31 Asian American Plays in 31 Days
#7 MERCHANT ON VENICE, by Shishir Kurup
Jitendra, a Hindu actor, has fled Bollywood stardom to seek fame and fortune in Hollywood. To secure backing for his “India-Indie flick with crossover appeal” he schemes to marry a rich young heiress, Pushpa Shah, and in the process endangers the life of his best friend, Devendra, by becoming entangled with Devendra’s nemesis, Sharuk, a Muslim money-lender. Pushpa, is in love with Jitendra, but as per her father’s will, must marry only a man who can pass a multi-media test.
Written in an iambic pentameter replete with Indian, American and Latino jargon, Merchant on Venice reflects the many different sounds of the South Asian Diaspora as well as the polyglot crackle of Los Angeles. The play contains songs and incidental music, also by Kurup, influenced by both rock-and-roll and Bollywood movie songs further highlighting the clash/mash of culture that is so evidently the “masala” of the South Asian Diaspora. Merchant explores the nature of empathy and grace as well as blame, personal responsibility and internalized and externalized religious bigotry through the dreams, hopes and biases of the various characters as they pine and connive in the Los Angeles of the new Millennium.
Silk Road Rising 2008
Directed by Stuart Carden
Featuring: Anjali Asokan, Cesar Conde, Dipika Cherala, Kamal Hans, Anil Hurkadli, Anish Jethmalani, Shishir Kurup, Julian Martinez, Marvin Quijada, Sadieh Rifai, Marc J. Rita, Prinadhi Varshney, and Tariq Vasudeva
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