By: Richard T. Green

Some things translate into any culture–joy, perseverance, and the hard truths we face along the way. In the immersive comedy Mrs. Krishnan’s Party, now in the Steven Woolf Studio Series at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, a very disciplined Indian shopkeeper and her goofy, college-aged boarder run into them all at once. It’s a wonderful experience on every level.
This production is traveling around the U.S. from New Zealand, originally created by Justin Lewis and Jacob Rajan and directed by Justin Lewis for Indian Ink Theatre Company. It stars the same two actors from the first staging, Kalyani Nagarajan and Justin Rogers (as Mrs. Krishnan and her boarder James), and is a sequel to Krishnan’s Dairy, which was about Mrs. Krishnan’s husband, set about 20 years earlier and written and performed by Mr. Rajan.

Mrs. Krishnan’s Party premiered in August, 2018 at OneOneSix in Whangārei, New Zealand, before first touring that nation. The show successfully relies on a lot of funny audience interaction, creating warm emotional bonds within the theater. The performers’ clever ad libs were intricately woven in to the story the night I went, though you also have the option of sitting farther back in the “wallflower” section if you don’t want to be part of that in a direct way.

As Mrs. Krishnan, the splendid Ms. Nagarajan is plunged into a surprise party on the occasion of an Indian feast of diaspora, during her regular work day. There’s a growing sense of pandemonium, thanks to James (the irresistible Mr. Rogers), the college student who rents space from her. These two forces, order and chaos, dance together throughout the 90-minute comedy.

Nearly hiding in the shadow of all this is an old Indian folktale that suddenly strikes a familiar political chord: a demon has fooled the great Hindu god Vishnu into giving her control–not just of the Underworld, but of this world, too. And now that powerful deceiver seems poised to lay siege upon Heaven itself. The end of all of that may come as a huge relief to approximately half the audience in this American tour.

Mrs. Krishnan, a humble woman of noble instincts, faces a growing identity crisis as investors seek to take over her family shop. John Verryt’s set is charming under the atmospheric lighting of Jane Hakaraia, with lots of stirring dance music in the sound design by Lia Kelley. Mr. Rogers, as the earnest young James, is as impish as any Hindi deity, drawing us into funny new moments.

To maintain the illusion of a surprise party, there is no curtain speech or recorded announcement before the show that would gently warn against the recording of intellectual property. And of course, you’d think by now people would already know not to hold up their phones up to grab a memory of it all from the audience, during a live performance, warning or no. But some things translate into any culture. And this show is such a delight that the “guests” around me were swept up, eager to capture great moments together on opening night.