With Hedda Gabler in turn-of-the-century Kristiana (now Oslo), it’s her late father the general’s dueling pistols that keeps the audience on tenterhooks. With Kerala-born Mrs. Krishnan at her convenience store in present-day New Zealand, it’s the tin where she keeps the ashes of her husband. To the widow’s surprise and initial dismay, her 20-something lodger and dogsbody James has invited the public into her storeroom to celebrate the Hindu harvest festival Onam, described as “like Christmas and Easter and Diwali all rolled into one.” The “guests” at Mrs. Krishnan’s Party get to slice onions and so on as the hostess wrassles up a fragrant dhal of stewed lentils—and can sample it when the show is over. The script, by Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis, is crafted with skill, expertly conveying their ethos of “the serious laugh,” whereby wisdom of the ages lands with zany zest. The Auckland-based theater company Indian Ink, which tours not only Aotearoa (as the Maori call their homeland) but also the wide world beyond, was barnstorming in the U.S. when the pandemic shut them down, Happily, they’re back now, with the original cast intact. Kalyani Nagarajan plays Mrs. Krishnan, still homesick for the beloved India she never expects to see again. Justin Te Honihana Pokaihau Rogers is James, who is foundering at university but catching on as a fizzy DJ at parties. Not so long ago, Nagarajan and Rogers were classmates in drama school—which could account for their uncanny rapport, also with spectators willing to play along. —Matthew Gurewitsch
The Arts Intel Report
Mrs. Krishnan's Party
When
Apr 2–6, 2025
Where
Robert and Margarit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616