30th July 2007 New Teaching term at NSD begins New term begins. I have been assigned two jobs. First, to continue taking lectures on Modernism and Visual Culture with the first year. Second, to devise a new 'multi-media' input for the senior batches. Both assignments are very exciting. The first one has been modified a little. Last year, I began by talking on Modernism/Modernity as a distinct period and as an umbrella for the Arts. I discussed two initial (and to date, dominant) branches of modernism in drama - realism and naturalism. Later into the year, I covered Ibsen and Chekhov in detail and connected their grammar to visual arts (Fine Arts and cinema) in order to broaden the engagement with Modern Theatre. This time round, I have been suggested to include lectures on autobiographical writing before arriving at dramatic text. Maxim Gorky fits in well here; his work transformed personal history into writing and declared the emergence of self as a site for narrative for the first time in literature. I will be citing excerpts from 'My Childhood' and contrasting them with Gandhi's 'My Experiments With Truth'; another autobiographical piece, though poles apart in form and intention. Any readings/references/suggestions for this purpose are welcome. Devising a new 'multi-media' input seems more challenging a job. NSD training has had this as a scant and scattered input till now. Pressing need is felt to give it form and structure, though I have been forewarned that this move might not find favour with many in-house. There still seems to be present a significant lobby that sees little (if at all any) point in experimenting with live and recorded media. Further, an organised open debate on the issue is being averted for reasons not clear to me yet. I plan to structure the input in a dual mode; theory and practice. Theory will include an orientation to the post 1950's theatre and the emergence of Performance Art or Live Art. I will conduct a brief presentation on the following:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8th May 2006 2nd Term, MA Visual Language of Performance, Wimbledon School of Art As a whole, this paper extends and explores to a greater depth the subject matter initiated and outlined in the first term proposal while introducing newer areas of focus and exploration that might seem appropriate for the sake of further investigation. As before, it continues to work in a two-fold manner: the phenomenon of trans-sexuality being its context along with a continued investigation in a rehearsal methodology in order to realize the context as a performance art piece. The first term paper was informed by the practice of and legend behind the Indian hijra community. This served as the initial point of departure for a case study in trans-sexuality as it exists (and that has existed for centuries) in the subcontinent, where the mythology of the hijra lends its legend to the community’s continued presence and struggle on the margins of social sphere. This paper broadens its scope of discussion of trans-sexuality by citing etiological and other discourses in western and other primitive societies and discusses the current dilemmas that surround the transsexual phenomenon. The first reported sex-change operation took place in Germany in 1931. Trans-sexuality, or that later came to be known as ‘Gender Dysphoria’ had previously been viewed in psychoanalytic literature as an undifferentiated perversion. It began to claim attention, both within popular media and medico-worlds, with the much publicized surgery of Christine (George) Jorgensen in Denmark in 1952. Harry Benjamin, US endocrinologist, asserted that Jorgensen’s claim was that she ‘was a woman trapped within a man’s body, which was indicative of a unique ‘illness’ distinct from transvestitism and homosexuality, perhaps conditioned by endocrine factors, and not amenable to psychotherapy.’¹ Trans-sexual, who? While the term was used by Cauldwell (1949c) before it was pulled into mainstream jargon by Benjamin, several discourses exist on the rationale behind trans-sexuality today. The dominant one views it as a biological phenomenon, though it also acknowledges its occasional advisory support from psychotherapeutic and psychoanalytical experts. Medical diagnosis rests on behavioral observation which is assessed in conjugation with physical evidence (characteristics of the opposite sex manifest in the body) and a medium - term (pre and post-operative) ‘patient watch’. Hormonal alterations of the nervous system of developing fetuses seem to cause the disconnect between the gender mapping of the brain and the physical sex of the body. This discourse has increasingly gained support within the camp as it rationalizes trans-sexuality as a naturally occurring phenomenon (for as long as man has lived) and not a socio-psychological aberration, or gender perversion. It emphasizes distinction to be made between the gender, the sex and the gender appearance of an individual. It roots gender in the internal identity map of what a person believes oneself to be and notes sex in the physical genitalia the person may seem to possess/ be born with. Gender appearance, on the other hand seems to be a coalescence of social forces affecting the image and behaviour of the individual concerned. By thus discretely slicing these aspects of gender-construction and perception, it asserts that a trans-sexual is at odds with his/her body. He/she possesses the brain of a gender within the body of the opposite physical sex he/she is born with. Thus, as the individual grows older, repulsion for the body he/she is born with becomes increasingly unbearable and sex-change then, becomes the ultimate corrective measure. Most current debate revolves around the legitimacy of such a discourse. While critics point out the lack of hard evidence; self-diagnosis still being the primary ‘symptom’, they also cite cases of the ‘con’ – outright deception on part of patients who conjured accounts of misery in compliance with previous case-based medical research in trans-sexuality in order to appear suitable for a surgery. Post-operative success rate still leaves much to be desired, which leads critics to compare this phenomenon with ‘the temporary solace in consumer spending (the illusions and promise of consumerism)’ and ‘the transitory euphoria of a drug-induced trance’. Because most confessions are expressed in how gender is socially and culturally perceived and verbalised, critics believe that transsexuals are ‘in the danger of becoming surgical junkies as they strive for an idealized sexuality via surgical commodities.’² The exact number of transsexuals in any given population will probably never be accurately known, the best current estimate lying at one in every thirty thousand. Trans-sexual, the mythic Apart from the Indian hijra community (the legend of which was dealt in considerable detail in the previous research paper), other pre-modern societies also seem to have records of trans-sexuality, though in varying forms and practices. Gallae, the Phrygian worshippers of the Goddess Cybelle existed in ancient Rome. Once decided on their choice of gender and religion, physically male Galle ran through the streets throwing their lopped genitalia into houses as a ritualistic act. This was considered a blessing by the household that received them which, in return, nursed the Gallae back to health. Gallae then, ceremoniously received female clothes and assumed a female identity. Winkte, among the Sioux could assume the complete roles of their preferred gender. Physical females lived as male warriors while physical males lived their lives as women, where the male castrated himself by riding a horse on a special hard saddle to crush his testicles. Most pre-modern renditions of trans-sexuality seem to have been sheltered by mythology and nourished by ritual beliefs, while its modern comprehension is disseminated by medical journals and, as will be briefly alluded to under the next sub-heading, the media. Trans-sexual, celebritism and the media While media opened careerist opportunities for the likes of Jorgensen, casually called ‘the transie matyr’ and brought the case of trans-sexuality out of its closet, its penchant for sensationalism has helped little to spread awareness about the subject. ‘The tragic case of a woman who was once called Donald (People, 5/11/67), I want to be a man again (Sunday mirror, 1/5/83), Sex-swap girl wants to be a guy again (News of the World, 7/3/93)…This attention is a double-edged sword for transsexuals. Individuals may be personally and professionally damaged by the exposure they receive, while the readers are entertained, though very rarely enlightened.’³ Trans-sexuality and my show As is evident from the above stated research, much as it may be legitimised by medical discourses and psychoanalyses, contemporary understanding of trans-sexuality remains as obscured as its preceding mythic acceptance in pre-modern societies. Its ambivalence resides deep in personalized narratives of self-perception, its strength in watching the gender rules bend and its ambition in freeing itself for expression. The narrative for the performance is a collage of personal accounts of transsexuals collected from varied sources, while the presence of visual projection is being conceived as the presence (and simultaneously the absence?) of the other; a recurrent theme within trans-sexuality whether expressed in terms of gender identity, genitalia, opposite-sex acceptance and/or the romanticisation of the post-‘transitive’ life. My practical work with video projection in performance space in the 2nd term has helped me realise key ideas and revealed clues for further development in a defined direction. The theme of ‘borders’ for The Marcel Project gave me an opportunity to investigate the intriguing juxtaposition of the virtual, the (materially) real and the animated movement in performance space. By projecting parts of my body (severing them, virtually) onto pieces of my own clothes (physically, really present) that are worn over them, I not only was able to comment (without textual, aural support) on the historical process of clothing (forcing it to expose the skin it is meant to hide and thus relate to the theme of ‘borders’ permeably) by ‘reversing’ its function but also was able to explore alternative surfaces and textures for projection. The animated ‘mini me’ ran and stumbled frantically through the scattered imaged of my body-in-parts, trying to search for an exit from the (discursive) labyrinths of my own body. The workshop broadened my exploration by identifying the following aims: · To re-examine the operative hierarchy within the process of direction: Traditionally, the director occupies a central position in the development of a theatrical piece. S/he is the primary interpreter of a text, pins down its meaning in form and style and leads the performer/s to embody his/her ideas in working towards a performance. I need to challenge this traditional notion and location of the director as the ‘captain of the ship’ and transpose it instead, to a shared, collaborative, decentred and in this way, disseminative space. · To enable the director to become an active participant in the performative space by feeding live stimulus through multi-media. I am inspired by the collaboration between visual artists and performers in the area of contemporary dance and movement. The element of ‘liveness’ and ‘chance’ in performance arts is heightened when fresh stimulus (visual or aural) creates the opportunity for newer associations to occur as the performance unfolds. The Process · Stage I We started with a (minimalist) piece of text a couple of days before the workshop. The piece of text chosen for this workshop is given below. It was excerpted from an ancient Indian religious prose (Shivpurana, Basavanna 703) that addresses the legend of Ardhnarishwar and is to be re-read in the context of my exploration of the contradiction that exists in the eastern practice of trans-sexuality and its legend. The performer freely related to the piece within her respective cultural position by penning down incidents and memories from her own life as well as researching other pieces of text/poetry etc. that connected themselves to the given context. I, on the other hand, constructed imagery and sound through which my engagement with the piece was best expressed. For this, I pre-recorded and reproduced images of the performer verbalising phallic and castration related anxieties and animated each reproduction in ways that would marry the visual with the text. The self that hovers in between We met on the day of the workshop with the researched material. The performer took the lead by beginning to perform and inter-weave her memories with other narratives that have been collected through other sources. As she made her path into the piece, I began to interact with her performance by feeding live and recorded images in the performance space. Interestingly, the chronology of the performance events was decided by the order in which they were hand-picked out of a jar by the members of the audience each time the performer broke. This element of ‘chance’ allowed the performance narrative to be re-arranged and told in a manner unique to that time and occasion. · Stage III We identified the moments that worked for all of us – the audience, the performer and myself through a process of feedback and analytical discussion and highlighted the ones that displayed potential for further development. Achievements of this workshop: · We were able to devise a methodology for creating original performances that are sourced from the performer’s and director’s lives and are a result of their collaboration. · We were able to heighten the ‘liveness’ of performance art by opening up space for ‘incidental’ interaction to happen between the performer, the director and the audience in performance through the interface of body, technology and participating audience. · We were able to take the relationship between the real (body of the performer) and the virtual (projected images) a step further by constantly re-imagin(in)g the performer with multimedia intervention. Further development of work I am in the process of devising a piece for performance based on the knowledge of my research and practical work. This paper builds a theoretical framework within which my show is to be developed, whereas my practical presentation shall entail detailed description of the proposed show itself. Amitesh Grover Notes: ¹ Dwight B. Billings and Thomas Urban, The Socio-Medical Construction of Transsexualism: an interpretation and critique, Blending Genders: Ed. Richard Ekins and Dave King: London, Routledge (1996). ² Dwight B. Billings and Thomas Urban, The Socio-Medical Construction of Transsexualism: an interpretation and critique, Blending Genders: Ed. Richard Ekins and Dave King: London, Routledge (1996). ³ Dave King, Cross-dressing, sex-changing and the Press; Blending Genders: Ed. Richard Ekins and Dave King: London, Routledge (1996). Bibliography 1. Richard Ekins and Dave King (Eds.), Blending Genders: Social Aspects Of Cross- Dressing and Sex-Changing, London, Routledge (1996). 2. Julia Epstein And Kristina Straub (Eds.), Bodyguards: The Cultural Politics Of Gender Ambiguity, Great Britain, Routledge (1991) 3. Ward Ivan, Castration: Ideas In Psychoanalyses, United Kingdom, Icon Books (2003) Michael Huxley and Noel Witts (Eds.), The Twentieth Century Performance Reader, London, Routledge (1996) Further reading Julia Epstein And Kristina Straub (Eds.), Bodyguards: The Cultural Politics Of Gender Ambiguity, Great Britain, Routledge (1991) Stanton B. Garner, Jr., Bodied Spaces: Phenomenology And Performance In Contemporary Drama, New York, Cornell University Press (1994) |
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22nd January 2006
Why Theatre
I have often been asked this dreaded question:
In a world where television, films and the digital media have pretty much taken the cake (and perhaps devoured it too!), why did I choose theatre?
And worse, why am I still clinging onto it?
Well, my response(s) might never get politer than this...
I occasionally ask myself how many different ways there are in which I can talk to people around me, talk about something that I feel needs some cautious address, some time to be spent on, some thought...
The first and obvious way is that we get together and chat, but people in this circle of communication are often limited (to friends and family) and the nature of conversation is often informal, unstructured, bound by social protocols and easily usurpable (I know I invented a word there!), at most times, by all the witty and humour-abled species (no, no offence meant...infact, I am usually grateful to them for having rescued situations from embarrassing whirlpools!), while on the other hand, lectures, talks and seminars may be too (academically) ordered and individually channeled, leaving little room for collective participation and the fun of
spontaneity. Television and films have a wider reach but operate industrialistically (another invention there), which means finance, networks and resources are huge considerations that have to be negotiated, if not surrendered to. Documentaries, short films (and films emerging from, say, the dogma movement) succeed in getting around a lot of this, but in the end, do need basic film equipment (camera, technicians, editing studios etc.) that again requires financial
investment, something a person like me is incapable of. Staging walks, protests, dharnas privileges clarity of position and seeks to collect and display support in numbers for the actual staging to happen, something I will never have the guts for. The internet is free - err...but is not tangible, corporeal - its anonymous virtuality being its boon and its bane as well.
So, what am I left with?
What began as a hunch is becoming a reality. Theatre is increasingly becoming precious to and for me because one only needs to be willing, and I really mean just willing to make it. We may start with the minimum - say, just a performer and then, add on dimensions to the extent we can, we are able to. It might not be as convenient as a chat with friends, it might not reach as many people as mass media is able to reach and it might give birth to more confusion and
questions than cut out neat, precise answers and solutions with governance or legal predilection for implementational value.
In fact, it is('nt) funny how I usually enjoy rehearsals far more than a show. They also are performance-of-sorts for me; actors do a scene while directors watch, then directors perform the scene while actors watch, questions are raised (about general social phenomenon or
pointed character/person psyche specific) and problems cited, relationships in fictional and factual spaces (between cast, crew, text, visuals, sounds etc.) are lived and re-lived, heads banged into one another for that one moment not working or for not being able to find the right word, action, visual, whatever, and the ecstasy of discovery (if any). Infact, what do we do in theatre, if not invent a reality (of a completely different nature) by ourselves that interacts with the everyday reality of ourselves and our audience. I think this is what I enjoy the most in theatre - creating this reality with others, for the sake of another that we live everyday.
Also, before we hail theatre for being the (aesthetic) mommy/child/battle ground of all other art forms, being capable of inviting, gathering with open arms other art forms and pulling them together in its belly, it is first, foremost and al-ready, for me, what other forms of communication discretely are. It is informal yet structured, determined yet spontaneousus, discursive yet entertaining, grounded in space and time (the place of performance) yet free of its tyranny, introspective yet empathetically remonstrative, protest-ive (inventions! inventions!), capable of different levels of address (from a collective to an individual) and most of all live, corporeal yet imaginative, ephemeral. It could be each one of these or all-at-once.
Yet, this is not an argumentnt in favour of theatre against other forms, but merely a personal preference for it, keeping in mind my own limitations (of finance, of other social disabilities and the like) as a person. Nor is this any justification for theatre's limited means. I do believe theatre could do with far more human, financial, infrastructural and technical support than at present might be allowed/accessible to it and a lot more good will have been done then. But, while all these elements are becoming vital for its generic growth and survival, they still aren't (and never shall be) essential to making theatre.
All is dispensable, but for (an empty) space, a performer and somebody watching!
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16th January 2006
Term I, 2005-06, MA Visual Language of Performance, WCA
This research paper aims to work in a two-fold manner. First, it outlines the context in which the research is placed and second, it seeks to develop a methodology by which the context of research will be developed into an original, multi-media performance through the process of rehearsals with performer/s.
The context of this paper is the examination of altered gender identity in the wake of trans-gender practice and trans-sexuality. The Indian hijra community serves as the initial point of departure as case study of trans-sexuality as it exists (and that has existed for centuries) in the subcontinent and the mythology of the hijra that lends its legend to the community’s continued presence and struggle on the margins of social sphere.
Gender realities are a major construct of our surrounding social realties. I call them a construct, and not a naturally occurring phenomenon as is traditionally understood to be the case. Like all social realities, that are a product of evolution of human beliefs and ideas through the thread of tradition in time, perception and practice of gender (and gender roles) is also a derived idea. Its manifestations are as varying and distinctive as there are different cultures and civilizations. It is hardly an exaggeration to state that gender identity is as much discursive as it may be biological, and by that very nature open to interpretation, beliefs and local practice. By this very logic, gender identity then becomes subservient to the complicated expanse of the human predicament rather than dictating its very nature. Gender identity (and the emerging gender role) now stands, not as eternally unshakeable way of being but an option of expression of self that one can choose for oneself. This paper will deal with the issue of trans-gender identity and how trans-sexuality and its performative practice subvert (and often advertently re-iterate) the performance of traditional and modern gender roles in eastern and western cultures.
This research paper is interested in exploring the ambiguous nature of trans-sexuality through the legend of the ardh-narishwar in Hindu mythology. Half-man, half woman, this avatar of lord Shiva has been hailed for centuries for representing the perfect state of being. If this legend lends a mythology of origin to the hijra community, so does it harbour ideas that question some elementary belief systems of the community itself. The community prides itself in absorbing and re-gurgitating the ‘feminine’, trying its best to overcome and override its masculinity by castration and other less biologically extreme ways. In this way, most sects end up re-emphasizing the Indian gender stereotype by adorning sarees, bangles and keeping long hair, believing that by this apparent transformation, the (performative) identity of other gender is attained. This paper attempts to relate to (and in this sense, return and revise) the idea of the trans-sexual by (re) visiting the metaphor of the ardh-narishwar today. It seeks to investigate the growing difference between the legend and its communal manifestation, and contrast the idea of the transsexual in orient and occidental cultures. It asks whether there may be (or has been) an alternate (gender) identity (and a third gender?) made possible through and in the practice of trans-sexuality, and in this way talk back to the dichotomies of the ‘he’, the ‘she’ and overlapping identities of the trans-gender.
The context of this paper is the examination of altered gender identity in the wake of trans-gender practice and trans-sexuality. The Indian hijra community serves as the initial point of departure as case study of trans-sexuality as it exists (and that has existed for centuries) in the subcontinent and the mythology of the hijra that lends its legend to the community’s continued presence and struggle on the margins of social sphere.
Gender realities are a major construct of our surrounding social realties. I call them a construct, and not a naturally occurring phenomenon as is traditionally understood to be the case. Like all social realities, that are a product of evolution of human beliefs and ideas through the thread of tradition in time, perception and practice of gender (and gender roles) is also a derived idea. Its manifestations are as varying and distinctive as there are different cultures and civilizations. It is hardly an exaggeration to state that gender identity is as much discursive as it may be biological, and by that very nature open to interpretation, beliefs and local practice. By this very logic, gender identity then becomes subservient to the complicated expanse of the human predicament rather than dictating its very nature. Gender identity (and the emerging gender role) now stands, not as eternally unshakeable way of being but an option of expression of self that one can choose for oneself. This paper will deal with the issue of trans-gender identity and how trans-sexuality and its performative practice subvert (and often advertently re-iterate) the performance of traditional and modern gender roles in eastern and western cultures.
This research paper is interested in exploring the ambiguous nature of trans-sexuality through the legend of the ardh-narishwar in Hindu mythology. Half-man, half woman, this avatar of lord Shiva has been hailed for centuries for representing the perfect state of being. If this legend lends a mythology of origin to the hijra community, so does it harbour ideas that question some elementary belief systems of the community itself. The community prides itself in absorbing and re-gurgitating the ‘feminine’, trying its best to overcome and override its masculinity by castration and other less biologically extreme ways. In this way, most sects end up re-emphasizing the Indian gender stereotype by adorning sarees, bangles and keeping long hair, believing that by this apparent transformation, the (performative) identity of other gender is attained. This paper attempts to relate to (and in this sense, return and revise) the idea of the trans-sexual by (re) visiting the metaphor of the ardh-narishwar today. It seeks to investigate the growing difference between the legend and its communal manifestation, and contrast the idea of the transsexual in orient and occidental cultures. It asks whether there may be (or has been) an alternate (gender) identity (and a third gender?) made possible through and in the practice of trans-sexuality, and in this way talk back to the dichotomies of the ‘he’, the ‘she’ and overlapping identities of the trans-gender.
In an age where most creative production is bound by financial and administrative considerations and perception and address of artistic endeavours multi-layered, fragmented and suffering from media onslaught there are limited options that theatre, or performance arts, can choose from.
One of these is the return of performance arts to the intimacy and trust in address (and in space) of a performance that only the local and traditional arts could boast of. A single performer (at most two) putting on personas of characters in order to tell a story in a folk idiom, where the distinguishing line between the performer as entertainer and actor with his personas and characters never gets blurred. Bertolt Brecht has often quoted this phenomenon in his development of the ‘alienation effect’ for his actors.
But the method to develop this ‘return’ needs to be re-invented afresh. Unlike the Grotowskian belief (where the ritual of the actor is sufficient to invoke meaning in performance), it is evident today that a single actor-body in performance is no longer sufficient to express and invoke multi-layered meanings. Multi-media and the need of the (ephemeral) image need to take charge where the actor may not go. But unlike the present approaches which see multimedia as another support tool for the performer, I conceive it to be a presence and thereby an intervention of the performer who does not perform, namely the director.
The rehearsals may happen in three stages.
One of these is the return of performance arts to the intimacy and trust in address (and in space) of a performance that only the local and traditional arts could boast of. A single performer (at most two) putting on personas of characters in order to tell a story in a folk idiom, where the distinguishing line between the performer as entertainer and actor with his personas and characters never gets blurred. Bertolt Brecht has often quoted this phenomenon in his development of the ‘alienation effect’ for his actors.
But the method to develop this ‘return’ needs to be re-invented afresh. Unlike the Grotowskian belief (where the ritual of the actor is sufficient to invoke meaning in performance), it is evident today that a single actor-body in performance is no longer sufficient to express and invoke multi-layered meanings. Multi-media and the need of the (ephemeral) image need to take charge where the actor may not go. But unlike the present approaches which see multimedia as another support tool for the performer, I conceive it to be a presence and thereby an intervention of the performer who does not perform, namely the director.
The rehearsals may happen in three stages.
- The performer improvises pieces in a collage-like fashion with text (factual and fictional) and materials, identifying and experiencing moments where s/he engages fully with the context in the first stage. In this stage, emphasis is to be laid on the psychological and physical engagement of the performer with the context, where the director locates moments how, when and where this engagement can be interrupted and challenged with media.
- Spatial and multimedia stimulus is to drive the second stage of rehearsals towards developing a non-linear, multi-layered narrative exploration through the confrontation of the actor with the media. It is here that the possibility of conflict is to be explored between the actor and the surrounding space and media. This stage should be able to construct a skeletal structure of the final performance.
- And the third stage may see the grind of runs wherein the collage is pulled together to chart out a performance journey.
The aim of this methodology is to create a directorial and performance aesthetic that emerges from the organic truth of the makers prioritizing the interaction between the performance and its audience and to investigate the creation of alternative relationships between pleasure and culture. It also seeks to relocate the position of the director as a conceptualiser, facilitator (of design in space and media) and a non-performing artist. As is evident, the latter part of this paper prepares a map of practice ‘on-the-floor’, the premise of which needs to be tested before any degree of reflection is possible.
Braun, Edward, The Director And The Stage: From Naturalism To Grotowski, Great Britain, Methuen London ltd (1985).
Butler, Judith, Bodies That Matter: On The Discursive Limits Of ‘Sex’, New York, Routledge (1993).
Butler, Judith, Gender Trouble: Feminism And The Subversion Of Identity, New York, Routledge (1990).
Foucault, Michel, The History Of Sexuality Volume I: An Introduction, Hurley (trans.), New York, Vintage (1980).
Open University, Popular Culture: Form And Meaning Block 4, Unit 16 & 17, Pleasure, Great Britain, Pindar Print Ltd.(1981)
Sullivan, Nikki, A Critical Introduction To Queer Theory, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press (2003).
Further Reading:
Delgado, M. Maria & Heritage, Paul, In Contact With The Gods: Directors Talk Theatre.
Bloom, Michael, Thinking Like A Director: A Practical Handbook.
Shepherd Simon, Theatre, Body And Pleasure.
Bachellard, The Poetics Of Space.
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30th October 2005
This piece is written while embarking upon the first collaborative project at Wimbledon College of Art, London as part of MA in Performance Art.
The whole idea of picking up an existing theatre text and asking whether it needs to be adapted or not, bases itself on the traditionally central importance and presence of a text in the first place. It is a condition to begin to do a play that all of us have assumed (with well-founded reasons for it to be so, ofcourse) : as performers we must look for a piece of text (classic, contemporary or unheard of) and then begin to build our performance on (and sometimes) around it.
More often than not, this is an attempt to make up for our own lack of writing/scripting skills - we would have written the plays we perform if we possessed the talent, being the popular belief!. We pick up words that already have been through a crucial filtration (the act of publishing, previous performances, reviews etc., their quality of test and critique rest assured). We then find it more objective (convenient too, may be?) to engage and disengage (in parts) with the words and thoughts of the script-writer through our process of rehearsals and our eventual performance.This is all very well. But if we, as theatre directors, acknowledge our limited play - writing talents, yet feel the need to re-write and adapt, that stems out of our will to contemporarise our performances, is then adaptation the only way?
I am currently in the middle of a project that might end up addressing this question.
The project, led by Douglas O’Connell (MA Tutor, Visual Language of Performance, Wimbledon School of Art) began with an idea - investigating 'safety' in present London. And underlying is the methodology we are following to work towards our performance:
Step1 – to interview people on ideas of safety and record these on tapes.
Step 2 – edit these interviews individually (in audio format) to build a narrative (linear or non-linear), convert them into soundscapes and discover links, overlaps within them.
Step3 – pick-out the overlaps and frame/invent a live performance around it by:
a) choosing or writing pieces of texts (narrative, poetry, reports…anything that is relevant), b) selecting and creating images and moving pictures/graphics for the projected media
c) designing space and creating atmosphere with all the above elements in it
Step 4 - rehearsing with actors and with all of the above elements
Step 5 – uploading the soundscapes (with interviews as narratives, refer step – 2) on a pre-selected site on the web (the site that is up already to publicise the play) and encouraging audience members to download any soundscape (which they most relate to) onto their i-pods, mp3-players or burn them on to a disc. (for people without one, very basic and cheap mp3 players are available at ticket counters)
Step 6 – the structure of performance:
a) on the day of the show, audience members are asked to collect at various points in the city, to locate a performer there and immediately put their ipods,mp3 (which already has the soundscape) on.
b) follow the performer through the city as they listen to the soundscape, to the site of performance and witness the successive performance in that space.
As you might have noticed, the piece restricts its target audience (only techno-savvy and techno-willing can participate). Nevertheless, the piece goes well beyond the obvious implications of the word `safe(ty)' (the interviews are to explore personal and private notions, fears and activities attached to the word where the interpretation of the word `safe' is broad-based and open-ended to facilitate all understandings of its layers). It is also intended to play around with the function of technology (in this case, our ipods and the like, that create self-absorbing/obsessive `safe' worlds) that actually, increasingly isolates us rather than connecting us. As theatre workers, this project is evidently pushing us out of our own safety-nets too, by challenging our conceived ideas of building, rehearsing and performing theatre. And in so doing, it intends to transcend the conventional 'safe' notions of how a theatre performance works or should work.
We are still in the middle stages of this project and the parameters are shifting as we are progress…
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27th October 2005
The following is extracted from an article I wrote for a theatre magazine eSeagull Theatre Quarterly (in India) recently. Its a collection of thoughts on the relevance of adaptation of texts in theatre today.
...All of us have come across ‘period literature’ of varying nature and intensity. A sensitive piece of period literature, that would have been very contemporary when written, not only illustrates its own times (in painstakingly minute physical detail), but also becomes a breathing slice of the times it is written in. I often love to, for example, smell a Premchand situation and character while reading his pieces.
But the issue of representation of a period acquires several dimensions once a text is picked up by the Arts – Performing Arts, Fine Arts or the Media. While Periodisation is perhaps at its most authentic in say, a museum that preserves utensils, clothes, coins, weapons etc. of a certain period, it begins to get framed and negotiated as our medium of viewing changes. A documentary or a photograph of a period might capture a period with the least artistic and interpretive aspirations. But as one moves to narratives (that can include personal accounts, stories and plays), Fine Arts and Performance Arts that attempt to deal in and with a period, these very aspirations play a huge role. Plays and films often seek to recreate the text’s atmosphere, situation and characters hoping that this would invoke the period in question. Reverence for the creator of the piece (in most cases, the ‘sacred’ writer) automatically bars the possibility of thoughts and ideas that re-contextualise the piece, fearing that this might compromise the creator’s merits!
By its very nature, historisization is necessarily a subjective act – of the mind that expresses (that, which documents, fictionalizes or illustrates), of the publisher, the producer and of the time in which it is read. This issue of representation of a period, especially in Performance Art, is not without problems: the first and foremost being authenticity. While a script or a story may instruct about its times’ social fabric through a situation, plot, characters and language, comprehensive knowledge about the period in question is still inaccessible. Other sources like documentation in books are pieces of information. They can inform us about building material, clothing, lifestyles but can not sensitise us to their lives. Unlike the classical dances, theatre does not even possess a preserved grammar of gesture and performance that, to some degree, becomes a visual (behavioural) and aural characteristic of a particular period.
So, for representation’s sake, performing groups tend to imitate how representations before theirs have been constructed i.e. in films, plays, paintings etc. and in the process end up becoming a copy of a copy of a copy….! (The kotha scene is a classic example –one only needs to visit the raw business-like quality of a kotha to contrast it with Bollywood films that have always played this scene with a decorative sensuality to seduce its viewer.)
Further, the same story or script is picked up in different times and inevitably performed differently even if the intention is to recreate the story’s period precisely. This could be the result of increasing information, evolving performance formats, technological advancements, social and commercial commitments and an ever-changing sub-conscious understanding of the world we live in. A two-hour play is barely manageable today while a full-length (3hr.) was a norm not so long ago. Let alone the times when plays ran for an entire day or the whole night! (They still do, but in parts of the world that are very different from ours).
The piece of period text is then, an instrument – of expressing the writer’s sensibilities, the producer or publisher’s intentions, the performing group’s commitments and its audience understandings. This inevitable subjective permeation through individual and social frames, uncontrollably and (un) consciously upsets the process of looking at a period objectively. This makes it impossible to access the period in question in its authentic entirety. So does this mean that period plays cannot be done?No, and yes. No, because it is an impossible and hollow task (Apart from showcasing the skills of an actor or a director, it serves no other purpose). Yes, because it can be extremely useful in re-assessing our situation today. And this is possible only through the process of adaptation. We must ‘touch’ the performance of period texts in ways that transport them to our current times. This can happen through directorial, authorial, actor-al, visual and/or aural interventions.
Adaptation can mean different things at different times. Representational alterations without touching the text - Anuradha Kapur’s Antigone used video illustration of Gujarat riot victims to re-locate Antigone’s testimony and Peter Brook’s Mahabharat played the epic out in a savage, primitive land. Interpretation confrontations - Dinesh Thakur’s Anji extended the closure of performance by hanging herself where the play-text ends at a monologue before. And Text re-writing, devised and improvised pieces - Roysten Able’s Othelo built a whole structures on and around the original piece. These are examples of interventions that place the viewer’s contemporary sensibilities within a period text. Even the much-cursed commercial interests - the romanticised notion of the ‘wild, wild west’ and the international sale of the traditional and exotic India, make representations belong to a ‘global’ age!
And it is only here that the performing team actually contributes. It is not only in what it does but how it does what it does that it shares its presence with the author and the audience. Its only when these texts, especially period-specific ones, have been engaged with, through the body of the performer and the mind of the performing team, that they would cease to be false museum pieces and breathe a life of their own. Adaptation, then becomes truly a social and political act that is ‘performed’ between the performing team and the audience. Only here will ‘Periodation’ cease to be a false attempt in looking at a period objectively or at constructing hollow notions, types and images of a particular ‘times’ in question. Instead, it will begin to be an instrument through which we can debate our today by looking at our history, our present through our past. Adapt-less performance pieces are illegitimate (or rather legitimate) children of popular myths, mindless belief-systems and the ever-exploding media kitsch...
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