Kiss the Fish
Puppetry, masks, monkeys, music and Freddy Mercury are all rolled into one in this surprising and original production by the Indian Ink Theatre Company.
Overview
With monkeys climbing across the audience, the opening of Kiss the Fish provides a snapshot of things to come – a wild creative energy that denies audience passivity and instead encourages laughter and engagement as frozen-faced characters come to life. From the production company that brought you masterpieces including Krishnan’s Dairy and Candlestickmaker, Kiss the Fish is a theatrical eruption of colour, comedy and creativity.
Kiss the Fish presents a moral dilemma as Freddy Mercury wannabe/lookalike Sidu is confronted with an opportunity to get rich quick, however the opportunity comes at the price of his family’s land and previous livelihood. Sidu must choose between breaking free from the poverty within which he and his family exist, or to uphold his traditions and identity. He also falls in love. There’s a lot going on.
Despite their fixed nature, the Balinese masks (worn to depict different characters) carved by Wayan Tanguuh are beautifully expressive, perfectly characterising each individual. Free flowing body movement, the music of David Ward, and a brightly coloured set export the audience to a generic exotic island somewhere in Asia. Despite the foreign setting, the themes explored are universal and provide a point of identification for even the most diverse audience. The play touches on poverty, family feuds and the dangers of attraction to new and exciting developments. But it’s not heavy; that’s just the way life is. In fact, it’s pretty amusing.
Writer and performer Jacob Rajan absolutely steals the show; his performances of five different characters so convincing it’s hard to believe the same actor could play them all. Rajan is joined on stage by Nisha Madhan (perhaps better known as Shanti from Shortland Street), stand-up comedian James Roque, Julia Croft (from Agent Anna) and, in an unconventional twist, award-winning musician David Ward, who is frequently incorporated in dialogue with the cast for comic effect. Special mention is owed to Madhan for her performance of Daisy; delightfully humourous and loveable with an alluring element of mystery. The cast is extremely talented – Croft bursts into song on more than one occasion, while the others frequently join Ward to play music.
Kiss the Fish is extremely well executed. The sheer fabric screens on stage allow for the smoothest of transitions and somehow allow the interior of a home to convert to a sandy beach within mere seconds. The narrative development and intensity remains something of a plateau – all the major action scenes occur off stage and are recounted afterwards. But with such a high quality performance and a few songs and dirty jokes that had even the most mature members of the audience laughing this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
It’s a beautiful show – just watch out for the monkeys.
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