Guru of Chai is making a comeback to Whangārei due to popular demand. Photo / Robert Catto
When esteemed New Zealand actor Jacob Rajan first donned a set of protruding teeth in a workshop 15 years ago, they not only transformed his face but his career.
His buck-tooth character was a hit in the internationally-acclaimed Guru of Chai, which premiered under his theatre company Indian Ink in 2010 and will be returning to Whangārei this weekend because of popular demand.
“Honestly, since I first put on those magic, hideous teeth in a workshop 15 years ago, I don’t think the character has ever left me,” Rajan says. “There’s an inner clown in all of us that is often repressed and only gets to come out when we’re in the right company, or drunk or both. In Guru, I found my clown.”
Described as outrageously funny and heartbreakingly beautiful, Guru of Chai is filled with romance, intrigue, betrayal, loss and humour. It centres around a poor tea seller who has his life changed forever when he comes across an abandoned girl at a railway station, who brings the place to a standstill with the beauty of her singing.
The production highlights the contradictions of modern India with its iPhones and ancient gods and, like most of Indian Ink’s plays, has an Indian-Western cross-cultural feel, reflecting Rajan’s upbringing.
Born to Indian parents but raised in New Zealand, he describes his childhood as a “whole big melting pot” absorbing a mix of British and American TV shows such as Cheers and Friends, along with British and American music.
“I was supposed to be a doctor because I was the son of Indian parents and was rail-roaded toward science,” he says.
Although he gained a university degree, he says he was a “terrible” science student and by then had discovered theatre so his worried parents bundled him off to teacher’s college. There, he could hone his artistic side into teaching musical instruments and painting.
Rajan describes himself as painfully shy as a child but it was his tutor’s encouragement to take part in a workshop in a half-mask that was his “eureka moment”.
“As soon as I put that mask on, the shy kid disappeared and I felt liberated, so that became my mission – to bring mask to the main stage.”
He subsequently became the first Indian graduate of Wellington’s national drama school, founded Indian Ink with Justin Lewis 30 years ago and, since then, has written 12 plays.
“My compass was always directing me toward the arts. By the time I wrote my first play, my parents were resigned to this path that I’d chosen and, funnily enough, it’s worked out, I provide for my family,” he says. “I love my culture and I draw from it and I proudly show that on the stage.”
Guru of Chai has been described as a true showcase of Rajan’s unparalleled talent as he stars as a buck-toothed Guru, dispensing dubious spiritual wisdom while channelling 17 characters, including a poet, policeman and seven sisters. Featuring just himself and composer David Ward, who performs the live soundtrack on stage, Guru of Chai was directed by Justin Lewis, who co-wrote the show with Rajan.
It went on to win NZ Play of the Year with Ward winning Composer of the Year and Rajan taking out Actor of the Year. It was then picked up by an American agent, which “opened up America for us and became our big break”.
The production, which draws from a classic Indian fairy tale, blending Indian storytelling with Western theatrics, has since toured extensively, including to the US, Canada, India and Australia.
Rajan explains the return of Guru of Chai has come about because Indian Ink performed a sequel to the show called Paradise or the Impermanence of Ice Cream, which featured the same character but a different story.
“By the time we rolled that one out, there was a 10-year gap between the two and people had seen the second one but they hadn’t seen the first one.”
Rajan believes, unlike television, theatre encourages the audience to use their imaginations.
“I think theatre has its own magic source which is the imagination of the audience. The audience are being asked to imagine and think bigger than reality, the mask is larger than life so it’s an invitation for the audience to connect with a child-like sense of play. Their imaginative power enables me to transport them to India. I’m just one guy but you will see an entire range of characters.
“There is a craft with being able to connect with the audience. It becomes a real communal act that’s something you can’t do with Netflix where you’re just a voyeur but, with theatre, you’re sharing the air and it’s far more nourishing. You feel like you’ve had a real experience and that’s what we intend to do.
“It will take away everything that’s wrong with your life for one and a half hours.”
Guru of Chai will be at Forum North on July 26 and 27. Tickets from Eventfinda.