The Candlestickmaker
is the story of a young New Zealander who returns to his family home
in India. The tone of the production is set right from the very beginning,
thanks to the colourful mask and headgear (adorned with peacock feathers)
and the traditional sandy-brown collarless shirt which lead actor Jacob
Rajan wears in the promotion stills. I went into the theatre expecting
a production simmering in a homebrewed stock of folklore and culture
and flavoured strongly with an array of spicy ethnic arts. I was not
surprised therefore to see the stage simply laid out with ropes and
rattan and pulleys and wheels. Neither was I surprised when Rajan, puppeteer
Kate Parker and musician David Ward began with a song (backed only by
handclaps and a simple string instrument) which was in a tongue I did
not recognise but which resonated with the rich taste of history and
heritage.
I settled in and got comfortable as Rajan began his journey as a young
Indian science student travelling to India where he is reunited with
his simple-minded uncle who dreams of publishing his thesis and achieving
fame at last and the 300 year-old cook who pines for the lost love kept
from her by a cruel curse and encounters - why not? - a magic
duck. The story (and its theme about the search for happiness) was simple
enough but as it progressed I found myself as engrossed in its twists
and turns as in the many visual treats that Rajan, Parker and director
Justin Lewis (who wrote the script with Rajan) employed to actualise
the magic always inherent in such stories steeped in ethnic tradition
onto the stage itself.
I appreciated Parker's skilful manipulations to bring the puppet
of the magic duck to life and also Lewis' texturing of the drama
with rich visual gags (I will not be able to look at the slow-motion
fight sequences in The Matrix in the same way again) and corny
one-liners but it was Rajan's central performance as the student,
the uncle and the cook which truly lifted The Candlestickmaker
from good to great. Heck, he could probably have played the duck as
well!
One could only sit back and be in awe of Rajan's incredible performance
which showcased the actor's craft and also his heart. Not only
was he able to transform his voice and body to take on the different
characters (with the help of deft mask changes) in a seemingly unending
series of quick changes, but he was also able to invest each with so
much personality that you were able to engage emotionally with all of
them. I surprised myself by how much I cared for the disappointed uncle
and lonely cook whose hopes were cruelly dashed by fate at the end of
the play. When watching productions in a similar vein, I had previously
often only been able to savour the visual feast without necessarily
being drawn into the drama of the characters' lives. Rajan, however,
did not allow anything to overshadow the heart at the core of his funny
yet sad characters. He gave them a weight to counterbalance the lightness
of the comedy and the visual theatricality around him. This is no easy
task when one is set, for example, against the imaginative use of the
aforementioned ropes and pulleys such that props and sets would swing
on and off stage as if conjured by a great God of Dreams. Still, Rajan
himself never swayed or wavered.
The production was by no means perfect. The Candlestickmaker did
go round in circles at some points, as many such stories do. I felt
that the script dragged a little in places and wondered why the makers
had not opted to go for a tighter script rather than stretch the simple
narrative across two hours. The fact remains, however, that this was
easily one of the better productions I have seen compared to what I
would consider similar fare such as Dancing
With Dragons, Wayang
Tempest, or even Furthest
North, Deepest South.
This was a show suitable for children but which never bored adults
either. The peals of laughter from the audience members (all adult)
around me throughout the performance serve as testimony to this. It
would take a hard man not to respond to the inspired imagination and
sheer playfulness at work here, Rajan and Lewis present Krishnan's
Dairy from the 9th to the 14th of May and, if The Candlestickmaker
is anything to go by, then I strongly encourage you to bring your
friends, family, children and magic duck to catch Krishnan's
Dairy as well.
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"It was Rajan's central performance as the student, the uncle
and the cook which truly lifted The Candlestickmaker from good
to great"
Credits
Playwright: Jacob Rajan, Justin Lewis
Director: Justin Lewis
Designer: John Verryt
Lighting Design: Paul O'Brien, Cathy Knowsley
Sound Design: Justin Lewis, Jacob Rajan, Craig Lee,
David Ward
Technical Management: Cathy Knowsley
Cast: Jacob Rajan, Kate Parker
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