Tarang Hardikar @ Pleasance Courtyard
Tarang Hardikar's If I’m Not Wrong is a poignant show in which he grapples with his past, present and future self with an imaginary therapist
In his Edinburgh debut hour, If I’m Not Wrong, Tarang Hardikar grapples with his past, present and future selves. All fighting to be heard, an imaginary therapist (also played by Hardikar) types notes, puzzled by answers he gives to questions he himself has posed. And so it continues.
Hardikar begins with a notepad and a drawing of a wobbly line. He’s perplexed at the fact he’s never been able to draw a straight one. As a child, he would go to ‘drawing classes’, or so he was told. This was, in fact, one-to-one time with a child psychologist. Here, we get a first look at Hardikar trying to fit into a world which he finds overwhelmingly full of contradictions. Though these are big themes, this is a gentle show where you find yourself in awe of Hardikar’s mind.
As we meander through, at times the narrative gets slightly lost; it feels overly conceptual and Hardikar is unable to deliver on its ideas. Instead of distinct punchlines, there are tail-ends of sentences, some of which land and some which do not. It’s difficult to stay concentrated at all times, but it feels permissible to drift in and out, akin to Hardikar’s drifting between themes.
There’s a particularly funny section about maths. Hardikar grapples with numbers and the reason for their existence, and, importantly, why we need pi. We’re there with him, scratching our heads looking for answers. Once again, we turn to the therapist character typing notes. He doesn’t seem to have a clue either.
If I’m Not Wrong is a poignant show about moving towards self-acceptance. Hardikar leaves it until the very end to tell us about his autism diagnosis. This revelation urges you to see the show in a new light, similarly to how Hardikar had to look again over his whole life after being diagnosed. Little by little, things start to make sense, for us as an audience and for Hardikar himself. Therein lies a conclusion to his questions, a straight line running through.
Tarang Hardikar: If I'm Not Wrong, Pleasance Courtyard (Attic), until 30 Aug (not 17), 6pm, £14.50/£13.50