Following three thrilling and instructive masterclasses in March, April and May, Rani Moorthy will lead our June masterclass, with a specific focus on her solo play, “Curry Tales”. This highly talented author-performer will introduce us to her intercultural way of creating a play.
Rani Moorthy has said: “I write from the perspective of the eternal migrant journey, from the minutiae of personal observation to epic, mythological narratives. In Curry Tales I drew inspiration from the idea that this quintessentially South Asian invention was actually a result of migrant journeys from all parts of the world and trade that allowed different ingredients to merge and mingle.”
The masterclass lasts 90 minutes, with a 20 minute Q&A.
Maximum of 20 participants.
CURRY TALES
Curry Tales is a one-woman ethno-comedy cook fest that explores and reveals cultural plurality, together with a few tasty recipes… Madras, Vindaloo or Jalfrezi? Choose, and you reveal more than your taste buds. Every curry has a story and in every cook is a character to unravel. Each recipe unveils a life and each life has its secrets. Curry is a generic word carrying a whole host of stereotypes. There is no real recipe for curry, it’s about balancing the ingredients, about compromise and compensating. The inaccuracy of recipe reveals cultural traits… peoples of the Subcontinent would never have invented the fragile soufflé. Curry Tales views this multi-cultural dish from the perspective of a whole gamut of human experiences exploring what divides and unites us as people. Amidst the bubbling vats and garam masala, discover the Bombay society hostess and the British Asian vegan, the Malaysian stallholder and Trinidadian goat curry expert. In the pleasure of the eating lie surprising secrets and unexpected dreams… Socialite Mrs Aluwallia has the most sought after dinner table in Mumbai. The Kashmiri chillies that her cross-dressing manservant puts in the curry pot unleash passions and gossip… |
A young British Asian, Kalvinder, is making curried eggs for her in-laws. She is a vegan. They’ll think it’s a disease. In the cooking, reality and illusion merge as she imagines her fears of infertility but also the possibility and impossibility of conception… Madam Wong makes Malaysian laksa… after all everyone deserves a laksa, especially in the middle of race riots. Is it Chinese or is it Malay or Indian? Is it yin or yang? Is it even a curry? “Come on-lah, don’t kill each other, just eat”… Rosemary Kempadoo is Trinidadian, Tamil and very bad. The heat of the tempering spices conjures up the fire of a lover’s betrayal. A hellish goat curry cooked by a woman scorned is literally food to die for… Kali is a Tamil street beggar who begs for the ingredients that goes into her pot. She depends on the generosity of strangers but they in turn learn from her what true giving really is. …All presided over by Anapurna, a transvestite cook who believes she is the Goddess of Food. Multi-armed and multi-tasking, blessing the good, killing demons and cooking the first ever curry. With this magic potion she will seduce the Lord of the Universe…or possibly someone in the audience. A culinary and psychological exploration, Curry Tales is an illuminating collaboration between the performer who cooks and audience who taste. The sharing of food and stories extends the idea of total theatre. Curry Tales premiered in The Edinburgh Festival Fringe and over 80 venues in the UK. Internationally, it has toured South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, USA and Singapore.
SOME PRESS REACTION Rarely have I seen such talent or such intimate contact with the pulse of this nation The Independant ****delicious, comic and powerfully moving The Times **** A rich evocative brew The Sunday Times Tour de force performance…an intelligent and meticulously executed piece of theatre Time Out This now is astonishing and Rani Moorthy is a force of nature The Princeton Packet, USA |
A BIONOTE
