By Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO— Walking into the theater in the round at the Old Globe you can almost smell the curry, so well done is the scenic design of the Indian restaurant where House of India is set. Chika Shimizu really pushed the boundaries of what you can do with a 360-degree theater, creating a set that is more elaborate than most, but still leaving no angle blocked.
The story takes place at a family-run Indian restaurant in Akron, Ohio. The patriarch died a few years before and the restaurant has been struggling. Unbeknownst to the matriarch, Ananya (Mahira Kakkar),, the daughter Vaidehi (Supriya Ganesh) has been freelancing doing odd jobs to subsidize the restaurant and keep it afloat. Changing demographics in the area have caused business to slow down. After a vandal attacks the restaurant, decisions must be made about what to do for the future.
The son, Vikram (Deven Kolluri), has returned after three years, supposedly to do research for his book, but really he’s come in shame, having been dropped by his publisher for never finishing the book. In the meantime, their Thai employee Jacob (Tommy Bo) who grew up at the restaurant, is pushing to modernize and to adopt a more fusion style of cuisine. He really wants to marry South Indian and Mexican food, especially by making a “kootu taco.”
Don’t worry, if you get lost with all the names of the different foods being thrown around, in your program is a handy little guide to South Indian food.
Playwright Deepak Kumar took from his own experience of growing up in Michigan in a small community of south Asian immigrants, and in the program he notes how as the restaurants and grocery store shut down, it felt like the community was disappearing. Other themes he tackles in the show are being true to yourself vs. family responsibility, the immigrant experience, and what an immigrant restaurant must do to flourish in an ever changing ethnic landscape. The themes are both compelling and familiar.
All the actors were really good, but Kakkar especially stands out. I felt like I had seen her before, and when I went to look her up, sure enough, she’s a regular player at the Old Globe and has earned mentions from me for her roles in Henry 6, and Age of Innocence. I think in this show she’s playing several years older than her actual age, but she flawlessly pulls it off.
There’s only one more week to see the show as it closes on June 8th.
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Associate editor Sandi Masori is a food and restaurant reviewer for San Diego Jewish World.
I don’t think any restaurant can long stay in business serving only one ethnic minority.
We have an Indian restaurant in Cincinnati called Amma’s Kitchen. Because they are exclusively vegetarian, everything they serve is parve. And because they are in Roselawn, a neighborhood with a Chabad Yeshiva, they got a Kosher certification. In fact, they are one of only four certified kosher restaurants in all of Cincinnati.