laloo Prasad jokes. It’s not to say the play can’t live on. A few text-tweaks here and cast changes there and we would be happy to challenge the juggernauts like Vagina Monologues and Class of ’84. But it is a play about young India and it’s better to put the production to bed, before the cast start representing OLD India.
Yet, the closing of a play is always an emotional moment. In theatre you adopt families on each production you work on. Actors, crew, designers all become part of one large commune. Bread is broken, lives are measured, memories and occasions are shared. Regular time lines are replaced with show dates. May 2010 is remembered as “the tour to Muscat”, December 2009 is referred to as “President in Bangalore”, etc. So it’s always a little sad when a show is about to close. A lot changes in five years. The actors (Namit Das, Vivek Gomber, Anand Tiwari, Satchit Puranik, Shivani Tanksale, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Choiti Ghosh, etc.) were all among the fresh new breed of talent the city had to offer and are now part of the establishment; no longer the young ‘uns dying for a role.
So if you want to say goodbye to Mr Bush, or celebrate for Mr Obama, come to the FINAL show of The President is Coming, November 11, 2012, 7pm, St. Andrew’s Auditorium, Mumbai.
Perhaps if the play could speak it would quote Sinatra:
And now, the end is hereAnd so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I travelled each and ev’ry highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way.