Theater Review by Walter Murphy . . . 

India is a country of a billion people, each with a story. Stories from India, now playing at the SoHo Playhouse, offers three touching stories by three different narrators—their presentations will make you happy.

All the stories capture the storytellers’ desire to get on with their lives—to become the person they want to be. But first they must overcome or reconcile their country’s conflicting messaging about what it is and what its citizens are. Also, they must overcome their parents’ oppressive expectations of who and what the performers are to become, regardless of their wants and needs.

With the potential for such toxic circumstances, the performances could easily have descended into a teeth-grinding complaint-fest. What the audience saw, however, was three thoroughly engaging storytellers sharing their very personal accounts with warmth, wit, and charm, while weaving a tapestry of a changing India.

Performers Taranjit Kaur, Simar Singh, and Helly Shah told their stories about what mattered to them, employing spoken word and poetry. Their narratives often slipped seamlessly into rhymed poetry. It was a winning technique that projected a singsong cadence, possibly lessening the disappointments they occasionally felt.

Talk to your son,

who might be really young,

but teach him that he needs to speak

and that crying in public won’t mean that he’s weak

Mr. Singh addressed his father’s wishes for him with which he did not agree. Although he studied to be an engineer, he acknowledged and pursued his artistic side. “I didn’t have the courage to tell Papa / That his son won’t pursue engineering.”

Ms. Kaur, an accomplished actor, spoke of her journey as a dutiful daughter navigating her prescribed path until she changed by asking for help and self-care. “With the wings, or without them, I will fly!” she declares.

Ms. Shah rejected the idea of arranged marriage and retained her independence, being hopeful that there was someone out there for her. “Because in 2024, if you get your heart broken / You already know you deserve so much more.” 

They could have succumbed to their frustrations and accepted their parents’ expectations, but chose to be true to themselves and to the belief that “love always finds its way!”

In all their cases, the love was self-love.

“India is love” is a frequent refrain, but based on the stories that may be the ideal that competes with reality. Are Indian parents that controlling? I hadn’t realized that arranged marriages (and careers for that matter) were still so prevalent in India. My perception of marriage there is based on Bollywood films, a topic that comes up in each story. Despite plot intrigues and conflict in films, everyone seems to be pretty happy. Also true of the Songs of India performers who entered and exited the stage smiling. As did the audience.

Of note: Each performer spoke solely on a sparse stage, casting the sole focus on their words. Throughout the 60-minute run time there was beautiful guitar accompaniment that perfectly complemented each story, creating an intimate setting for these very personal, and inspiring stories.

Stories From India. Through January 15 at the SoHo Playhouse (15 Vandam Street, between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street) as part of the Fringe Encore Series. www.sohoplayhouse.com