EdFringe Review: Kanpur: 1857

‘Kanpur: 1857’ (Above at Pleasance Courtyard) has played in Edinburgh before to great acclaim. It’s no give-away to say that it starts with an Indian ‘rebel’ strapped to a cannon belonging to the British Army, having to fight for his life by telling the commanding officer a story that will satisfy him enough to perhaps consider not blowing him to smithereens. The ‘rebel’, we learn, is not all he seems and is, in fact, a gentle storyteller of some repute.

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The hour-long show was devised by and is delivered by Niall Moorjani and Jonathan Oldfield, as the Indian storyteller and the British officer respectively. Whilst it is based on the true story of the siege of Kanpur and the atrocities that took place during the British occupation of India, it is a much more complex and contemporary look at whose truth really IS the truth and who really are the villains and heroes of any situation.

It’s a serious subject and the tension builds as the audience is invited to imagine themselves the crowd forced to watch the brutal blowing to bits of one of their own people. This really happened. Moorjani plays the terrified prisoner, expecting to die at any minute, but never knowing exactly when. He shakes and grimaces and it’s hard to watch. We live every minute with him — and perhaps ask ourselves if we would change the narrative if we thought it might save our lives, as he is asked to do. Or betray our own leaders to save our own skins. The dilemma is real. As he grows in confidence in his storytelling, the prisoner waxes lyrical and we are swept away by the beauty of the idyll he paints. Kingfishers, butterflies and a beautiful love story are recounted. But the tension never really lessens because we know his life could possibly depend on the story he tells.

Colonial History as Contemporary Commentary

The British soldier interrupts constantly, shouting at the prisoner to tell the story he wants to hear. He is the epitome of the Victorian swaggering self-righteous man we’ve seen so often before. But is he really? Despite his dreadful views on women, ‘foreigners’, and those he sees as transgressive, we soon realise — through exceptionally clever satire — that many of his views still prevail today. This isn’t just history, it’s contemporary comment too.

It feels wrong to laugh at his expressions of contempt and God-given rights, but the show delivers all of this with permission to laugh, while still making us think twice. The officer’s assertion that what he is doing ‘has to be right’ is reiterated and is a powerful reminder of how history repeats itself in accepting that violence is justifiable when right is on your side.

Both men change subtly during the performance and we are made to see both sides of the argument clearly. But who has right on their side? Pretty much impossible to say.

This is not an easy watch and I found it really very moving. I would recommend it highly. Everything about it resonates and seems completely authentic. And that includes the tabla playing throughout, which I thought was absolutely genius.

Played by Hardeep Deere — known as Sodhi — its beauty adds a heartbeat to the story, without which I don’t think the play would work nearly as well. Thank you Sodhi. Sitting on the ground, very close to the only real prop on stage — the huge cannon to which our rebel is bound — this really was beauty in the midst of the brutality of war.

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