Copy: The National 14/12/11
>> The Southbank’s winter festival this year welcomed a Bollywood show to the shores of the Thames. But a Bollywood show with a difference – this was a Danish theatre company who were aiming to mix western theatrical traditions with Indian exuberance and musicality. It sounded intriguing – and had come to London with great reviews. I spoke to the choreographer Gauri Sharma Tripathi and lead actor Janus Nabil Bakrawi for The National and was hoping to see the show they were so passionate about – unfortunately I couldn’t make it down to London.
So I was surprised by the reviews it received. The Independent said the fantasy looked “underpowered and penny-pinched” and The Observer was just as cutting: “What should have been an invigorating fusion on the South Bank ends up as flaccid dithering,” wrote Susannah Clapp. Which is a real shame, if true. There were some great ideas here – not least Bakrawi’s belief that Bollywood can tell a western story in a different way because of its directness and lack of hidden agendas.
Perhaps, of course, the reviewers didn’t “get” it. But I hope The Bollywood Trip doesn’t sink without a trace now. It doesn’t happen often, but maybe the stinging reviews might compel the producers to look again at what is definitely an interesting concept.
Click here to read the full piece on The Bollywood Trip in The National
