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Midnite’s Vultures

Posted by DCA Theater on March 13, 2009 in January-June 2009 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Rasaka Theatre

by Pushkar Sharma, playwright

“I’ve been refining the recipe of my play “Midnite’s Vultures,” but I can’t seem to get the flavor quite right.  The play gets it’s name from Rushdie’s epic—the South Asian cultural landmark, Midnight’s Children, and Beck’s frenetically-free album Midnite Vultures.  I’ve chanelled both of those artists in the play which is about two twenty-something poets paying tribute to their American-Indian predecessors and trying to come to terms with the fact that they’re living on land taken forcefully from American-Indians by settlers.  The two characters—two South Asians named Nicotine and Gravy, explore their relationship with American-Indians at the ruins of the American-Indian city of Cahokia (just outside of St. Louis, MO).

I consider Rushdie (“I am mysteriously handcuffed to history”) and Beck (“I’ll feed you fruit that don’t exist/ I’ll leave you feeling where you’ve never been kissed”) master poets with compelling, thought-provoking voices.  In this short play I’ve tried to harness their voices to serve my characters and further complicated things by infusing the voice of American-Indian spiritual leader, Black Elk of the Oglala Sioux.

So now I’ve planned the feast but now I’m struggling to find the right flavors.  I’ve sliced and diced these 3 distinct voices and tossed them into a blender, further flavor it with my own cheeky, pop-savvy dialogue/poetry.  But now I’m not sure where to draw the line. When is the Beck too overpowering?  How can I accentuate the Rushdie without trampling the taste of Black Elk’s words?  And when is my own language too greasy and going to leave the audience feeling bloated and uneasy?  Hopefully I’ll find the answers to some of these questions soon.

I’ve only got two days left to get the recipe right.”