Noted stage director Ahi Karunaharan is coming up with his second show extolling his Kiwi-Sri Lankan identity The Mourning After, after having brought first such show almost a decade ago.
The Mourning After, which explores the complicated relationship many Sri Lankan New Zealanders have with their original homes — a home that most were forced to flee from. Ahi first wrote the play 13 years ago when he wasn't able to return due to the war, and it's gained a fresh relevance today as much of South Asia struggles with the terrible COVID.
Another thing the play looks into is the problem for many Sri Lankan where their stories are often conveniently bundled together with other South Asian nations — The Mourning After seeks to rectify some of that as a proudly Sri Lankan story.
Speaking to the Indian Weekender Ahi Karunaharan said, “If I had a dollar for every time a white guy called me Indian I could put a deposit on a three bedroom Sandringham villa.”
As a student back in 2007, Ahi realised the stage was reflecting the New Zealand he lived in, where Sri Lankan and other South Asian stories were being conveniently bundled together, and their individual voices muffled as a result.
Instead of blaming people for wilful ignorance, he decided to focus on what he could change, and in 2011 brought his first distinctly Sri Lankan show to the Wellington stage, The Mourning After.
“I think the voice of the Sri Lankan experience is very unique and very different as an island nation. It is isolated from the greater kind of South and Southeast Asia in the sense that it's got its own rhythm, its own pace, its own nuances, its own style.”
“It's one of those strange nations where time just kind of moves in a very different way to the rest of the world, and that's the kind of thing that lends itself to our way of storytelling.”
This first show was an exploration of his own Sri Lankan identity at a time when the country was being ravaged by war, and returning home wasn’t possible. It’s found new relevance today, against the backdrop of a global pandemic.
The Mourning After follows New Zealand born Shekar, who returns to his father’s homeland in the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka, to discover that a tsunami has swept away the village. As Shekar sifts through the ruins in search of answers, what follows is a journey of self discovery as the buried truths of his past are revealed.
Karunaharan has moved away from Bollywood style he explored through last year’s My Heart Goes Thadak Thadak, using one solo actor, a band of 4 musicians and non-traditional narrative storytelling.
“What I want to do is have conversations with people and have those conversations in different ways. I’m trying to offer up alternatives that could really spark the imagination and really become a memorable time that can really engage audiences in a new way”
An adaptation of the original work, first performed by Ahi himself, rising young actor Jehangir Homavazir carries the role with a fresh energy and perspective, accompanied by a trio of deft hands in South Asian music.
“I'm at a point in my career where it's really important for me to continue to create stories for my community, because no one else is going to do that for us, and by doing so I get to collaborate and put more South Asian actors and creatives on our stages.”
While some things might have changed since Ahi first composed the work a decade ago, the need for better, more representative art has not.
“I trained as an actor but had to come into writing and directing for stage because I was exhausted at the lack of opportunities there was then, and is still now. The characters and briefs were painfully one-dimensional – the roles were mostly taxi drivers, dairy owners, doctors, mystical storytellers, gurus and most of the time, a token character there to tick the diversity box."
The Mourning After does exactly that as it takes audiences on a voyage across seas, personal awakenings, and across cultural lines.
July 20-25, Q Theatre, Auckland
Tickets can be bought here - https://www.qtheatre.co.nz/shows/mourning-after
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