A reimagining of the epic Ramayana through a mind map comprising a sketched model assembled from recycled junk. A film in Nagamese and Chokri on rice cultivators from Phek village of Nagaland. An uproarious physical comedy inspired by Macbeth. A digital art music concert on "tone poems". A dance-theatre act which comments on the growing culture of intolerance in an episodic format.
All this and a few more are part of the annual 'Remembering Veenapani' festival at the magical Adishakti Theatre Lab in Auroville, Pondicherry. Strangely for a path-breaking performing arts company like Adishakti, where the birth of modern Indian theatre is supposed to have taken place, there is very little noise made about this annual festival which commemorates the legacy of Veenapani Chawla (1947 – 2014), the pioneer of experimental theatre in India.
Influenced by the philosophy of Aurobindo and The Mother, Veenapani Chawla is responsible for devising a performance routine that combined both traditional and modern aspects of theatrical genres to present multidimensional works that compelled audiences to commit and engage more deeply. Trained by Patsy Rodenburg, the voice coach of the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, Chawla dabbled in Mayurbhanj Chhau, Kalaripayattu, Koodiyattam, and Dhrupad singing. Her breakthrough moment came in 1981 when she directed Naseeruddin Shah in Sophocles' Oedipus. At Adishakti, which she founded in 1987, she directed and scripted most of the performances. Awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar in 2011 for Theatre Director, her craft and her methodology, especially the highly inventive breathing exercises and voice techniques have been explored in great detail in the 2014 book The Theatre of Veenapani Chawla – Theory, Practice and Performance.
The Adishakti Theatre Lab is a place like no other. The residency attracts only the most passionate performance artists who undergo a rigorous regime of training and rehearsals. Walk in to the vibrant campus at any given time of the day and you are bound to encounter performers deeply engrossed in their their craft, unwary of passersby. Witnessing a theatre festival in such a serene, inspired setting is an experience in itself. None of the shows are ticketed, neither are visiting artists and groups expected to pay anything extra for putting up a show. This was an iron-clad rule Chawla made sure was followed and remains in place even in her absence.
But not many make a beeline for this four-year-old annual festival which brings together some very original pieces of performance art. For the last two years, Adishakti has been trying to raise money via crowdfunding to pay artists and troupes a decent fee for the works they come and perform. But to keep the project of Adishakti going as a fine crucible of experimentation requires solid financial backing.
Remembering Veenapani 2018 ends on 18 February