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| Charlene Baldridge Photo by Ken Howard |
Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj opens at Playhouse
It’s 1648 and the Taj Mahal is almost ready for the public to gaze upon for the first time. Even the lowly guards assigned to watch over the construction site (the building of the Taj has been under way for 16 years) are not allowed to turn around and look. They face north with the Taj behind them. In order that that nothing so beautiful will ever be made again, Shah Jahan has a gruesome plan, the execution of which is assigned to the Taj guards.
The obedient Humayun (Manu Narayan) and his rebellious sidekick, Babur (Babak Tafti), have been friends since childhood, with Humayun self-cast in the role of the naïve Babur’s protector. Additionally he acts as defender of obeying the rules and staying out of trouble as a means of advancement. His father, a leader of the imperial guards, has yet to approve of him.
The black comedy (the play is much funnier than audience response indicated opening night February 10) concerns doing one’s job no matter the cost to one’s soul. It also asks whether beauty can be created, whether it can be destroyed, and in this case, just who destroyed it and how. In what ways does obedience kill the fire within? That’s a lot for one two-handed play that lasts about 90 minutes.
Takeshi Kata’s set is absolutely bare with only a suggestion of the Taj limned to the south. It’s played in the three-quarter round Potiker Theatre, so south is the back wall of the central playing area, in my opinion creating sound challenges for those seated on either side.
In scenes subsequent to the first, the bare stage transmutes to a room in the palace depths and then to a nearby jungle. The playwright, who is the author of Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo, dips into the surreal and the obscene, toying with time and memory, so it’s no surprise he challenges us with a platform in the trees, the shocking, impossible wholeness and purity of the youthful Babur, and the symbolism of birds that take flight.
Babak Tafti (front) and Manu Narayan in La Jolla Playhouse’s production of GUARDS AT THE TAJ, by Rajiv Joseph, directed by Jaime Castañeda, through February 28 in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre, Photo by Jim Carmody.
The two actors do not speak in Raj-accented English (that influence hadn’t happened yet) but in today’s American vernacular, one supposes in order to give their plight and its implications universality. Though the similarity between this pair and other famous theatrical couples passing time does not go unnoticed, Gogo and Didi they are not.
Nonetheless, Guards at the Taj is macabre black humor, and in order to redeem itself puts us through horrific carnage (the like of which is seen usually only in the cinema) in order to demonstrate that we are all slaves to duty. This is an oblique approach to be sure, and it certainly is not for all markets.
Jaime Castañeda, recently appointed associate artistic director of the Playhouse, takes on Taj as his first assignment and its execution augurs well. The actors are well chosen, and their underscored relationship is both funny and touching.
An online search reveals that this shocking piece is exceptionally popular and widely performed this season.
The Playhouse appends a warning when you order tickets: blood, violence and adult language. In other words, it’s not a travelogue: Leave the kiddies at home.
Guards at the Taj continues Tuesdays through Sundays through February 28. Tickets and info: www.lajollaplayhouse.org