The traverse stage floor, decorated with attractive lotus flower designs, leads to a long blue-green curtain hanging at one end. Beneath this a band sits and plays mesmerisingly ambient music as the audience settles. A sweet, mellow opening number lulls as into attention and the sizeable cast appears on the balcony level above the band to argue over who shall play which roles. 

Local Indian theatre company Prayas has joined forces with the intrepid TAPAC to produce a full-scale ensemble production of a beloved folktale originally conceived by Rajasthan author Vijaydan Detha. Charandas Chor is a rich, funny and heart-warming fable about a proud and unusually principled thief who pledges to his guru, among other things, that he shall not lie. 

In her director’s notes Margaret-Mary Hollins tells us some of the cast have not performed on stage before, though whom they may be precisely among the 18 credited performers isn’t at all clear. Under the experienced guidance of Hollins and co-director Ahi Karunaharan the performance quality is high and consistent. From the principle and supporting characters to the mobs of bustling townsfolk et al, everyone on stage delivers with confident energy. 

In the title role, Rahul Gandhi is a baby-faced rascal who, at the start of his somewhat epic tale, is a mean-spirited bully with dubious charisma and a quick tongue, but whose mischievous proclivities are ultimately redeemed as he proves to be about the most morally forthright fellow in town, with more than a little insightful comment: “Sometimes I can’t tell the difference between being honest and being rude.”

Raj Singh is very well cast as Charandas’s would-be nemesis, the grouchy policeman Havaldar; always just a step behind the wily vagabond’s trail of delinquency, with his long stick and his turban and his khaki walkshorts. 

Mustaq Missouri presents a distinctively humanistic duality as the wise yet openly materialistic Guru; nevertheless his performance has the distilled clarity of your classic theatrical folk-tale character, as do the rest of the cast’s.  Further representing the fallible common folk are Ram Manthry, Divya Hariharan and Sudeepta Vyas, portraying the village drunkard, gambler and smoker respectively.  Their antics and reactions to the ensuing events offer a sort of comic relief in an already humour-driven narrative. 

Even the imperial Rani, as played by Bhanva Chahal, has by necessity a vulnerable self-awareness and a personal volition that overrides whatever may be expected from someone of her royal standing.  Schweta Tomar’s passionately romantic maid provides yet another comedic highlight, and Katerina Fatupaito’s visiting Minister brings a subtle sprinkling of Pasifika culture to the otherwise all-Indian assemblage. 

After the initial Brechtian introduction to the cast, the story plays out in a more self-contained traditional style, albeit with the occasional breaking of the fourth wall as is fairly standard in the realm of folk theatre.  Only at the conclusion do the players intervene once more to rewrite the original saga’s morbid ending into something more family friendly, as befits the production’s overall poignant but light-hearted tone.

A show like this is surely a joy for any production designer with a penchant for flamboyant spectacle.  The definitively representative apparel by wardrobe designer Padma Akula, the appealingly simple set and props appointed by Natasha Pearl and the wholly ambient, evocative lighting design of Ambrose Hill-Simonson all combine to frame the ambitious 2 ¼ hour performance with style and grace.  Incense fragrances wafting thru now and then further enhance the experience on a less usual dimension. 

However, the most essential and noteworthy element of all is the remarkably accomplished five-piece band directed by lead vocalist Sayanti Chaterjee and sound designers Divyan Mahesh and McCoy S’Silva.  The eclectic array of traditional and modern flutes, whistles, tablas, strings and percussion etc. not only provides uplifting and emotional song and dance numbers but also a virtually constant aural undercurrent to sustain and/or break the dramatic tension as required. 

Though written in the 20^th century, Charandas Chor is an unquestionably timeless, classic folktale examining humanity’s perennial concerns of identity, purpose, integrity and community, while this excellent production from Prayas and TAPAC is a most worthy rendition.

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