Archana Asthana
Nikolai Gogol could not have imagined a better rebirth of his play, “The Government Inspector” than the one presented by Naatak as its 116th production in its 30th year at Cubberly Theater in Palo Alto in November. The locale shifts to Anand, a small rural town in Gujarat, India, and the story unfolds with the same shenanigans depicted in the original; the slapstick comedy tickles the funny bone while the satirical portrayal of human vanity, greed and corruption is highlighted and provides food for thought to the rapt audience.
When corruption and inefficiency seeps through all bureaucratic levels at every department, outlandish measures are taken to avoid exposure by a visiting CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) fraud inspector, with the most unfortunate, hilarious and unintended consequences.
The pivotal role of the “Inspector” is actually of Pyarelal Pandey (Vineet Mishra), a penniless love-struck Romeo trying to escape the wrath of some gangster’s hooligans who end up in Anand chasing him. In the most comic ways, Pyare embraces his mistaken identity and grows really comfortable in his assumed skin; exaggerating his imaginary high placed connections, accepting bribe with aplomb, and flirting outrageously with the Commissioner’s wife and daughter.
The rampant greed and ineptness is present in all departments of the town, from the Municipal Commissioner (Maunic Dharia) and his cronies who are desperately trying to sweep all signs of corruption under the rug and remove any vestiges of it, to make it all appear legitimate. The civil surgeon (Jay Ruparel) laments the lack of patients as the hospital runs its rooms as an AirBnB, while diverting funds for a new X-Ray machine for video games! The police superintendent (Aditya Mahajan), ready to hand in his resignation at the drop of a hat, transfers the few mental patients from the hospital to fill up his jailhouse to provide the semblance of normalcy. The Chief Engineer (Anjali Kirloskar) explains her department’s incompetence stating that a missing bridge or two is expected when you make so many, and that potholes are part of the engineering design of highways! The Chief Magistrate (Namita Vakil) only accepts chicken as payments (and gives them as bribes), claiming that children are drawn to them in the courthouse, and the friendships between them, dissolve the charges against the defendants.
The goons played with the required absurdity by Shashank Divekar and Sanjeev Redkar appear in all the departments, being mistaken for various characters in this rambunctious comedy.
The cast seemed to be having as much fun with delivering the aptly written dialogues in this over the top comedy of errors, adapted for stage by Harish Agastya, and deftly directed by Anitha Dixit. The props team deserves kudos for interesting and skillful change of scenes seamlessly. Does this play seem not so far fetched because we may spot likeness in the world regimes, is a question the audience may have to ponder.
Picture Credit: Kyle Adler
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