Making Books Sing's Artistic Team will bring you the "behind the scenes" P.O.V. from the cast and crew of our upcoming musical, Tea with Chachaji. We catch up this month with the Librettist of Tea with Chachaji Gwynne Watkins.

How familiar were you with Indian culture and Indian history before you began working on Tea with Chachaji? What kind of research did you do?

Indian culture and history is an enormous subject; let's say I was very familiar with very small parts of it.  From studying religion in college, I was already interested in Hindu writing and mythology. I'd also studied ancient Indian theater in college, and a few years ago I got very into Bollywood movies. And I love Indian food - I even served it at my wedding!
 
I must admit, before I started working on this show, I didn't know anything about the Partition of India. And I knew very little about the South Asian experience in America. For research, I read a lot of books about first- and second-generation Indian immigrants. I read about the Partition, including a heartbreaking book of first-person narratives. I read several translations of stories from the Ramayana.  I went to the "Little India" section of Queens. And most importantly, I talked to some American children of Indian parents about their experiences growing up.
 
What were some of the challenges you faced in writing the libretto for Tea with Chachaji? What about the process has been the most rewarding?

The big challenge, of course, was to take "Chachaji's Cup" - a quiet, beautiful little book -- and transform it into a big, vibrant, exciting musical. I knew right away that we'd be adding a lot to the story. I elaborated on tiny things from the book: a picture of Hanuman crossing a mountain, a one-line mention of Hindi films. Daniel and Anya were challenging characters, because we created them from the ground up.
 
There have been plenty of rewarding moments. The songs that went through the most drafts - "Without Breaking" and "Hanuman" - are the ones that I'm happiest with, and it was really thrilling watching them come together.
 
Tea with Chachaji depicts three generations of the same family. How has being a mom with a family of your own influenced your work on Tea with Chachaji?

I was still on maternity leave when I started writing this show! I didn't consciously write about my own family, but parenthood was very much on my brain from the start. Having a son (he's two now) has really made me appreciate my own parents and grandparents in a whole new way. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I had Neel's teenage problems, but suddenly I relate more to the mother! So the show is very much about family, and the way our relationships grow and change.

What was your experience with family theater/theater for young audiences like when you were young? What is it like now that you're a parent? How has working with Making Books Sing influenced your feelings about family
theater?

From a young age, my parents took me to lots of plays. And I swear I remember them all!I really want to instill that love of theater in my son; we actually watched a children's Shakespeare production in Prospect Park this summer, and even though he's tiny, he was mesmerized.  I was like, yes! He got the gene!
 
Making Books Sing has made me realize the possibilities of children's theater - that it can really reach out across ages and cultures in a big way. And that it can be fresh and original. It's very, very exciting to me to be involved in a show like this.
 
What do you value the most in a work of family theater, both artistically and educationally?
 
Good family theater respects a kid's perspective. I like shows that are funny without being condescending, smart without leaving kids in the dark. I think kids need to be shown that theater can tell new stories, because so much of children's theater is the same stories recycled over and over.  And I love what Making Books Sing does in terms of introducing kids to new cultures and ideas. It's the perfect medium for that.
 
Tea with Chachaji premieres January 25 - February 11, 2010 across New York City.
Interview from Making Books Sing E-News, November/December 2009