Word: gupta
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Ramakrishnan faces the challenge of speaking all of his lines in Hindi. In the script, Horovitz translates Gupta's speeches into English so the reader will understand his meaning. On stage, however, Horovitz dramatizes Joey and Murph's inability to communicate with their society by creating a language barrier between them and Gupta. Ramakrishnan effectively conveys this barrier--the audience never suspects that he might actually know English...
...Mark Fish) and Murph (Blake Lewit) crash onto the stage belting "Baby, You Don't Care," Horovitz's over-obvious attempt to assert their alienation. These characters nearly explode with nervous energy, punching, teasing and jostling each other. When Joey and Murph realize that they are being watched by Gupta (Ganesh Ramakrishnan), a lost East Indian immigrant, they outdo each other trying to include him in their banter. Soon their nervous energy spins out of control, and their playfulness becomes destructive...
Lewit and Fish shine as the juvenile delinquents. Murph, the ringleader of the two, foreshadows his later behavior when he mocks Gupta, saying to Joey, "We can't leave him here--some nasty boys might come along." Lewit becomes a menacing thug, with his combat boots, Harley vest and belligerent attitude, but he manages to show the source of Murph's problems without over sentimentalizing his character. When Joey complains that he has to get home to his mother, Murph remarks, "At least you have someone waiting...
...Joey, Murph's sidekick, Fish shows how easily a good-natured underdog can lose control and become a vicious aggressor. After terrorizing Gupta, Joey screams, "It's only a game," hoping that saying the statement loud enough will make it true. We see his frustration and passivity as he yells, "Murph, come and get us!" Rather than taking responsibility for his own actions, Joey wants to be rescued from himself...
...main problems in The Indian Wants the Bronx stem from Horovitz's script. Horovitz has the characters screaming just a little too much. Additionally, Horovitz uses weak devices which burden the plot. At one point, Murph inexplicably leaves the stage so that Gupta and Joey can have their big scene. His departure destroys the closed-in atmosphere Bial successfully builds...