NATYA NAAD – Inaugural. Bansi Kaul
Seems like a few metal rods thrown at random angles on to stage, covered in white cloth. Standing horizontal. The fire hydrant pipes turned on to create a slither of a waterfall. What I learn later is that this is commonly used as a projector screen. But what’s the justification for wasting all the water?
You can hardly see the water. It’s creating “oh is there water”. That’s all. Sound effect. Completely delete-able.
Talking about historical music, history and using digital music – a digital drumset and keyboard.
23 microphones.




THE DOORWAY. Devised and directed by: Jyoti Dogra. 6 Jan 2010 2.30pm
Sound
Disconnected
Insanity
Mechanical
Irrational
Dreamland
Multiple personalities
Sanity
Sex
Voice and body – she has complete control. (though ‘experts’ say much work is needed for her to achieve the true essence of her voice control).
She is ½ ft away from her audience. Asking for help… nobody responds.
Audience – sleepy, bored, glued, leaving, (30 mins)
Light on audience, she walks into the audience. Nobody responded, neither did I.
Limited words, playing with sound,
Theatre audience vs non- theatre audience ( is what she adds to a possibility of no response)




EK RIKAAMI BAAJU Marathi. Verbal 7 Jan 2010
Text allows you to take focus away from the body, actors don’t use entire body.
Proscenium
Pace slow, seems like actors are playing in real time vs performace time
Actors are very realistic, neat, clean, completely natural and comfortable. One actor in particular, is able to keep her body alive, toes are awake, fingertips awake.
Limited words seem to require you to use the space more. Here not much movement. Static.




THE SPIRITS PLAY Multilingual 8 Jan 2010
The set started at the entry to the auditorium. They have used every angle of the space. No empty space. White maple leaves and costumes enhanced the colored lights and cloaks.
Their sound executors were sitting on the two corners of the front of stage. Dressed in black and playing with their gadgets.
Almost individual performances by each actor. With their individual languages. But most of the audience (as I heard) lost the play as they were busy trying to read the superscript. And I ask (even after much discussion) what was the point of English superscript when the concept is multilingual.




JOHNNY’S MIDNIGHT GOOGLES 9 Jan 2010
I’m glued to his performance. With acknowledging that he is an actor about to perform he eases in and out of the performance and takes us with him.
His movements are limited as he is playing the cello, but he states that the sequel to this play has space for him to move, as he himself feels stagnant.
He voice allows him to play several different characters simultaneously, to sing, and to narrate – all while he sits and plays his cello. .
Brilliant




STRANGE LINES Amitesh Grover. 10 Jan 2010
The actors stand watching the audience enter.
A style of acting where actors are characters, yet simply individuals talking to each other, where you perhaps don’t require body to be vibrate, vibrating.
The use of space, using all the space without the entire body being awake. Their centres are stagnant. It makes the play of mind and technology.
Socially relevant, the first, I have seen to talk about today. Music is contemporary.
Their eyes are looking at us directly. They stand and look.




LIFE OF AN AUTOMOBILE German with superscript in English 12 Jan 2010
Here I am faced with another language dilemma, a text heavy play with superscript, but I can’t follow the text. I’m distracted – watch play or read words.
Psychological, physical, emotional trauma
War
Socialism
Stalin
There are no wings. No formal entries and exits.
The second half – an opposite experience
Clowns
Joke on society and social norms
Joke on modernity, globalization
On speaking to the actors, I was told how the set actually comes out of the stage while performing in Germany. That would change the experience completely.
The styles here – coincidence – the text heavy first half was stagnant. Not much movement by the actors. And the second half with actors being clowns was full of movement, the bodies were completely awake.
Clown costumes were brilliant with small details, and apparently chosen by the actors.




A DOLL’S HOUSE 16 Jan 2010 Nepali
I sit between 4 men
Nora is annoying but I can’t pin point why.
Mrs.Linde is well cast, she looks the part. But her white sari is too pure. Cliché. Her gestures are Nepali and true to the actor, not the character. Her eyes scan the audience.
Is Linde a simple character to play?
Nora is to chanchan, her clothes, her jewellery, the keychain, her shoes. Layering. Her voice has no modulation. But then what would I say if she cried and shrieked.
The audience is stuck, they can not leave the auditorium. I see people trying to find a way out.
All the comedy in the text is lost.
The ending was a great idea, but due to the seating arrangement and narrow exit way most of the audience were unable to see it.
This production was given a thumbs up by two professors, but I don’t see why.




HAMLET, THE CLOWN PRINCE English 18 Jan 2010
I’m wondering whether I am watching Indian actors. The caliber of acting is unlike any Indian company I have ever seen.
Singing operatic. Open voices. English diction is almost perfect. The French accent is not to clear, but she warmed up.
They asked the audience – what is your biggest to do or not to do – contemporary, daily life – to shave my legs or to wax my legs. To wake up or not to wake up.
The used the entire stage. They played the audience.
The text of hamlet when used in original form, made more sense here, in some places, than it did to me in a normal reading.




IN / OUT / IN Director Aditee Biswas 20 Jan 2010
Its like we are prying on an intimate life. We’re not supposed to be watching.
Underwater
Forest
Multilingual
The costumes I loved. Completely simply and an essence of old India, royal.
The playing with hair sequence was unusual and much enjoyable. And added to the intimacy.
The words were inaudible.
There were layers – in costume, in hair, in light, in set, and sound and movement
I can’t say I understood it but I enjoyed watching it.




THE LAST ANNAL OF ALAMGIR, KARNA AND AFTERMATH English 20 Jan 2010
Director Avaan Patel
A text heavy performance with static performance. I’m not sure what was going on. Tom introduced the second piece as a play to be watched but that was completely disconnected to the rest of the performance.
Scenarios from the Mahabharata, with contemporary characterizations.





Mention needed.
THE ORPHAN OF ZHAO
ECDYSIS: THE SNAKE SHEDS ITS SKIN
THE WOLF AND THE GOAT
QUICK DEATH
KIOSK
GARBO
ODYSSEUS CHAOTICUS
MEDEA (Italian)
WHEN I WAS A CHILD
BROKEN IMAGES
CHRONOTOPIA
UMRAO JAAN



We sit and discuss the plays we watch. We share our work. Share as an audience. Yet we are scared to give and not ready to listen to an honest feedback. And then why do I sit here and say nothing. Its not that by listening I am limited. I have received a lot of theatre wisdom by listening.
I just do not see much theatre making a difference. One play will of course take time to make a difference, but after we watch the play what do we do. Nothing. We walk out. Think. Speak. Listen. And nothing.
~ anjalika

TEDA DARPAN

• SOMETIMES THE TEXT DEMANDS A SPECIFIC VOICE WHICH CAN STRENGTHEN THE STORYLINE. ITS NOT NECESSARY THAT THE VOICE BE HEAVY OR SERIOUS, BUT IT MUST BE COMMANDING AND CONVINCING.
• WHEN PEOPLE WATCH A PLAY, THEY TRY TO IMAGINE AND BELIEVE IN WHATEVER THE ACTOR IS SAYING OR DOING. THEY JOURNEY WITH THE ACTOR, SO WHEN THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT LINES OF ACTION RUNNING PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER, IT IS NOT ALWAYS EASY FOR THE AUDIENCE TO KEEP THEM SIMULTANEOUSLY IN MIND. AT SUCH A TIME, WHEN THE ACTOR FORCEFULLY INTERACTS WITH THE AUDIENCE, IT BREAKS THE CONCENTRATION AND FOCUS. IT CAN BE IRRITATING AS WELL; AND DOES IT REALLY MEAN ANYTHING?

SU

medea

In this play using of the voice & music is created different atmospheres on the space which were really helping to the actors & design. As well as design also motivating the actors do certain things in acting, movements, as well as in their speech. The ship made in symbolically in this play which always changes the locals of this play, it has 3 labels of height of vertically when actor speaks from those labels it’s really creating different atmosphere.
@sunita

shraman

In this play what I observed is that, music is not going with the ply because costumes &kind of acting style is not matching with the music. Because the music looks like very contemporary and the performance style looks like old so they are not merging each other.
@sunita

TUMI DAAK DIYECHO KON SAKAALE

• BENGALI CULTURE, BENGALI THEATRE, BENGALI LITERATURE AND THE BENGALI LANGUAGE ARE VERY RICH FIELDS WITH RICH TRADITIONS, AND THESE ARE ALL BROUGHT TO BEAR ON THE PRODUCTIONS OF THE BENGALI STAGE. IN SOME PLACES AND UP TO A CERTAIN POINT THIS IS ALL VERY FINE, BUT WHEN THE CONTENT AND THE CONTEXT IS MORE CONTEMPORARY, THEN THEY CAN BE OUT OF PLACE IN SUCH PRODUCTIONS. IN THIS PLAY FOR INSTANCE, WHAT WAS THE NEED TO TURN REGULAR, DAILY LIFE SPEECH INTO A SOPHISTICATED, LITERARY LANGUAGE? WHEN COLLEGE STUDENTS SPEAK, ITS OBVIOUS THAT THEY WILL USE THE LANGUAGE OF EVERYDAY GIVE AND TAKE. WHERE THE LANGUAGE OF THE ACTOR AND THE LANGUAGE OF THE PLAY ARE THE SAME, WHERE THE ACTOR SPEAKS MORE AS HIMSELF THAN THE CHARACTER, THEN ONLY THE LITERATURE IS VISIBLE, NOT THE PERFORMANCE.

SU

shakuntala

· the play seems to me very well, but the way of presentation had some problems which were disturbing the whole performance.

KIOSK

Play started with a lady sitting right in the of the stage, chewing the gum, staring at the audience n it was complete silence for about 12 to 15 min , she did no physical action , but I would say those 15min I could feel the soul in it. No dialogues but still she was playing the inner so strong that we didn’t feel the need of the words.
Her mixed movements ; doing her daily work at kiosk and with what she grew up with her dream of becoming a rope dancer, was very nicely blended as an idea, but execution made it very shabby n without any soul.
The pulling of the rope every time was very distracting, coz of that the other actions became very mechanical.

SaHiBa

Odusseus Chaoticus - Dreams Corporation Very Unlimited

Anupam

Palangal - Devided by the Bridge

Anupam

The wolf & goat

Suspense starting with light & action created the interest


In this show the expression of voice, rhythm, music, timing, and characterization puppets were so beautiful.


And also using of dramatic actions of their voices was very interesting.


Finding the music for characterizations, set changes were also very good.


Masks were worked in this play, because those were not made for the beauty those for the demand of the script that’s why they are giving the all kind of expression.


@sunita

chandamama door ke

• What’s the need of big space, (wants to create huge space according to the title) if so why did he keep the darkness in the back ground.

• Selecting large space will give you the hugeness.


• Again what is the reason of making the vertical frames on the floor?


• Is that space really helping to the actor?


• If you use the symbols on the stage you should aware abut the materials also.



• What I like is that making depth with the light

@ suman

kiosk

• In terms of design I like this play very much. Because till now in festival I have saw lots of plays all the plays are having a static set which was not defined.(why, what ) But in this play everything has a meaning, suspense, dramatic ness, purpose, & every thing. The play will start like a big shop is going to opening & its goes to UN pack then it’s became very interestingly & finish with like infinity.


• Using the chair without standing (most of the time) like officers in offices.


• In terms of acting what I like is that catching the audience of starting of the play.


• If I remove the all the technicalities from the play what will remain

@suman

KIOSK

Is play main music ki bahut aham bhoomika hai .play ki shuruaat hi music se hai.

Mujhe sabse khaas jo baat lagi wo hai is play ke andar silence ka istamaal karma

Jo ki music ke andar ek zaroori hissa hai ,or jo ek actor ko act karne main help karta hai.music or acting ka bahut achha talmail tha . kiosk

faiz

Achin Ganer Gatha - Its Music

Some very ordinary, day to day life sounds, which can hardly be called musical, were used in the play magnificently to create a music that was theatrical and penetrating at the same time. The body movements and the silences had their own music which was in perfect harmony with the vocals and the music in the dialogues.

Guna

The Doorway- Music/Vocal vs. The Body

While watching this play I had a strong feeling that the Body of the lone actor, a well trained one at that, fall short on connectivity with the vocal pieces that were picked from a particular folk tradition. Moreover, I had a strong feeling that the Body, an athletic one, had less internal music working inside it. The experience would have been of altogether a different dimension if the Body's music had been able to create a harmony with the songs that were used.

Guna

Bol Senai Taloike - A Response

Bidyawati Phukon designed the music of the play, Bol Senai Taloike, in such a way that it remained true to the spirit of the village -folk of Assam whose lives are emerged in the music they breath and live. The glimses of their lives that were depicted apparently discreetly in the play, were in fact connected by a hidden and strong thread of music of the soil. The actors, who are coming of the same soil, had music in their bodies. It was, in fact, the prime factor which gave the experience of the play a different dimension of musicality.

Guna

TILT and THE DOORWAY

FROM COMMUNICATION TO EXPRESSION

As I’d mentioned in my earlier posthttp://brm2010.blogspot.com/2010_01_11_archive.html, I’m not sure whether to herald or mourn the passing of theatre’s dependency on the classic playtext, increasingly visible in several productions. With this passing, several other changes have to be accepted as well. For one, the definitions of theatre are widening, with labels like ‘performance text’, ‘devised pieces’, ‘improvised pieces’, and even ‘choreographed pieces’ becoming more common to define certain kinds of theatre work. And it’s not just a question of labels and definitions. It’s everything from the content to the nature of the performance, and even basic principles and parameters governing the act of theatre.

While watching Jyoti Dogra’s performance in THE DOORWAY for instance, a line that I’d once read somewhere kept playing in my head: “I have a self to express”. In the case of THE DOORWAY it was the actor’s self, thus turning the actor into the subject rather than the medium through which the text is communicated to the audience. But more than that it signaled another shift in the very fundamental principles of theatre, although a subtle one – vis a shift in the emphasis from communication to expression. If the idea of the conventional playtext was often to tell a story, to communicate an idea, now the focus seems to be more on expressing. That is not to say that the basic principle of getting across to the audience is disregarded; just that the need to express is sometimes a tad bit more than the desire to communicate something.

This distinction between expressing and communicating is subtle but important. It implies, for one, that in such works of theatre the scales are titled a bit more towards the personal than the social or communal; that the act of theatre it turning its eye inward, towards the theatre-makers themselves rather than their audiences or their society. This is not in any way intended to be a value-loaded criticism; it is just the observation of a phenomenon. And nor is this phenomenon new; it’s just that it is becoming more visible and gaining acceptability.

And yet, after the performance a TILT, I overheard a member of the audience ask what such a production was doing at a theatre festival. A multimedia piece choreographed by Anusha Lall and involving four dancer-performers, a percussionist and visual projection, TILT too was more about expressing through body and rhythm than about communicating a subject. I found the piece essentially theatrical, although in the absence of a verbalized or overtly physicalized text it was difficult to say what exactly the production was about. And even though I doubt very much if there was a single coherent conceptual thread running through the piece, yet it was clear that there was often a strong subtext running through the performers’ minds. This was visible through the varying degrees of tension in their bodies, their visual focus, and occasionally, through the controlled expressions on their faces. Personally, I was left with the feeling that this could have been made clearer if they’d worked with a little more enjoyment and abandonment and a degree less of control. What I found interesting, though, was the manner in which they dialogued with each other and reacted to the percussionist through the medium of strong footwork; you could get a sense of action and reaction, of point and counter-point at work. There was some attempt at interacting with the visual material projected on the floor of their performance space, but this needed to be better worked out.

Although content did take some flak in the absence of a text, all considering, I would include TILT as a piece of theatre. Maybe its time broaden the boundaries of what constitutes theatre, to accept its multi and inter-disciplinary threads. There was a time in the recent past when much modern Indian theatre placed the playwright’s text at the centre of the performance. Now, in the absence of the emergence of good contemporary playwrighting, it’s time to legitimize shifting focuses within the discipline of theatre and not derogatorily or patronizingly dismiss works with such shifts as pieces of personal or experimental indulgence.

- Scherazade Kaikobad

LIGHT DESIGN AND SPACE
12th Bharat Rang Mahotsav offered oppurtunity to witnesse relationship between space and light design.The unusual design of the spaces for the play provoked light designers to design in different way. e .g light designer JOSE KOSHI for SPINAL CORD, used [20/25] 100 walts bulbs, which not only illuminated the actors but very dramitacally created ambiance for the play.
while watching DOOR WAYS ,Spots on T-stand were next to me which was source of energy not only for actor but also for me as a viwer. This i have never experienced in proscenium ,where we not only try to hide illuminators but also ,it cuts audiance from performers. while at the same time illusion of road created through light design in JOHNNY'S MIDNIGHT GOGGLES was icebreaking. The way in which colours and angles were used in this play were enriching the energy and flow of the narrator.
-- to be continue
--vishnu

THE ORPHAN OF ZHAO

This play showed the politics of life, politics of power, and the sour feelings towards each other when one is in power. This was played by the actors very well. In a very neat n I should not 4get to mention the word "SUBTLE" n "MINIMAL" for their way of performing. There was no extra or superfluous action done, every thing was very precise n so the same I would say 4 the music, which was also explicit. There were maximum 2 to 3 instruments used; the drum n another string instrument. They used a very novel way of showing war on stage; just one action tells the killing of the other, nothing was overdone.
The set design; the chains n half done wall of the Kingdome, though was very suggestive but worked, I mean if u just look at set u can have an idea of what’s on.
Their ending image was very attention-grabbing; there was a coffin n a man sitting still beside it, under the broken wall of the Kingdome and there was a spill of red light all over.

SaHiBa

THE ORPHAN OF ZHAO

I fell in love with the angles of lights used in the production, BRILLIANT LIGHT DESIGN.

Of All The Foreign Plays, I have seen so far, this Chinese play was different, it didn’t provide subtitles of each and every dialogue, but it gave subtitles of the theme of the whole scene so that we could concentrate on visuals n acting manner also very well .

rohit

Devise performance text

In "Tilt" performance there was a inner dialoge. Metal and body texture was very energitic. Incomplitedness,scilance make the admosoher and when came the cross light,
magic start from ther.
I lost her rethim sometime.

In "Strange Lines" give me sence of stability. Its a uncompromicable delling.
and next tecnology will control us.

Like from both, they create thought and invent new way.
Expression..................
Colour.......................
body......................

The Actor's Body in the Plays in 12th BRM

Anupam

The Doorway -A Visual Response

Anupam

text to performance text

TEXT------------------------------PERFORMANCE TEXT

ORIGINAL HINDI PLAYS-------------------------------

TRANSLATIONS------------------------------------------

ADDAPTIONS----------------------------------------------

STORIES-----------------------------------------------------

POEMS-------------------------------------------------------

DIARY-------------------------------------------------------

REPORTAJE------------------------------------------------

AUTOBIOGRAPHIES------------------------------------

BLOGS------------------------------------------------------

AND NOW

GRAPHIC NOVEL----------------------------------------

WOW!!!!!!!!!!! I M LOVING IT.

AND EAGER TO KNOW WHAT’S NEXT?????????????????????

BUT IS IT A POINT TO WORRY ABOUT, FOR THE PLAYWRITES??????

ROHIT

Spinal Cord

Anupam

MIRI ZEEYOREE

SHHHHHHH.............

• CAN I CALL THIS 'PERFORMANCE' OR 'ACTING'? OR SHOULD I NOT LABEL IT AT ALL? THERE IS SOMETHING BEYOND THESE LABELS FOR WHICH THERE IS NO TERMINOIOGY AS YET
• SO SCENELESS WAS THE PLAY. THAT NOT FOR A SECOND DID IT APPEAR THAT THERE WERE SCENE CHANGES TAKING PLACE. NOR WAS IT POSSIBLE TO SEGREGATE COMPONENTS LIKE THE ACTING, THE ENTRY AND EXITS, THE LIGHTING, SETS OR PROPERTIES
• A PIECE OF WORK, A PLAY, WHERE NOTHING WAS LACKING, EVERYTHING WAS COMPLETE IN ITSELF
• SOMETIMES, WHILE WATCHING A PLAY, WE FEEL THAT ITS PACE SLACKENED, OR IT BEGAN TO DRAG,OR THAT THE ENERGY WAS LOW. BUT WHAT DO YOU CALL A PLAY WHERE NOT ONCE DO SUCH THOUGHTS CROSS YOUR MIND? SIMPLY, A 'GOOD' PLAY??

SU

Tedha Darpan/Tilted Mirror

Anupam

THE DOORWAY

Jyoti Dhingra's efforts to reach the crux of one's being and her search for this bare naked truth was patiently watched by all .This congratulated her with her involvement inclusive of her task that is "I am searching". The prime requisites of Grotovsky of unmasking oneself formed the basics of her expression of a work in progress which was about cleansing, exploring . What was commendable about this expression was her daring and intense attempt of finding a new meaning wherein the methodology of searching our core inner being is out in the open (especially in Bahumukh, in an intimate arrangement between jyoti and audience). In that space , every molecule of the senses of the actor the spectator could gather which was also to a certain degree varied in the piece. The time when Jyoti was carried away by her exploration of her own sensuality and "so much love.." as she had put it was perhaps the apex point in her show and yet with her coming closer to the audience to interact was not so much successful perhaps her truth varied in a certain degree and thus what filtered through could not really touch the chords of the spectators.alhough the time and space were apt . Then is it the actor's own work in a performance space which is a matter of concern here when we analyse it. this remains to be answered. Nevertheless, the fervour with which she was working was inspiring and expanded the parameters of how deep and intensely with the power of his/ her concentration one can explore one's feelings , inner being. It was thus to an extent successful in bringing light to an actor's deep searching process. It should be encouraged as a new definition of an ACTOR'S SEARCH FOR TRUTH.
Moon Moon Singh

CHANDA MAMA DOOR KE

SUMMER RAIN

THE SMALLEST ACTION ON STAGE- BE IT SLEEPING,EATING,SPEAKING, OR MERELY DRINKING WATER- DEMANDS CONVICTION IN ACTING

THE EMERGENCY OF ACTION- IS IT IMPORTANT EVERYTIME FOR EVERY LITTLE THING?

SIMPLY SITTING AND TELLING A STORY IS ALSO A FORM OF ACTING

THE ACTOR KEPT CREATING ILLUSIONS AND IMAGES AND KEPT BREAKING THEM

MUSIC CAN BE USED TO BREAK THE MONOTONY, NOT ONLY FOR THE ACTOR BUT FOR THE AUDIENCE AS WELL
SU

Natyanaad Directed by Bansi Kaul

In this performance what I like more is that set. Actually I don't know that what the motivation behind the set still I liked because concept of the performance is going with the set. The style of presentation is presenting the old classics to present time & remembering the old times. Looking at the lines (horizontal, vertical, curved, ramps, cloths, filling the space) material of the set, composition of stage, actors using of the stage labels, water projection all are looking like for me “the old coming with new costumes”

Meri zeeyoree

In this play more I like the music because it’s shows lots of ways to compose theatre music according to the play (subject) & also the whole play leaded by the music In terms of acting & making the whole performance step by step. And also how to bring the music in to performance as well as in the actors.

ELEMENTS WHICH I OBSERVED


What kinds of instruments you need for your text

where you need singers, what kind of song,

Every instrument has a character & rhythm with in it.

How many instruments are need to create for the particular emotion or mood or atmosphere

How to create the atmosphere with the music.

How to create the emotion with the music.

How music should be help to the actors.

How to create Tempo, pitch, energy, movements, lines, sound, rendering the dialogues, pauses etc. (with the actors through the music.)

@ sunita

THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN DESIGNS AND ACTORS

NOW A DAY THE MAJOR ASPECTS OF THEATRE ARE ACTOR AND DESIGN.
THIS TWO ASPECTS GOES TOGETHER AND MAKE A BODY.
THESE TWO ASPECTS HAS ITS OWN ENERGY AND IT REFLECTS DURING A PLAY.
BUT SOMETIME THESE TWO ASPECTS ENCOUNTER EACH OTHER DURING A PLAY.
WHEN THE DESIGN ENERGY DOMINATE THE ACTOR ENERGY THE ENCOUNTER HAPPEN BETWEENTHEM. AND IT IS ALSO A COMBINATION OF TWO DIFFERENT THINGS THAT IS ANIMATE AND INANIMATE. BEING AN ANIMATE ACTOR CHANGES EMOTION EVERY MOMENT.
FOR THIS DESIGN ALSO NEED TO BECOME ANIMATE.


PLAY
“CHANDA MAMA DOOR KE”

THE WHOLE PLAY IS NICE TO SEE.
THE DESIGN ALSO SAYS MANYTHING.
THE ENCOUNTER BEGUN WHEN THE SET AND LIGHT MAKE THEIR
OWN SPACE AND STARTED ENCOUNTERING WITH ACTOR.
IN THE PLAY THE STATIC VISIBLE OF ROPE AND LED LIGHT THROUGHOUT
THE PLAY MAKES THE ENERGY OF THE ACTOR STRUGGLE TO REACH THE ENERGY OF THE DESIGN.



PLAY
“THE SPIRIT PLAY”

THERE IS LOTS OF WHITE LEAFS COVER BOTH STAGE
AND AUDITORIUM IT IS NICE TO SEE.
BUT THE AMOUNT OF LEAF ABSORBS THE ENERGY OF THE ACTORS.
THE ACTORS WERE CONFINED ON ONE SPACE WHICH MAKE OTHER SPACE UNCHARGE WHICH STARTED ENCOUNTER.

PARI

The Doorway

THE ACTOR AS TEXT

It would be premature to generalize or even call it a trend, to either herald or mourn the absence of the playtext in its classic form; but the fact of the matter remains that there is a sizeable number of plays visible at the festival that have not used a conventional playtext - with plot, character, scene division, etc - as the foundation on which their productions are built. Look at productions like THE DOORWAY and TILT (http://brm2010.blogspot.com/2010/01/tilt-and-doorway.html), for example, which prompted comments from the audience like "Is this even theatre?" and "What is this doing in a theatre festival?" respectively.

THE DOORWAY did away with the traditional playwright's script and turned to the actor for its text. Conceived and performed by Jyoti Dogra, here everything that is conventionally regarded as the actor's tools - the actor's body, movement, sound, speech, imagination, stream of consciousness - was converted into the text itself. The result was that what one would normally experience as part of the process of modern actor training was put in front of the audience as the product. And personally, sitting in the audience, I found the experience veering between the unnerving and the liberating, though occasionally slipping into the plain boring. Unnerving, because it blurred the lines between the performer as a person, as an actor, as a character - compartments that as performers we love to maintain so as to keep our precious little sanity intact. Liberating, because it dared to assume that what is essentially an actor's process could be crafted into a somewhat fixed product that would be of interest to a lay audience. And boring, because, for a performance that attempted to play with what is essentially the private inner life and creative process of the actor, it remained little more than an attempt, and a somewhat inhibited one at that. The experience of laying bare that the performance sought to achieve was clearly daring; but the act of total surrender on the part of the performer, of putting herself in a vulnerable position, of removing all safety nets - that was missing. As a result, the exploration into the actor as text didn't go very deep.

However, there were other interesting things at play in the production, viz the sets and the lights. While these are often treated as supplementary elements of design used simply to prop up or enhance the text, here in THE DOORWAY, in the absence of the classic playtext, one could see the potential of their roles beginning to change as well. While it would be reading too much into the production to call them co-actors of the performer on stage, yet it was clearly obvious that there were occasions when the performer was actually dialoguing with them in some form. Interestingly though, unlike the playtext that surrendered its primary function, they did not yield up their classic design function of defining the visual and spatial construction of the production, but rather, sought more roles to play in the text of the performance - whether consciously or not. For instance, it was amusing to note how some light cues were taken a fraction of a second earlier than would be expected, compelling the performer to engage with some areas of the space or to shift focus in her text.

- Scherazade Kaikobad

On the way....

I am curious to see the various kinds of plays in 12th Bharat rang Mahotsov.I decided myself to concentrate the path ways of acting where it emerged and influenced by seeing plays of festival.In opening day I saw "The Door Way" . It was performed and devised by Jyoti Dogra.While i was seeing the Play , it insisted me to memorise the Zar theatre (from Poland)Workshop's( Based on Grotowski Process) body impulse exercises which we undergone(2nd year) last semester. The human body sense the different impulses in different kind of spaces. The spaces in two mode . One physical space and psychological space. She used her voice as repetitive dialogue , noise , mourning to express hers spacial circumstances . By connection with the suggestive Door like iron rod, she created the images and also the spaces what she undergoing through her body in a empty space. But the harmony of voice and the spaces, images what she creating not connected in a powerful manner some times . Apart from that a question arose inside me "The behavioural mannerism of the impulsive body was imitation of Western mannerism or not?". After the ending of the show i read brochure and i knew her training under Grotowski discipline , then my question was going to answer myself " yea it was imitation ".I heard one of the audience of the same play " was it Indian or western style ". It was 7Th Jan state of mind of myself.
After seeing the Play Achin Gnayar Gatha (Bengali) directed by H.Kanhailal on 9Th January, the same question knock my door and again me on the way of searching the door way .This play also try to capture the essence of Kanhailal & sabitri method of physical language of lyrical instinct.Actors were expressed their level best but through the mannerism of artist i saw SabitriMa. "Why i spelt imitation in that two performance( The Door way & Achin Gnayar Gatha) ? Does my way of watching the play have a problem?" asked to H. Kanhailal . He answered me that every actor should imitate first what kind of style he undertakes then only he is able to create his/her own style.

I’m trying to look at the use of the body and space in performances that are non-verbal and compare them to performances that are verbal. I am looking at how successfully the actor is able to be awake on stage, and trying to decipher whether being awake is required for all performances or whether being awake depends of the degree of text being spoken.

I also enjoy watching the audience, and am thus keeping a third eye on actor – audience interaction, and audience response during the performance.

TILT a non-verbal dance performance. Here a team of 4 dancers, a musician, an interactive media designer / executer and a light designer / executer worked together in a 45 minute performance. I sat down expecting the 4 dancers to be alive from head to toe, brimming with energy one gets while dancing. I was waiting for them to interact with their interactive media. I was up front to see their eyes and look at where their eyes would focus.

Perhaps my mistake was to walk in – expecting.

The dancers repeated the same sequence of movements with only a slight variation in the 45 minutes, the interactive media was separate, alone and disconnected from the dancers – expect for one 2-minute interactive sequence. The dancers energy was from their feet till their shoulders - their faces where void of any expression. It was only once or twice that the dancers smiled, and that to seemed like a mistake, a slip when they caught each other’s eye. Even though they stood less that 2 feet away from their audience, and even though there were moments when the dancers were directly facing the audience, their eyes avoided any kind of contact. Their eyes stayed within themselves, and their faces blank.

Perhaps being a dance performance, is why, they used the entire space. They had marked out a white square of flex to dance on surrounded on all fours by black flex. The beginning led me to believe the white was the dance area, but as the performance continued the dancers extended the dance area to the black area, and at one point even to the wooden floor beyond the black flex. One could say this was part of the concept, but I have still not understood whether there is a bigger hidden meaning to the performance or simply a play with the movement sequence. One could say then due to technical difficulties the dancers where led to move off their dance area.

As a whole I was left with a dance performance। Nothing more। Nothing less.
~ anjalika

THE DOORWAY

• A MINUTE INTO THE PERFORMANCE AND THERE WAS A COUGH HEARD ON STAGE. WHO'S COUGH WAS THAT? THE ACTOR'S? THE CHARACTER'S? SOME ONE ELSE'S?
• IN THE MIDDLE OF A PERFORMANCE, IS IT NECESSARY TO PAUSE EVERYTIME TO FIND THE CORRECT IMPULSE AND THEN ONLY CHANGE THE COURSE OF ACTION?
• ACTING WITHIN A FIXED FRAME. WAS THAT TO TIE THE CHARACTER DOWN? OR WAS THAT TO SHOW THE STRUGGLE OF THE CHARACTER ?
• THE ACTOR WORE 3/4 RINGS ON HER FINGURE. WAS THAT PART OF THE ACTOR'S PERSONAL ATTIRE? PART OF THE COSTUME DESIGN ? OR WAS IT A PROPERTY ? IF SO, WAS IT'S USE JUST TO CREAT SOUND ON THE METAL FRAME ?
• DIFFERENT GESTURES CAN CREATE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SOUNDS
• IS THE REPETITION OF WORDS AND SENTENCES A STYLE OF ACTING , OR IS IT TO CONVEY EMOTION ?
• THE MOVEMENT AND SOUND ADDED A DIFFERENT DIMENSION TO THE PEFORMENCE. SITTING IN THE AUDIENCE , IT SOMETIMES FELT LIKE I WAS ATTENDING AN EXORCISM OF SORTS.
• TRANSITION WAS OFETN MADE THROUGH SONG. SOMETIMES SILENCE ITSELF CAN SAY MORE.
• THE LOOK OF THE PLAY WAS HIGHLY DESIGNED. EVEN EVERY ACTION WAS SELECTIVE , SPECIFIC
• TO SUDDENLY INTERACT WITH THE AUDIENCE , AND THAT TOO VERY DIRECTLY - WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE?

SU

ACHIN GAONER GATHA

MAN OF THE MOON ON EARTH

• SOMETIMES WE WISH TO BREAK AWAY AND GO BEYOND OUR MUNDANE, EVERYDAY LIVES BUT BECAUSE OF SOCIETY AND SOCIAL CONDITIONING, OUR BODY IS NOT ABLE TO SUPPORT THIS WISH. AT SUCH TIMES, IT IS ONLY THROUGH OUR MINDS THAT WE CAN DO SUCH THINGS, SAY SUCH THINGS.
• DIALOGUE AND MOVEMENT CAN BREAK THE SILENCE, AND SOMETIMES IT CAN CREATE PIN DROP SILENCE
• EVERY ACTION AND MOVEMENT OF THE ACTOR CAN CONVEY ABOUT THE CHARACTER
• THE SPEECH PATTERN ALSO DEPENDS ON THE STYLE OF MOVEMENT
• A PARTICULAR FORM CAN STRENGTHEN THE CONTENT AND CONCEPTUAL IDEA OF THE PLAY

SU

THE DOOR WAY

BOL SENAI TALOIKE

CALM BEFORE THE STORM

• ON ENTERING THE STAGE DO WE REMAIN OURSELVES, OR ARE WE SOMEONE ELSE?
• SOMETIMES AN ACTOR ON STAGE IS NOT JUST AN ACTOR ON STAGE; HE BECOMES AN ENERGY
• IN THE AUDIENCE, THE TEMPERATURE WAS 4-5 DEGREE CELSIUS, BUT ON STAGE IT WAS 30-35 DEGREE CELSIUS. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? IS THIS JUST BECAUSE OF THE LIGHTS USED? OR IS IT THE MODERN ACTING?
• WITH THE RIGHT KIND OF ENERGY ON STAGE, CLIMATE, TEMPERATURE AND ATMOSPHERE CAN CHANGE

SU

Devise text and performance

"TILT" a devised performance. That we get to know from the book.
A collaboration with particular manner an invent technicality. that is in real life but its not reflect on real life that much.
I got that feelings through watching the performance.
There was one open door way and the feeling of the performance area was under the neath.
And the texture of the woman body, sound and interact with door frame. Give me feelings to look back. I found the difference between door and window.
From the starting to end there was a journy, body was caring the energy.
same time i effected by the emotion.
A number of theatre practitioners, including Jerzy Grotowski and Peter Brook started experimenting and developing the idea of the actor as a creative artist in their own right, as opposed to a functional worker there to carry out the wishes of the writer and director. However, whilst the actor was being encouraged to make creative decisions about how they perform, they were not being encouraged to make decisions about what they perform.

mathematically to days show was on the track, Min's follow the rolls and to arrange technicality.
"Strange lines" by grover. that parallel moving. and some time meet each outher.
I feel a responsibility, maybe make a disturbance on regular way of life.
I don't know how to express. But its inters ting to relate and makes thought.
So i faild like how to learn the rools of life that need in this time also how to break the comfort zone and come out with expression. as we can shear our thought on it......
continue-

TILT

WHEN THE BODY SAID SOMETHING ABOUT THE MIND

• MUSIC CAN GIVE THE RIGHT IMPULSE
• SOMETIMES THE ACTORS/PERFORMERS FOLLOW THE MUSIC AND SOMETIMES THE MUSIC FOLLOWS THE PERFORMENS
• THE PERFORMANCE WAS A WAR AGAINST THE AIR AND AGAINST EMPTINESS,FOUGHT IN CONJUCTION WITH THE MUSIC AND AGAINST THE MUSIC AS WELL
• INTENSITY OF ENERGY WAS SUSTAINED FROM BEGINING TO END

SU