A PERFECT GANESH by Carol Kaufman Segal

            A Perfect Ganesh, a play written by the late Terrence McNally, is playing at The Pico in Los Angeles.  It takes place during a two-week period in India that includes the time that two friends spend time together getting there and coming home.

            You might want to know first, what is a Ganesh?  So I will tell you that “Ganesh is a Hindu god and the son of Shiva and Parvati.  He is the god of wisdom, the lord of good fortune, and is also regarded as the remover of obstacles. Ganesh is depicted as a short fat man with the head of an elephant.  He is one of the most popular and widely worshiped deities.  Worship of Ganesh is thought to bring prosperity, success, and protection.” In this production, Ganesh is performed by Mueen Jahan, elephant head and all!

            Margaret (Mary Allwright) and Katharine (Kathleen Gray) two middle-aged ladies have traveled together before, but this is a trip unlike any other they have ventured upon, a trip to India in the hopes of ridding themselves of longtime problems in their lives.  Katharine has been haunted for years by the loss of her son.  Margaret is hiding the fact that she has a lump on her breast.  Needless to say, both ladies need the help of Ganesh.  Will they have chosen the right vacation to take together this time?  After some moments of doubt about whether their friendship will continue, due to moments of stress between the two ladies, all ends happily ever after.

            In some ways, much of this play feels as if it is a dream rather than a real happening, but the performances by the entire cast is very well done.  They included Dancers (Svetlana Tulasi, Pavia Sidhu), Man #2 (Delio Eswar), Man #1 (Cameron Gregg), and Walter (Judd Yort).  David W. Callander directed.  Scenic Design is by David Goldstein, and costume design by Michael Mullen,

            A Perfect Ganesh is playing at the Pico, 10508 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles.  Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 3 PM and 8 PM, and Sundays at 7 PM through November 21.  (Dark Nov. 14).  Admission is $35.  Reservations are available at http//onstage411.com/ganesh.  No one under 12 admitted.