In this romantic comedy set in Mumbai, the focus is not on the tradition-flouting 20-something of the story (played with equal parts petulance and real feeling by Vahishta Vafadari) but on her mother, Deepa.
Played by the terrific Alka Nayyar (who finds the comedy as well as the truth in Deepa’s longing and desperation), she is a widow in full middle age consumed with seeing her daughter married off. What else is there for her to think about? The life of a widow is a solitary one. Until a young, recently divorced guy makes the moves on her. Call it: How Deepa Got Her Groove Back.
And yet the scene where their attraction is meant to come to a head never really ignites in this Rasaka Theatre Company production under Lavina Jadhwani’s direction. That’s a pivotal moment and it fizzles, much of it due to a lack of chemistry between the actors (Anand Bhatt is plenty ardent in the role but miscast).
The generation gap is a nonissue when they are alone but considerably more of an issue when her children get wind of the affair, leading to the occasional heightened moment of a sex farce. But playwright Shane Sakhrani mostly keeps things grounded as Deepa struggles to reconcile her parental duties as dictated by her children, versus her own wants and needs. If only the production weren’t so plodding and the blocking so repetitive: In scene after scene, the characters are sitting on the chair and sofa, chair and sofa, chair and sofa. For a story about a woman who becomes completely unbound by the strictures of her life, that’s an awfully fixed visual.
REVIEW: “A Widow of No Importance”
2 STARS
Through Feb. 21 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.; tickets are $30 at 773-871-3000 or www.rasakatheatre.com.
