THEATRE REVIEW: Basmati Bitch
22.07.23 Q Theatre, Auckland
If you were to ask me what I thought modern media needed more of, it would most definitely be: fight scenes. I grew up with the exaggerated fighting of Kung Fu Hustle, and the corrupt underground worlds of Hong Kong cinema. My older brother spent most of his time either watching Dragon Ball Z or playing Tekken, but I didn’t know how much I missed the style of these films, games, and TV shows until I watched Basmati Bitch.
Set in 2123, we are thrust into an alternate future where rice has been banned. Tāmaki Makaurau is rife with flooding, food shortages, social unrest, and illegal rice smuggling. I really love the way Basmati Bitch centers Asian characters at the forefront of a dystopian story.
I’ve always had trouble with Western dystopian films and cyberpunk media - Asian cities, clothing, women, and languages are reduced to a mere backdrop. The Western viewer is central to these films, despite the obviously Asian-coded cityscape. Basmati Bitch shows us that “techno-orientalism” can be more than an afterthought. Here, it is a deliberate stylistic choice that speaks to diaspora, migration, nostalgia, and connection. Basmati Bitch has a strong symbiosis of story and style - a difficult feat to achieve.
Ankita Singh’s script is so sharp that there is never a piece of dialogue that overstays its welcome. Characters speak with firm idiosyncrasies, distinguishing themselves as individuals with histories, memories, and regrets. Karishma Grebneff’s portrayal of Bisma is a particular standout. She carries a palpable tension within every line, jumping from people-pleasing perfect daughter to guilt-ridden erotica writer within seconds. The script also has such a strong structural understanding of storytelling, with Singh knowing exactly when to pull back connections to keep the stakes high. I loved watching each actor bring their own quirks and energies to the role. From Mel Odedra’s terrifying Toby the King to Gemma-Jayde Naidoo’s brooding Shiva, the characters are all so distinctly unique.
I particularly enjoyed the way the world continues to exist when something narratively important is happening in the foreground. When our protagonists are in the streets yelling at each other - the city does not stop. The worldbuilding of Basmati Bitch is not an afterthought. It is the soil with which everything grows out of. I loved the way the actors were utilized as background pedestrians, walking across the stage as though real people with real places to be. There is never emptiness on the stage. Basmati Bitch captures the specific chaos and buzz of cityscapes with such heart and authenticity. Entering the theatre, I wondered how this performance would create a cyberpunk cityscape from such a minimalist set. But the use of projection, illustration, and sound was sublime. A damp, dark street opened up before me and I could almost smell the rain on concrete. The world is its own character in Basmati Bitch; it suffocates, it inspires, it connects.
The set and production design was beyond what I expected, however, it is Ant Sang’s graphic design that synergizes the work for me. The stylistic introductions to each character, complete with the ink-pen comic book aesthetic, really ties everything together. Basmati Bitch is a homage to the anime, manga, films, TV shows that many diasporic communities found solace in. The visual aesthetic of these texts is embedded so tightly within Basmati Bitch you can feel it in every aspect of the show.
There is this fantastic melding of highly-stylized design and realism that makes the performance so special. The sound design is so evocative of old-school video games and anime, that I almost had a Proustian flashback when I heard a K.O. sound in one of the fight scenes. Te Aihe Butler’s compositions playfully embody these references, building on nostalgia to create something new. The fight choreography perfectly balances the exaggerated tone of a Stephen Chow film without ever appearing kitsch. And despite knowing that no one was really in trouble, I felt my heart in my throat during some of those fight scenes.
Basmati Bitch is an incredibly vibrant and entertaining performance. Drawing from a range of old school anime and 80’s cyberpunk, we are confronted with the necessity for representation not just in our present, but in our futures too.
Director: Ahi Karunaharan அகிலன் கருணாகரன்
Co-Produced by: Auckland Theatre Company and SquareSums&Co in association with Oriental Maidens
Playwright: Ankita Singh अंकिता सिंह
Cast: Rob Gibson, Amanda Grace Leo 梁宿娴, Karishma Grebneff करिश्मा ग्रेबनेफ, Gemma-Jayde Naidoo, Mo Nasir, Mel Odedra. Tian Tan 齐天大圣, Dennis Zhang 张全
Photo Credit: Abhi Chinniah