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Indian Ink

Indian Ink is a 1995 play by Tom Stoppard based on his 1991 radio play In the Native State.

Indian Ink
Cover of the Faber edition
Written byTom Stoppard
Date premiered1995
Place premieredYvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford
Original languageEnglish
SubjectIndia, art, poetry
GenreDrama
SettingIndia in the 1930s; India and England in the 1980s

Productions edit

The stage version of Indian Ink had its first performance at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, and opened at the Aldwych Theatre, London, on February 27, 1995. The production was directed by Peter Wood and designed by Carl Toms. [1]

The play had its American premiere in 1999 at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco, California, directed by Carey Perloff (see 1999 in literature). The ACT production starred Jean Stapleton (Eleanor), Art Malik (Nirad), Susan Gibney (Flora), Firdous Bamji (Anish) and Ken Grantham (Eldon Pike).[2][3]

The play received its East Coast premiere in 2000 at the Studio Theatre in Washington, DC., in a production starring Isabel Keating as Flora Crewe, a performance for which she received the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Resident Play.

The play was also produced in a critically acclaimed production in Chicago at The Apple Tree Theatre in June 2002, directed by Mark Lococo and starred Susie McMonagle (Flora), Peggy Roeder (Eleanor), Anish Jethmalani (Nirad), Paul Slade Smith (Eldon Pike), and Parvesh Cheena (Dilip).

The play was produced Off-Off-Broadway at Walkerspace in August 2003, directed by Ashok Sinha with Lethia Nall (Flora), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Nirad) and Helen-Jean Arthur (Eleanor).[4]

The Roundabout Theatre Company produced Indian Ink Off-Broadway in September 2014 to November 30, 2014, at the Laura Pels Theatre. Directed by Carey Perloff, the cast featured Rosemary Harris as Eleanor Swan, Romola Garai as Flora and Firdous Bamji as Nirad.[5][6][7] The play was nominated for the 2015 Lucille Lortel Awards, Outstanding Costume Design (Candice Donnelly), Outstanding Revival,[8] and Firdous Bamji won an Obie Award for his performance.[9] New York Times critic, Ben Brantley, wrote that he should have been nominated for a Tony Award, but he was ineligible because the play was produced Off-Broadway.[10] The ACT presented the play again in January and February 2015, with Perloff directing and the cast featured Roberta Maxwell (Eleanor), Brenda Meaney (Flora), Firdous Bamji (Nirad) and Pej Vahdat (Anish).[11][12]

Casting edit

Art Malik has been closely associated with the play, taking the role of Nirad in the original London production and in the 1999 American premiere which took place at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Felicity Kendal originated the role of Flora, originally in the radio play and then on stage, which Irish actress Niamh Cusack played in London's Aldwych Theatre in the West End.

Synopsis edit

In 1930, the year of Gandhi's Salt March, British poet Flora Crewe travels to India for her health. Flora is a thoroughly modern girl who has modeled for Modigliani, hobnobbed with communists, and been accused of obscenity for the racy book A Nymph and Her Muse. In India her portrait is painted by the Indian artist Nirad while she fends off the attentions of a dashing but dimwitted scion of the British Raj. But her bravado hides the knowledge that she is severely ill with tuberculosis.

In the 1980s, American academic Eldon Pike seeks out Flora's younger sister Eleanor to discover the truth about the end of the poet's life — she died in India soon after meeting Nirad. Eleanor, who married an Englishman she met at Flora's grave and became a staunch Conservative, reveals little to the scholar, sending him off on a wild goose chase tracing Flora's path through India. But she is more welcoming to Nirad's son Anish, who also comes looking for answers. Eleanor shows Anish a painting by Nirad done partly in a classical Indian style, and partly in the style of Western realism. The painting's erotic symbolism convinces him that his father and Flora were lovers before she died.

Themes edit

Among the play's themes is the contrast of Indian and European styles of poetry and visual art. Nirad explains to Flora the classical Indian theory of nine rasas, which are tonal schemes uniting all forms of art. Each rasa is associated with a colour, a mood, and a musical scale. The play's title refers to Shringara, the rasa of erotic love, which is associated with an inky blue-black colour and the god Krishna, who is always painted with dusky blue skin. Flora is at first puzzled by this artistic tradition, but on falling in love with Nirad she realizes, "It is the colour he looked by moonlight."

The play shares with other Stoppard plays of the 90s the theme of nostalgia and romantic loss, with Flora as the lost beloved corresponding to Thomasina in Arcadia and Moses in The Invention of Love. And like those two plays, it cuts back and forth between characters in two time periods sharing the same set. Stoppard has given director Peter Wood partial credit for developing the structure of the play with its two intertwined storylines.[13]

Reception edit

Ben Brantley expressed a lukewarm view of Indian Ink, deeming it "enticing if overpacked". He praised Stoppard's language and found the dialogue witty, but argued that the work contains an overabundance of characters and that "all the mini-history lessons and intellectual name-dropping in Indian Ink keep us from latching on emotionally to the play’s central relationships."[14] The Indian theater director Gopal Gandhi wrote a moderately positive review in The Independent. Gandhi argued that Das had mastery of English geography and literature but expositions of the rasa and Hindu scripture that seemed "to come not from Stoppard but some teach yourself guide", and wrote in response to this, "Indians have for decades, if not a century or two, been able to relate to things British without, in the least, compromising their brand of Indianess. They need no atavistic reversals into 'themselves'. What is Stoppard trying to do in Indian Ink?" However, Gandhi also felt that "there was [Stoppard]'s bitter-sweet topping to enjoy, for the sadness it evoked, for the regrets it reminded me of", and recommended the play overall.[15] Matt Wolf of Variety criticized the play as "clunky" and "overwritten", and also stated that Flora Crewe is "crucially lacking in either a creative or erotic dimension, notwithstanding the fact that Flora’s principal topic seems to have been sex."[16]

Jesse Green stated in Vulture that although the various elements and time periods don't satisfactorily emulsify, "there's no denying the astonishing craft of the individual scenes". Green referred to the play as "second-tier Tom Stoppard but excellent by almost any other standard".[17] Elysa Gardner of USA Today also gave the play 3.5 out of 4 stars, writing that Crewe's sharp-witted and romantic nature "provides an ideal vehicle for Stoppard's piercingly beautiful, expressive language."[5]

References edit

  1. ^ Stoppard, Tom. Script Tom Stoppard: Plays 5: Aracadia, The Real Thing, Night & Day, Indian Ink, Hapgood, Macmillan, 1999, ISBN 0571197515, pp.365-366
  2. ^ Jones, Kenneth and Ehren, Christine. "Jean Stapleton Dips Into Stoppard's 'Indian Ink' For SF U.S. Premiere, Feb. 24-March 21" Playbill, February 24, 1999
  3. ^ Phillips, Michael. "Worlds Collide, Stoppard Style, in U.S. Premiere of 'Indian Ink'" Los Angeles Times, March 6, 1999
  4. ^ Pierce, Brooke. "Review. 'Indian Ink'" theatermania.com, August 21, 2003
  5. ^ a b Gardner, Elysa (30 September 2014). "Stoppard's 'Indian Ink' leaves indelible mark". USA TODAY. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  6. ^ Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review. Sitting for a Portrait as Complex as the Raj" The New York Times, September 30, 2014
  7. ^ "The Verdict: Critics Review Tom Stoppard's 'Indian Ink', Starring Rosemary Harris" Playbill, October 1, 1014
  8. ^ " Indian Ink 2014" lortel.org, accessed February 28, 2016
  9. ^ Site by Athletics. "2015 Obie Award Winners Announced". Obie Awards. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  10. ^ Brantley, Ben (6 May 2015). "Ben Brantley: The Tony Award Nominations Should Be ... (Published 2015)". Retrieved 8 October 2020 – via NYTimes.com.
  11. ^ Karen D'Souza. "Review: 'Indian Ink' at ACT is Tom Stoppard mostly at his best – The Mercury News". Mercurynews.com. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  12. ^ Hurwitt, Robert. "Theater review: ACT’s “Indian Ink” shimmers, then fades" sfgate.com, January 22, 2015
  13. ^ "Theater". Retrieved 8 October 2020 – via NYTimes.com.
  14. ^ Brantley, Ben (30 November 2014). "Sitting for a Portrait as Complex as the Raj". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  15. ^ "An Indian view of 'Indian Ink'". The Independent. 23 April 1995. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  16. ^ Wolf, Matt (13 March 1995). "Indian Ink". Variety. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  17. ^ Green, Jesse (30 September 2014). "Theater Review: Tom Stoppard's Indian Ink Still Leaves Marks". www.vulture.com. Retrieved 10 August 2019.

External links edit

  • An interview with Stoppard before the American premiere

indian, this, article, about, play, racehorse, horse, india, plant, chenopodium, capitatum, 1995, play, stoppard, based, 1991, radio, play, native, state, cover, faber, editionwritten, bytom, stopparddate, premiered1995place, premieredyvonne, arnaud, theatre, . This article is about the play For the racehorse see Indian Ink horse For the ink see India Ink For the plant see Chenopodium capitatum Indian Ink is a 1995 play by Tom Stoppard based on his 1991 radio play In the Native State Indian InkCover of the Faber editionWritten byTom StoppardDate premiered1995Place premieredYvonne Arnaud Theatre GuildfordOriginal languageEnglishSubjectIndia art poetryGenreDramaSettingIndia in the 1930s India and England in the 1980s Contents 1 Productions 1 1 Casting 2 Synopsis 3 Themes 4 Reception 5 References 6 External linksProductions editThe stage version of Indian Ink had its first performance at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford and opened at the Aldwych Theatre London on February 27 1995 The production was directed by Peter Wood and designed by Carl Toms 1 The play had its American premiere in 1999 at the American Conservatory Theater ACT in San Francisco California directed by Carey Perloff see 1999 in literature The ACT production starred Jean Stapleton Eleanor Art Malik Nirad Susan Gibney Flora Firdous Bamji Anish and Ken Grantham Eldon Pike 2 3 The play received its East Coast premiere in 2000 at the Studio Theatre in Washington DC in a production starring Isabel Keating as Flora Crewe a performance for which she received the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Resident Play The play was also produced in a critically acclaimed production in Chicago at The Apple Tree Theatre in June 2002 directed by Mark Lococo and starred Susie McMonagle Flora Peggy Roeder Eleanor Anish Jethmalani Nirad Paul Slade Smith Eldon Pike and Parvesh Cheena Dilip The play was produced Off Off Broadway at Walkerspace in August 2003 directed by Ashok Sinha with Lethia Nall Flora Sendhil Ramamurthy Nirad and Helen Jean Arthur Eleanor 4 The Roundabout Theatre Company produced Indian Ink Off Broadway in September 2014 to November 30 2014 at the Laura Pels Theatre Directed by Carey Perloff the cast featured Rosemary Harris as Eleanor Swan Romola Garai as Flora and Firdous Bamji as Nirad 5 6 7 The play was nominated for the 2015 Lucille Lortel Awards Outstanding Costume Design Candice Donnelly Outstanding Revival 8 and Firdous Bamji won an Obie Award for his performance 9 New York Times critic Ben Brantley wrote that he should have been nominated for a Tony Award but he was ineligible because the play was produced Off Broadway 10 The ACT presented the play again in January and February 2015 with Perloff directing and the cast featured Roberta Maxwell Eleanor Brenda Meaney Flora Firdous Bamji Nirad and Pej Vahdat Anish 11 12 Casting edit Art Malik has been closely associated with the play taking the role of Nirad in the original London production and in the 1999 American premiere which took place at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco Felicity Kendal originated the role of Flora originally in the radio play and then on stage which Irish actress Niamh Cusack played in London s Aldwych Theatre in the West End Synopsis editIn 1930 the year of Gandhi s Salt March British poet Flora Crewe travels to India for her health Flora is a thoroughly modern girl who has modeled for Modigliani hobnobbed with communists and been accused of obscenity for the racy book A Nymph and Her Muse In India her portrait is painted by the Indian artist Nirad while she fends off the attentions of a dashing but dimwitted scion of the British Raj But her bravado hides the knowledge that she is severely ill with tuberculosis In the 1980s American academic Eldon Pike seeks out Flora s younger sister Eleanor to discover the truth about the end of the poet s life she died in India soon after meeting Nirad Eleanor who married an Englishman she met at Flora s grave and became a staunch Conservative reveals little to the scholar sending him off on a wild goose chase tracing Flora s path through India But she is more welcoming to Nirad s son Anish who also comes looking for answers Eleanor shows Anish a painting by Nirad done partly in a classical Indian style and partly in the style of Western realism The painting s erotic symbolism convinces him that his father and Flora were lovers before she died Themes editAmong the play s themes is the contrast of Indian and European styles of poetry and visual art Nirad explains to Flora the classical Indian theory of nine rasas which are tonal schemes uniting all forms of art Each rasa is associated with a colour a mood and a musical scale The play s title refers to Shringara the rasa of erotic love which is associated with an inky blue black colour and the god Krishna who is always painted with dusky blue skin Flora is at first puzzled by this artistic tradition but on falling in love with Nirad she realizes It is the colour he looked by moonlight The play shares with other Stoppard plays of the 90s the theme of nostalgia and romantic loss with Flora as the lost beloved corresponding to Thomasina in Arcadia and Moses in The Invention of Love And like those two plays it cuts back and forth between characters in two time periods sharing the same set Stoppard has given director Peter Wood partial credit for developing the structure of the play with its two intertwined storylines 13 Reception editBen Brantley expressed a lukewarm view of Indian Ink deeming it enticing if overpacked He praised Stoppard s language and found the dialogue witty but argued that the work contains an overabundance of characters and that all the mini history lessons and intellectual name dropping in Indian Ink keep us from latching on emotionally to the play s central relationships 14 The Indian theater director Gopal Gandhi wrote a moderately positive review in The Independent Gandhi argued that Das had mastery of English geography and literature but expositions of the rasa and Hindu scripture that seemed to come not from Stoppard but some teach yourself guide and wrote in response to this Indians have for decades if not a century or two been able to relate to things British without in the least compromising their brand of Indianess They need no atavistic reversals into themselves What is Stoppard trying to do in Indian Ink However Gandhi also felt that there was Stoppard s bitter sweet topping to enjoy for the sadness it evoked for the regrets it reminded me of and recommended the play overall 15 Matt Wolf of Variety criticized the play as clunky and overwritten and also stated that Flora Crewe is crucially lacking in either a creative or erotic dimension notwithstanding the fact that Flora s principal topic seems to have been sex 16 Jesse Green stated in Vulture that although the various elements and time periods don t satisfactorily emulsify there s no denying the astonishing craft of the individual scenes Green referred to the play as second tier Tom Stoppard but excellent by almost any other standard 17 Elysa Gardner of USA Today also gave the play 3 5 out of 4 stars writing that Crewe s sharp witted and romantic nature provides an ideal vehicle for Stoppard s piercingly beautiful expressive language 5 References edit Stoppard Tom Script Tom Stoppard Plays 5 Aracadia The Real Thing Night amp Day Indian Ink Hapgood Macmillan 1999 ISBN 0571197515 pp 365 366 Jones Kenneth and Ehren Christine Jean Stapleton Dips Into Stoppard s Indian Ink For SF U S Premiere Feb 24 March 21 Playbill February 24 1999 Phillips Michael Worlds Collide Stoppard Style in U S Premiere of Indian Ink Los Angeles Times March 6 1999 Pierce Brooke Review Indian Ink theatermania com August 21 2003 a b Gardner Elysa 30 September 2014 Stoppard s Indian Ink leaves indelible mark USA TODAY Retrieved 26 October 2019 Brantley Ben Theater Review Sitting for a Portrait as Complex as the Raj The New York Times September 30 2014 The Verdict Critics Review Tom Stoppard s Indian Ink Starring Rosemary Harris Playbill October 1 1014 Indian Ink 2014 lortel org accessed February 28 2016 Site by Athletics 2015 Obie Award Winners Announced Obie Awards Retrieved 21 February 2017 Brantley Ben 6 May 2015 Ben Brantley The Tony Award Nominations Should Be Published 2015 Retrieved 8 October 2020 via NYTimes com Karen D Souza Review Indian Ink at ACT is Tom Stoppard mostly at his best The Mercury News Mercurynews com Retrieved 21 February 2017 Hurwitt Robert Theater review ACT s Indian Ink shimmers then fades sfgate com January 22 2015 Theater Retrieved 8 October 2020 via NYTimes com Brantley Ben 30 November 2014 Sitting for a Portrait as Complex as the Raj The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 5 August 2019 An Indian view of Indian Ink The Independent 23 April 1995 Retrieved 26 October 2019 Wolf Matt 13 March 1995 Indian Ink Variety Retrieved 9 November 2019 Green Jesse 30 September 2014 Theater Review Tom Stoppard s Indian Ink Still Leaves Marks www vulture com Retrieved 10 August 2019 External links editAn interview with Stoppard before the American premiere Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Indian Ink amp oldid 1162569181, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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