DB: Victory Gardens has started doing post-show discussions after every performance this season.
BD : There's been a lot of awesome, open-minded conversation between people of all colors. That's totally happened.
MG : And people of all ages. The demographic is amazing.
BD : But there are times, I'm like "Wow, this is why we do this." And the thing that I keep saying to my friends who aren't at the post-shows, I say, "I heard this today. This is what somebody said." So how many people thought it and didn't say. And then, "This is what somebody said in public, in front of thirty people." So what do they say in front of their best friend, in front of their wife? If this is what they said in public, and I'm shocked, so what do they say in private?
MG : The fact that we're a full South Asian cast has come up almost every time. Isn't it interesting that it's so remarkable right now that we have to remark upon it and won't it be great in a few years when it won't be so remarkable. Because this shift is hopefully the beginning of that. There are a lot of questions that come up about culture, women's rights specifically. Last night during the talk back, someone brought up the issue of domestic violence, which was really interesting to me.
BD : Yeah. I don't like the way she said it either.
MG : She said it was specific to Ross [another character in the play], "Why was he so sensitive to Sarah [an unseen character in the play] being beaten by this guy on the phone?" Because...
BD : AKA Indian men beat their wives.
MG : Right! And I responded, "The issue of domestic violence is just as it would be anywhere else. There's a culture of silence around it. "
BD : But there are countries in this world where it is accepted. And there are absolutely countries in specific region eight thousand miles from India where it's law, where it's ok for men to beat their wife. And India gets thrown into that so much, into that region. And it's just not. What's interesting is that India is also a place that has a female Prime Minister within twenty years of its independence. That's the equivalent of our third president being a woman. Can you imagine?
MG : Here's what's hard about only learning about cultures through books. Really, it's only about books and it's never the full experience.
BD : There's always been one thing, every other night I'll say, that's been like, "Huh?! Can you believe that person said that at the talk back?" And I think what I would love the audience to know at the talk back is, "See?!" We are here at the theatre, in the talk back , so we have gone a long way, you have come to the theatre, to a show, where there are five Southeast Asian actors, you stayed for enough of the talk back. Then you said this thing, and it's still so much work we have to do. There was that one gentlemen that said, "What about our perspective? The Americans are sitting at dinner and it's 6:30 PM and I get a phone call and on the other end it's like (with a mock offensive Indian accent) ‘bundi bundi bundi bundi... "
DB: He did NOT say that!
MG & BD : He did!
BD : He absolutely did. And I'm thinking to myself, there's so much wrong with that. First of all, there's the "bundi bundi bundi" thing. Second of all, you want the perspective of us? The American perspective? Walk outside, turn on any television show, watch any movie, go to any other play and you'll get the American perspective. This is one play that's not showing you that.