“A confident, cleverly-crafted evening. Prashasti knows how to work a crowd. “
Soho Theatre downstairs was graced with the returning presence of Prashasti Singh,a 30-something (she won’t tell you how old she is) Indian comedian for her performance of Divine Feminine. The stand-up routine sought to explore themes of therapy, the psyche, gendered stereotypes and contemporary Indian society. Singh greets a bubbly, packed room and is keen to engage the audience in her opening moments. The audience soon learn Singh is far from shy, and cleverly engages with the key themes from the off, satirically remarking upon male privilege.
Singh navigates her set through her discussions of aging and her journey of self-discovery. Intertwined with gags of Indian celebrity references, Singh takes the audience on a very relatable and honest journey. Working chronologically with age, where we learn Singh wanted to be her dad as a child, and channelling through to her later 30s, the set appears very neatly choreographed.
Having discovered the demographic of the room, being majority over 30 and of Indian decent, Singh attempts to include the audience in the story to the best of her ability and at times her storytelling is spot on. In some moments however, the jokes felt limited to specific experiences and knowledge. In particular, the presentation of an Indian celebrity on an easel, witnessed a divide in the audiences understanding. This moment later led to more confusion as the set referenced back to the celebrity.
Yet as Singh exclaims, some sentences simply cannot be translated, and a few members of the audience would have to miss out. Nevertheless, her conversations on mental health felt very important, giving insightful takes on being single, losing a sense of self and family pressures. Where a sense of collective understanding was created, is where this performance felt the must successful. Singh’s explorations of relationships with men felt very apt, pinpointing the harsh realities of their behaviour. She calls on the men in the audience at times, and they are seen to joyfully laugh along at themselves. The end of the set reveals where the Divine Feminine title comes into the piece. The potential for this ending moment felt big,as Singh builds much anticipation towards this moment, expanding on the specific details of her story. However, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in its finale, where the end product didn’t land as well as the build-up. Regardless, the crowd-control Singh had was undeniable and this elegantly crafted performance left the audience feeling warm, listened to and with a smile on every face.