American novelist Mark Twain is known for his humour, satire and radical opinions. In 1895, the celebrated author had set out on a tour of the British empire, with a primary aim to make money and pay off his debts. India was the highlight of his journey. In 1896, while in Bombay (now Mumbai), he presented an ‘at-home talk’ at Novelty Theatre in the city. Based on this historical visit and talk, the play Mark Twain: Live in Bombay written by Canadian playwright Gabriel Emanuel captures Twain’s fascination for a land that he found magical and mystical and, at the same time, provides the ideal setting for him to engage the audience with his uniquely entertaining stories and insights.
Presented on December 10 at Padatik Little Theatre by Advertising Club of Calcutta in association with t2, this Padatik and Rikh production was directed and solo-acted by Vinay Sharma. While recreating an accurate image of Mark Twain’s iconic lecture in Bombay, Sharma’s performance also offered a peek into the 19th century humourist’s perceptive understanding of the human nature.
Attired in a white suit with a red rose stuck to his buttonhole, along with white tousled hair, shaggy eyebrows, furrowed face, penetrating eyes and an American drawl to his accent, Sharma’s personification of Twain was authentic and impeccable to say the least. Introducing his perfomance with a description of Indians, their habits, rituals and traditions, he made excellent use of Twain’s perceptive quips to bring home to his audience the truth that Indians as a race have not changed much over the last 100 years and more.
His impassioned enactment of a passage from Twain’s profound work Huckleberry Finn, where he alternately portrayed Pap and Huck and then alternately portrayed Huck and Jim, were poignant in their exploration of universal themes like violence, racism, innocence, friendship and the eternal moral dilemma of the human race.
Tongue-in-cheek humour found its way into Sharma’s performance with Twain’s self-deprecating admissions related to vices like smoking and drinking. His voice was loaded with sarcasm when he described the self-pride of human beings. Twain’s opinions on freedom and censorship, war and patriotism, death and destiny were also articulated by Sharma in a manner that underlined the author’s sharp wit on the one hand, while on the other, drew attention to the serious, philosophical aspects of his narrative. The thrill and aura of Indian spiritualism as expressed by Twain was also delivered in a manner as to point to the gullibility of the common man to the power of religion.
The 90-plus minutes of solo enactment, besides being a remarkable display of stamina by the veteran actor, went beyond being a copybook impersonation of Samuel Longhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain, to present a speaker attuned to the sensibilities and sensitivities of his audience, no matter to which era they belonged.
Director Speak:
Mark Twain is probably the first stand-up comic in modern history. As you know, stand-up comedy in the present day, as it used to be earlier, is a witty yet trenchant comment on contemporary times. The remarkable thing about Twain is that his writings, though he wrote so many, many years ago, have stood the test of time. He is probably one of the most oft-quoted writers of all time and we still find his witticisms as well as his incisive comments on society, on relationships, finding relevance in all parts of the world. His words always arouse a smile, a chuckle or laughter, and through these, provide us a way of looking at life through the prism of humour. That makes him a very relevant person to portray to an audience— Vinay Sharma, director/actor of Mark Twain: Live in Bombay