Drama in the kitchen

The kitchen became an interesting subject for ‘Nam Samayalarayil,’ a collection of four short plays

Nithya, a Tamil short play at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai by Shraddha

In Second thoughts of an Idle Fellow , Jerome K. Jerome wrote, “Who invented that mischievous falsehood that a way to a man’s heart was through his stomach? How many a silly woman, taking it for truth, has let love slip out of the parlour, while she was busy in the kitchen!” And if this was true in the 19th century, then clearly, the modern woman does not have to rely on culinary skills to snag her man. And yet the labelling of the kitchen as a woman’s space persists, as does the belief that a wife must keep her husband happy with her cooking. Shraddha’s ‘Nam Samayalarayil,’ a collection of four short plays — discussed such anachronisms and looked at food and the kitchen from unconventional angles.

‘Meenu Engira Meenakshi Ammal’ (script Swami Ganesan; direction - G.Krishnamurthy) begins with an old lady, in a nine yards saree, talking about food. She says cooking is an art, like painting. You must like cooking, to be a good cook. You must select the ingredients with care, mix them in the right proportion, just as an artist mixes colours for the right effect.

The old lady is the famous Meenakshi Ammal, whose recipe books have saved the day for many an amateur cook. Married and widowed young, Meenakshi Ammal collected all the recipes she had written for her relatives and published them.

Meenu, who lives in the U.S., is not a passionate cook, but wants to master the art of making paruppu usili , because her partner likes it. She falls back on Meenakshi Ammal’s recipe book Cook and See . But as she makes usili , following the recipe given in the book, it seems to Meenu that the long-dead Meenakshi Ammal has somehow materialised beside her, to infuse her with confidence.

Meenu finally ‘conquers’

paruppu usili . Jayashree as Meenakshi Ammal — modest, resolute, and affectionate, made an adorable grandmother.

CHENNAI- 24-3-2018--- NAM SAMAYALARAIYIL -- Meenu alias Meenatchiammal--- a tamil short play at Narada Gana Sabha by Shraddha in Chennai. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan.

‘Suda Suda’ (script - C.P.Aryaan; direction - G.Krishnamurthy) has Bhojarajan (T. D. Sundararajan) complaining about how he misses his wife, who made the most wonderful filter coffee, and how his daughter-in-law’s penchant for instant foods has killed off his taste for good food. But his granddaughter (good performance by Aditi) sets him right. She asks pertinently, if he misses his wife, or the coffee she made. She also wants to know why a coffee maker is advertised as a woman’s best friend. If everyone in the family enjoys a cup of coffee, why shouldn’t the coffee maker be everyone’s friend, she asks.

Reinforcing stereotypes

The play showed how advertisements reinforce stereotypes, without our even being aware of it. ‘Nithya’ (written and directed by P. Muthukumaran) captures the morning chaos in a family, as husband and wife take turns to cook and get the children ready for school. It was lively, and the actors were perfectly natural in their roles. However, the play wasn’t so much about food as about the present generation misjudging their elders.

‘The Haunted Kitchen’ (written and directed by Arun Kumar) is about a father-in-law (V.P.S. Sriraman), who is finicky about what he eats, and a daughter-in-law, who is so stressed, that she decides to give up her job. But there are strange happenings in the kitchen, with a ghost making its presence felt.

A medium is brought in, and he communicates with the ghost. It turns out that the ghost (Prema Sadasivam) is the old man’s dear departed wife. We are treated to a flashback, when she was alive. She reminds one of P.G. Wodehouse’s observation about a person who is a “doormat with welcome written on it.”

CHENNAI- 24-3-2018--- NAM SAMAYALARAIYIL -- The Haunted Kitchen-- a tamil short play at Narada Gana Sabha by Shraddha in Chennai. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan.

We find that because of her demanding husband, the poor lady had slogged in the kitchen throughout her life. She doesn’t want her daughter-in-law to suffer the same drudgery. And so, she has decided to haunt the kitchen, until her husband agrees to engage a professional cook, so that the daughter-in- law can go back to work. Sriraman was perfect in his role as the fastidious old man.

Of the four plays, ‘Suda Suda’ and ‘The Haunted Kitchen’ were the most appealing. Who would have thought food as a theme could be so entertaining and thought provoking on stage? Shraddha not only gave the audience food for thought, but also kept them laughing throughout. No mean feat this.