Asian American Plays for a New Generation: Plays for a New Generation

1. Indian Cowboy

1 Indian Cowboy Zaraawar Mistry Introduction, by Josephine Lee I ndian Cowboy premiered at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis from January 27, 2006, to February 12, 2006. Commissioned by Jack Reuler and Mixed Blood Theatre, with development of the script supported by the Jerome Foundation, the play was performed by Zaraawar Mistry and created in collaboration with Kathleen Sullivan, with original music composed and performed by Keith Lee. Indian Cowboy follows the life of the actor Gayomar Katrak from his adoption by a Parsi family of three brothers and a sister in Hyderabad, India, to his trials and tribulations as an actor in the United States. It is a touchstone of a particular moment; Zaraawar Mistry lightly satirizes immigrant fantasies of American culture as well as New Age fascination with India, yuppies, method acting, and high-tech modernization. The play belies the hopes inherent in both multiculturalism and cross-ethnic casting. In a sense, Gayomar, named after the Zoroastrian version of Adam, becomes “Guy,” an everyman whose crisis of identity makes us ponder the various choices and temptations American culture offers to hopeful arrivals. Yet his story, full of quirky details, is also highly distinctive , reminding us of the limits of ethnic, racial, religious, or national identity . Transnational, Zoroastrian, adopted, and an actor, Guy does not fit easily into tidy boxes such as “Indian,” “South Asian,” or “Asian American.” Cast in a Illustration: Zaraawar Mistry in Indian Cowboy. (Photograph by Ann Marsden, courtesy of Mixed Blood Theatre.) 12 • Zaraawar Mistry range of roles, as “Mediterranean, or Iranian, or Puerto Rican or Alien,” Guy’s ethnically ambiguous appearance at first makes him an undistinguished figure among others in the American mosaic. But as the play moves toward its resolution , he is again marked as the enemy and other, reminding us of the continuing salience of race in a post-9/11 world. It is important to note that this play was first produced as a one-man show; in these productions Mistry used only minimal props and lighting, marvelously transforming himself through his voice, expression, and movement to capture distinctive characters and situations. In embodying Guy’s journey from Hyderabad to the United States and back again, Mistry became our anchor through time, space, and imagination, suggesting how, in the performance of story, even ordinary lives might be granted meaning and magic. STORYTELLER: It was Christmas Day, some forty years ago, on the outskirts of the city of Hyderabad in southern India. The sun had just set, and the sky was orange blue. Three Parsi brothers, Fali, Mehli, and Soli, were driving home after a long trip into the countryside to visit their old aunt Soonamai at her orphanage, when they stopped for a rest by the side of the road under a large banyan tree. During the day, the banyan would have been witness to the bustling of travelers, vendors, and monkeys , but now it stood silent and still. On the distant horizon, a small group of villagers were slowly leading their cattle home, oblivious to the giant satellite dish that stood staring into space by the headquarters of Hindustan Telecommunications. It had been an unusually hot day. The brothers got out of the car, walked over to a clump of bushes, unbuttoned their trousers and . . . Ah! A gentle breeze washed their streams in helix patterns over the dusty earth. Standing there in their white pants and white shirts with rolled-up sleeves, with their slicked-back black hair and pencil-thin mustaches, Fali, Mehli, and Soli looked like three young Clark Gables. (A baby cries.) MEHLI: What’s that? STORYTELLER: Mehli, the middle brother, was the first to notice that there was a naked baby lying in the bushes. MEHLI: Oh my goodness! I hope I didn’t do it on him. SOLI: You must have. He’s frowning at you. STORYTELLER: Soli, the youngest, was a soap salesman. SOLI: Hello, cutie. He looks just like the poster baby for Johnson’s Soap! FALI: Don’t be ridiculous. And stop gawking, you two. That baby needs our help. Indian Cowboy • 13 STORYTELLER: Fali, the first-born, gently picked up the baby. FALI: What’s a baby boy doing here? Left for us by some unwilling mother, I suppose. MEHLI: For us? STORYTELLER: Said Mehli, in the middle. MEHLI: What are we going to do with a baby? It will bring us nothing but trouble. We must report...