When middle-aged, UK-raised Alan goes to India, he finally reconnects with his Mumbai aunt Alice and cousin, Daniel (Mitesh Soni). They cared for his father, Jacob (Ravin J Ganatra), in his final years, but Alan was estranged from his dad and hasn’t seen them since he was a teenager, despite regular business trips to India. The past comes rushing back, and when Alice (Goldy Notay) gives Alan a book written by Jacob, he learns about his father’s childhood and upbringing.
There’s a jungle of themes in Neil D’Souza’s play that mixes naturalism with magic realism, but sometimes it’s all so dense that it’s hard to see the wood for the trees: a masked tiger haunts the action and there are mango-sized metaphors. D’Souza plays the unlovely Alan with a delicacy that doesn’t shirk the petulance of a man happiest in barren luxury hotels rather than confronting the messiness of family emotions.
There are some interesting ideas – in particular the way that relationships between London and Mumbai are being reframed as India’s economy grows and the old caste system yields to other kinds of inequality, mostly economic. But there’s just too much thrown into the plot, from Catholicism to Indian independence, so the narrative loses focus.
Promising strands such as Alan’s relationship with his call-centre manager, Hanna (Clara Indrani), whom he uses just as he uses India for his own convenience until it’s time to move on, fade away as the play lurches back and forth between past and present, often in an alarmingly confusing manner.
Brigid Larmour’s movement-based, ensemble-style production is atmospheric and fluid, but doesn’t always aid clarity. This feels like a very personal play but one that hasn’t had the dramaturgical attention required to unlock it for a wider audience.
• At Watford Palace until 24 October. Box office: 01923 225 671.
