Who knew presidential politics could be interpreted through traditional Indian dances? I certainly didn’t before seeing this production of the Tehreema Mitha Dance Company, but the combination of traditional choreography with contemporary subject matter landed with surprising resonance.

Part monologue, part performance poetry, and part traditional Indian dance, Neelam Patel delivers a deeply personal show that attempts to find some middle ground between her American and Indian heritage. As much as she brings the audience into her stories, the result is most therapeutic for Patel herself: Using the performance as a form of release, she shares her experiences, all of them true, as a way of connecting with her past.

Even the set captures the freakish quality of the show. The legless woman sits on a stool behind a podium, disguising her actual limbs, the Pinhead has his own straw-lined cage to play in, and Aquaboy has a makeshift tank that he can splash around in. And it all happens under a tent, which is so fitting for a show about a circus—a more appropriate venue couldn’t be found.

Yes, it’s a satire on the news business, but it’s more of a satire of workplaces in general. Whatever happens in this newsroom could happen anywhere else in the world. The group of characters spend the seventy minutes struggling to report the news, proving that regardless of the final product, all news organizations don’t run like well-oiled machines.

Self-Service
Warehouse-Next Door
Remaining Performances:
July 12th at 7 pm, July 18th at 9:30 pm, July 22nd at 8 pm, and July 25th at 7 pm
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