Books

These two books are companion volumes, bringing together the complete set of Manjula Padmanabhan’s theatrical plays. Blood and Laughter contains six full-length plays while Laughter and Blood contains 21 short performance pieces. Both volumes share a common introduction, since the books are independent of one another. Each of the plays, however, has an introduction specific to itself.

The play Harvest is set in an unspecified future time, in a city called “Bombay” that might just as well be any megapolis, anywhere. Om, an unemployed young man living in a one-room tenement with his mother, wife, and younger brother returns from a job interview saying that they’re about to become “insanely” rich. The catch? The family must live in sterile isolation, so that, when the time comes, Om’s body parts will be available for transplant to a fabulously wealthy benefactor.

Life in Bombay is getting tricky, as the author searches for love, weight loss and spiritual contentment. She sets off with her boyfriend for New York City, where the American dream appears on a plate – TV, food, and visits to the morgue. However, will Europe prove to be her spiritual home?