Folklore in an arty dabba

From the dusty, winding and narrow bylanes of Udaipur and the Marwad region, comes Maya, a kaavad katha performance rendered in a contemporary style.

The ancient folk art form of storytelling, which originated in these parts, is being brought to life by theatre artiste Akshay Gandhi and his crew, with this show that is a staging of 12 tales, all written by Gandhi himself. “Kaavad katha is a form of storytelling where the kavadiya or storyteller narrates stories with the help of his kavad, which is a small wooden box containing many doors.

As each door is opened, a new painting is revealed and the story continues in keeping with what the painting depicts,” explains the Rajasthani performer, who was inspired to revive this fascinating craft when he realised it was slowly falling into extinction.

“In the old days, these artistes used to come home and narrate stories based on history or mythology and find ways to connect each story to the live’s of the audience. So, for example, if you’re family are hat makers, they’d perhaps make up a story about a historical character who got a hat made from your forefathers. This is what made them so sought-after,” he adds.

In Maya, however, the stories all revolve around the theme, maya, and the show involves a little bit of audience interaction. The kaavad here is made up of a series of 16 life-size paintings that are rotated mid-air. “The paintings, created by visual artists, Rohit Bhasi, Manju Mohandas and Sreelatha P, are so beautiful and detailed.

They really are a visual treat,” shares Gandhi, who will take on the role of the storyteller. Highlighting the contemporary twists given to the folk tradition in Maya, he reveals that the production is a coming together of music, dance, poetry, puppetry, drama, movement and masks. “It’s a very unique experience, which is thoroughly enjoyable. We have also used language in a poetic way to narrate the stories.

Each story has a different track composed exclusively for the purpose,” informs Gandhi. while recorded music is playing in the background, a musician will add to the story with mood-based sounds from a host instruments ranging from the djembe to the flute to the rain stick. The one-hour-10-minute show also includes social and political commentary woven into the script to make it more current and relatable.

The show is a product of the Kaavad Project, an initiative to bring together artistes from a cross section of fields to create works based on the quickly dying art form.

Catch the performance on March 1 at 7.30 pm at Ranga Shankara.