By Sangeeta Kumar

“Schadenfreude is always a little distasteful”, one desi blogger commented when the 'Harvard Crimson' asserted plagiarism by Kaavya Vishwanthan in her ‘teen chick lit’ novel. Ah, the burdens of a ‘model minority’!

Inspired by the events from 2006, Lisa Kohn’s play, ‘I am the Chicken Man, Cluck’, showcased at a reading organized by Salaam Theater, explores the ‘misguided’ attempts of a 29 year old Harvard Graduate, John, (yes, it’s relevant to mention Harvard here so bear with me) to save the 17 year old Susan Gupta from a fate similar to his by helping her land a publishing contract with his long-time love interest Valerie’s (Nell Mooney) company.

Squandering his adulthood, John is now the indomitable chicken-man, dressing up in a chicken-suit to draw customers to the Gupta family fast-food chicken restaurant. Mr. Gupta (Ranjit Chowdhry) is not your atypical desi father. Losing his job at an engineering company and his wife’s affections, he pours his life-savings into the chicken restaurant. Stemming from his own self-worth, or lack thereof, Mr. Gupta is bent on Susan going to Harvard. Though Susan isn’t the brightest kid on the block her talent surfaces as an author of a teen chick lit book – perhaps her escape from her suffocation at chez Gupta. Mrs. Gupta (Sarita Choudhury) is absent for most of Susan’s and Mr. Gupta’s journey in the play, cavorting with a new lover in India, so one does not get a clear sense of her motivations.

The play has myriad sub plots – John and Valerie’s relationship, Mr. and Mrs. Gupta’s marriage and separation and her subsequent return and attempt to fit back into their lives, but the play's dramatic engine is Susan’s sense of alienation and apathy causing her to plagiarize a few paragraphs when things get down to the wire. The final part of the play seemed a little rushed – things moved too fast to savor the minutiae but didn’t take away from the entertainment.

Lisa’s astute sensibility with regard to relationships, particularly in the context of a ‘desi’ family are worthy of special mention. John’s character development was particularly impressive (Big props to Brian W. Selbert for his portrayal of the chicken-man). The humor is right on the money.

Kudos to Citygirl for lining up a heady reading cast!

Images courtesy Flickr photostream