San Francisco Theater Scoop: 'Dancing on Glass' by Ram Ganesh Kamatham

October 8, 2010

"You are getting to know the inner me!" photo courtesy of Virginia Rodrigues

Dancing on Glass, a work by Ram Ganesh Kamatham, premieres in North America at San Francisco's Counterpulse. It opens today at 8 pm. Finally, this girl has a reason to get out of her pajamas on a Friday night and into a seat at the theater.

Judging from the pre-press for this play, I know two things.

1. This play is timely. At a time when so many Americans are seriously worried about their jobs, when so much of what we read in the news or hear on the radio is about families losing homes and the long-term effects of the economy on young employees' psychology and financial security, it's good to get some perspective. Dancing on Glass is a dark comedy concerned with "cyber coolies," or the voices of our Indian brothers and sisters when we call that Dell hotline. What are their working conditions? And how do we, as Americans, benefit?

2. This play may be awesomely complex, with the emphasis on awesome. The premise is that Megha and Shankar both work at a call center. They know each other through Megha's boyfriend, Pradeep. But Pradeep dies suddenly, and the two are thrown together. It's this relationship juxtaposed within this particular cultural and socio-economic context that has me stoked.  What decisions will our protagonists make? What decisions can they make, given who and where they are? I love it.

Again, the play opens tonight at 8 pm, at 1310 Mission Street, San Francisco. It continues through the weekend. For more information and for tickets, click here. See you at the theater.

Categories: 
Contributor: 

Comments