Beneath the Music

Beneath the Music, presented by Encounter and produced by Performing Lines, is a beautiful piece of theatre that is poetic, highly physical, and very sensual. Inspired by the Australian Marriage Equality legislation of 2017 and the decrimalisation of homosexuality in India in 2019, but set before that, it explores the acceptance of oneself and the acceptance of loved ones and asks how a human can honour two conflicting worlds within them.

Drawing on Indian tradition including the Indian Sanskrit epic poem The Mahabarata – which can be seen to honour queerness, and using the traditional theatre style of Terukkuttu, the cast of four explore the story of Keshav, an Indian theatre director and dancer living in Australia with his male partner Aman, and his relationship with both his Ma and the wider Indian culture.

Highly physical, the actors – especially Ramith Ramesh as Keshev (who has dancing eyes and whose direct address to the audience is captivating) and Tyrone Earl Lrae Robinson as his husband Aman (who plays multiple roles with skill) interact with each other with beautiful almost organic movement – with superb choreography from James O’Hara. They are supported beautifully by Kalieaswari Srinivasan as Ma – in a tender, well dramatised performance, and Manjula Radha Krishnan, dynamic and a voice of reason as Reva.

Beautifully scored, as it should be in a play called Beneath the Music, by Tao Issaro, the action takes place on what is initially a crisp white set by set and lighting designer Willy Cessa. The set is highly mobile and transforms with colour into Indian locales – as well as providing the canvas for striking projections by Elham Eshraghian- Haakansson.'

A very different and moving piece of theatre, Beneath the Music, easily holds its audience for its 75-minute duration. A thoughtful, engrossing, and engaging production.

Kimberley Shaw

Photographer: Dan Grant