Play review/ A Fish Ate My Cat

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

A Fish Ate My Cat/ English play

Director: Yuki Ellias

Theatre company: Dur Se Brothers

Writer: Yuki Ellias 

Cast: Yuki Ellias, Abhishek Saha, Mati Rajput, Kurien Joseph, Kunaal Sangtani, Petra Misquitta, Latoya Mistral Ferns-Advani

Rating: *****

Some characters remain etched in one's mind, reminding you of someone you've known or heard of.Sarita Johnson, the protagonist of A Fish Ate My Cat, is one of them. She's a Bandra resident, in her 70s and living alone, with the maid Jayashree coming in a Virar fast to do her daily routine, cook surmai and gift her cheap lipstick she picked up on the way. When Sarita's son returns from Singapore, she greets him indifferently, saying, "I told remember having a son called Ajay", later needling him on why his father Isaac insisted on such a horrid name.

Sarita, originally Shetty before marrying a Christian, has been played outstandingly by Yuki Ellias, an actor much younger than the character she portrays. From the comic-book quirks to the lapses of memory to the sudden bursts of nostalgia to bizarre bursts of imagination to reminiscing past romance, every nuance has been so perfectly enacted. Clearly, Yuki gets into the skin of the play, like a fish taking to water, whether or not a cat is in sight.

Yuki, who directed and acted in the brilliant Elephant In The Room, has also written and directed this new play. If its title makes you wonder how a fish can eat a cat, it's obviously metaphorical. Sarita has many whims, like talking to her plants or cutting milk packets in triangular openings with her Tom and Jerry scissors.. On the one hand, she uses a walking stick. On the other, she idolises 1970s gymnast Nadia Comaneci, and even does a perfect 10 somersault that leaves the audience breathless.  When she overhears a neighbour play the piano,  she thinks she's attending an actual concert and imagines she's talking to people in the audience. She even takes dance lessons from someone she calls Candyfloss, reliving her days with Isaac.

The best thing about A Fish Ate My Cat is that it looks at ageing in a manner that uses a balanced mix of empathy and humour. One loves the character, sharing her joy, giggling at her idiosyncrasies, identitying with her pain and joining her back in time. While Yuki's performance is the clear highlight, she has wonderful assistance from Abhishek Saha as her son Ajay, who wears formal shirts over shabby shorts for Zoom calls, Mati Rajput as Jayashree, the Marathi-speaking maid, and Kunaal Sangtani, the Candyfloss dance teacher.

Live music by Kurien Joseph on piano and singers Petra Misquitta and Latoya Mistral Ferns-Advani add to the play's charm, and one may just sing along to 'Dream A Little Dream'. The set is simple, encompassing a sitting area, kitchen and a piano corner for the live music.

A Fish Ate My Cat was the opening play at this year's Prithvi Theatre Festival. What a fantastic opening it turned out to be, as Sarita Johnson came alive in Yuki Ellias's Comanecii-esque perfect 10 performance. If you miss the next run, beware, a cat will eat your fish. We're making no bones about that.

(A Fish Ate My Cat was staged at the Prithvi Theatre Festival on November 2 and 3)