Los Angeles Theater Review: A WIDOW OF NO IMPORTANCE (East West Players)

Post image for Los Angeles Theater Review: A WIDOW OF NO IMPORTANCE (East West Players)

by Kat Michels on September 23, 2011

in Theater-Los Angeles

IDENTITY CRISIS

In a Mumbai flat, Deepa Kirpalani (Lina Patel), who lost her husband two years earlier, lives under the strict Hindu rules of widowhood. She never leaves her home, wears all white, goes without jewelry or make-up, and spends her days praying for moksha – liberation from the endless cycle of death and rebirth.

Her one remaining goal in life, despite the fact that she is still relatively young, is to see her daughter married to a good man. However, her daughter (Puja Mohindra) wants no part of an arranged marriage, preferring to choose her own mate – and not anytime in the near future.

A Widow of No Importance by Shane Sakhrani – directed by Shaheen Vaaz - East West Players – with Lina Patel – Los Angeles Theater Review by Kat Michels

Deepa’s quest leads her to unexpectedly find love herself, to break the bonds of custom, and just possibly to begin living as a woman instead of a widow. Unfortunately, the object of her affection is a young man (Sunil Malhotra) who not only lives next door, but had been her son’s childhood friend. The utter impossibility of the situation forces Deepa to choose between her own happiness and that of her children.

A Widow of No Importance by Shane Sakhrani – directed by Shaheen Vaaz - East West Players – with Lina Patel – Los Angeles Theater Review by Kat Michels

A Widow of No Importance, directed by Shaheen Vaaz, is a potentially fascinating glimpse into modern Indian and Hindu culture where old world customs often war with modern Westernized ideas, but this production feels like an American sitcom that just happens to take place in Mumbai.

In fact, Widow isn’t quite sure what it wants to be. It isn’t classic farce, yet has many farcical elements, such as the daughter hefting a microwave over her head as a defense against an intruder – ignoring the fact that it’s rather too heavy (and doesn’t even seem to have a power cord). The bit might work on TV or in a Wile E. Coyote cartoon, but here it feels forced and inorganic.

A Widow of No Importance by Shane Sakhrani – directed by Shaheen Vaaz - East West Players – with Lina Patel – Los Angeles Theater Review by Kat Michels

So why is this on stage instead of the tube? Author Shane Sakhrani fills his script with lines custom made for a laugh track (“I’m going to die and come back as a dung beetle”) and constructs his situations in such a way that the audience knows exactly what is going to happen (and applauds when it does). The ensemble is not to blame; the actors perform their roles beautifully, but these are caricatures, Indian versions of American stock characters. For the young neighbor boy, simply substitute Ross from Friends and you’d be none the worse for wear.

A Widow of No Importance by Shane Sakhrani – directed by Shaheen Vaaz - East West Players – with Lina Patel – Los Angeles Theater Review by Kat Michels

Bollywood may often seem beholden to American cultural iconography, but its films are always Indian at heart. Here, a quintessentially CBS sitcom is tarted up with Vishnu and saris and so utterly steeped in American clichés that the soundtrack at the romantic climax comes from old musical theater. There isn’t a raga within earshot. It’s Television City imitating Bollywood imitating Hollywood. Though the play pretends to study cultural confusion, and though you may laugh at Deepa’s accidentally renting Harold and Maude instead of Harold and Kumar, you quickly realize that what you’ve just seen isn’t terribly different from an 80’s sitcom wherein a visiting aunt misreads the title and slips a porn film into the VCR. It’s throwaway humor, old hat and too facile by half. Not that we aren’t more and more immersed in sitcom theater these days; but if you’re expecting an immersion into Indian culture and lifestyle, you’ll be sadly disappointed.

A Widow of No Importance by Shane Sakhrani – directed by Shaheen Vaaz - East West Players – with Lina Patel – Los Angeles Theater Review by Kat Michels

photos by Michael Lamont

A Widow of No Importance
East West Players
David Henry Hwang Theater, 120 Judge John Aiso St
ends on October 9, 2011
for tickets, call 213.625.7000 visit East West Players

Leave a Comment