Catch The Immigrants, a hilarious journey of identity and cultural chaos on stage

What happens when people uproot their lives in search of new beginnings—and bump straight into confusion, identity crises, and cultural absurdities? According to theatre exponent Michael Muthu, the answer is simple: comedy. And this week, he’s bringing that delightful chaos back to the stage with The Immigrants, an evening built on big laughs through two tightly crafted one-act plays.

The Immigrants is a mix of two short plays

“The Immigrants is basically an evening of theatre,” Michael says, describing a format that blends two short, witty plays with a burst of storytelling energy. “We have two short plays; both are comedies, and the whole play is about immigrants who leave their old homes and move into the new land.”

The first play, The Pushcart Peddlers, follows a young immigrant named Shimmel Shitzman, who steps into America wide-eyed and hopeful. Michael, who is a part of this play, says, “The play is all about his transformation—how he enters the country as a naive young man who’s gullible and easily fooled. And at the end of 40 minutes, he’s completely transformed.”

The second play, The Indians, flips the lens inward, tracing the muddled journey of a young man who refuses to believe his Indian parents are his biological parents because he feels “too American”. The result is a cracking comedy of identity, self-discovery, and the tug-of-war between roots and reinvention. As Michael puts it, “Both plays are absurd comedies, wonderful little pieces of theatre with wonderful characters and dialogues.”

Actor Roshan Poncha, who has been associated with Michael for nearly a decade, is part of The Indians, a play she’s performed multiple times. “The story is basically about this Indian family in the United States and how the son is struggling to find his identity,” Roshan explains.

The script, originally written for a Chinese family, has been reimagined to resonate with Indian audiences, she says. “The original script was called The Chinese, and it was about a Chinese family that has migrated to the US. We’ve changed that to The Indians, and it’s an Indian family in our version. But it hardly changes anything, because Chinese culture and Indian culture are very similar that way,” adds Michael.

Was it easy to present a socially relevant topic in a comic manner, we ask, and Roshan admits that is the most challenging part. “Timing is everything, even giving your expression—you have to do it at the right time. Once you get the right time, then you’ve nailed it.”

However, she explains that their preparation was thoroughly immersive and light-hearted, a period of rehearsal where even the team themselves were full of laughter and discovery. “We’ve laughed ourselves out each time we come up with a new action or movement,” she notes. Yet, by the time of the performance, they inhabit their characters so fully that the humour belongs entirely to the audience: “We didn’t find it funny at all; we’re just in character in that moment.”

For Roshan, the takeaway from the play is simple, “Be proud that you’re Indian; wherever you go, you have your own originality, your own culture. Don’t be shy to embrace that.”

INR 499 onwards. On December 6 and 7. 7 pm. At Pandian Hall, VGP Heritage, ECR.