One of the best things about a fringe festival is the stories you stumble upon. Stories you didn’t know existed, stories you didn’t know you wanted to hear, stories that make you feel and care and think, long after you’ve left a hot tent on a sunny Adelaide afternoon. Vibhinna Ramdev’s story is a perfect example. One of the 10–20% (exact numbers are hard to pin down) of Indians who speak English as a first language, her attempt to make sense of her world through her words is fascinating and thought-provoking in equal degrees. 

Multilingualism isn’t unusual in India (Ramdev speaks six languages) but the how and why of English is (yet another) enduring scar of colonisation. As Ramdev says, ‘they left 77 years ago so why do I talk their language?’ The realisation that this was deliberate policy (set out in the infamous Macaulay Minute of 1853) leads to a journey of self-acceptance. A trained dancer, Ramdev uses the stage and a simple but effective set beautifully, embodying the characters she meets and making good use of direct address with the audience. She has a real flair for comedy, though the more dramatic moments do sometimes tip into melodrama. This important story will resonate in different ways with different people (the parallels with Australian history are clear) and is a fascinating glimpse into the colonial hangovers that persist in India and elsewhere. 

Why English? – Layers Between The Language, The Lark at Gluttony – Rymill Park, Saturday 22 February–Monday 10 March.