Every once in a while a play comes along that defies all expectations. One that is so perfect, so moving, most superlatives just aren’t enough. Such is the case with A Fine Balance, on now at Crow’s Theatre.
The play is adapted by fellow novelist and playwright Anosh Irani from the award-winning Rohinton Mistry novel of the same name published in 1995.
Remember A Fine Balance? It is a monumental novel of life in India under leader Indira Gandhi. It is a 700-page behemoth filled with tragedy, humanity, despair, humour and plenty of heart.
How Irani distills one of the great Canadian novels of the past half-century into 2.5 hours on the stage is pure magic.
Set in 1970s India during political upheaval and Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, A Fine Balance follows two tailors, a widowed seamstress and a young student who form an unlikely family as they struggle with poverty, injustice and forces beyond their control.
Two poor tailors from a rural community who come to the city to look for work, a widowed woman trying to find a way to get by, and a wealthy but lonely young man whose mother was friends with the woman in university.
Despite their differences, they develop an unlikely friendship and create some sense of family that was lacking.
At the heart of the story is a powerful idea expressed in the line: “it’s a fine balance between hope and despair.”
What shows up on the stage is immense tragedy the proportions of which are almost too great to comprehend from our relatively comfortable positions in Canada. And, not just tragedy, but this idea that an unjust society, that circumstances and people outside of your control can change everything. And that’s what makes it so universal.
We feel it right now when we read the daily headlines. We feel the injustice on a daily basis. We understand that central idea in the story that there is always someone who has it worse than you. This play is a powerful reminder of the disparity between rich and poor that exists here as well.
Alongside the tragic, the despair, is hope, there is humour and generosity and heart. And, that heart is always expressed by the most vulnerable during the worst times. That spirit shines through the play.
The story is just special, the characters, everything about it. Irani has managed to capture it so wonderfully. And the direction under Chris Abraham is perfect.
But, what really takes this story, this production, to the highest level are the people on the stage bringing these characters to life.
The two tailors, Ishvar and his nephew Omprakash, are central to the action.
Anand Rajaram’s portrayal of Ishvar is the hub around which the play revolves. His performance is so stunning and special. He deserves all the kudos and awards that are surely coming his way. He exudes so much humanity. So much heart in the face of everything. He endures and Rajaram never falters.
And, Ben Yoganathan as Omprakash stays with him the entire play. What is unique about his portrayal is the change we see in him throughout the course of the production: quietly defiant, coming into his own, to his own tragic fortunes. It is a performance that captures the arc of a young man coming into his own, while the tragedy unfolding around him slowly extinguishes his innocence.
Zorana Sadiq as the nurturing Dina is impressive with an understated, reserved performance. She conveys so much by only doing so little.
The rest of the cast is wonderful. There are no low points.
When the final curtain falls, the crowd roars its approval, and there are more than a few people clapping through tears. A Fine Balance has already been extended, and it would be no surprise to see it extended again. This is theatre at its best: beautifully told, deeply human and impossible to walk away from unchanged. It is magnificent.