Overview
Concrete Playground has one double pass to give away to the September 18 show. Email us at auckland@concreteplayground.co.nz with the header 'Kiss the Fish' and your name and email address to be in to win.
The much anticipated new production from Indian Ink, Kiss the Fish, is a kaleidoscope of colourful characters, artful storytelling and acute observations of the way we are. Puppetry, masks, monkeys, music and Freddy Mercury are all rolled into one in this surprising and original production.
Wayward son (and Freddy Mercury wannabe) Sidu is having a hard time adjusting to village life again after a failed attempt to make it in the big city. Karukam Island is the tropical paradise of everyone's dreams but the simple life of a rice farmer is not exactly what Sidu has in mind. Hope appears on the horizon when a wealthy developer arrives to build a new eco resort on the island, but the promise of life-changing riches has every villager vying for their slice of the dream. Sidu finds himself with the fate of the island in his hands and is faced with a series of humourous and humbling challenges in his quest to be the best man he can.
Kiss the Fish is a riotous rollercoaster ride, with unexpected twists at every turn. The Balinese comic masks are wonderfully expressive and capture perfectly the exaggerated and flawed nature of the characters. Skilfully woven together under the guise of a simple folk tale are true stories and stereotypes which make pointed comments on culture and society.
Award-winning musician David Ward is joined by a cast of multi-talented performers, who switch between roles with the fluidity of water. Musicians, monkeys and eleven characters between them, you’d swear the cast was more than four.
Rajan makes playing five different characters seem like a walk in the park, each as clearly defined and believable as the next. Julia Croft nails her role as a narcissistic American tourist and shows the range of her talents with great puppetry skills and a fine singing voice. Nisha Madhan elegantly captures the anguish of a woman torn between following her head or her heart while James Roque is utterly convincing in his portrayal of the well-meaning and loveable Sidu.
Kiss the Fish is colourful, fun and entertaining. It’s a clever and witty blend of physical theatre, traditional theatre, culture and contemporary themes. It has everything - comedy, tragedy, romance and drama; love triangles, con artists and moral lessons. Even the odd dirty joke.
“Kiss the fish you have, not the one that got away.”
Old Indian Proverb