Theatre with a twist

When you hear that your friends are going to watch a play, you can imagine them watching the performers on stage and discuss it afterwards. But, I* is a performance that steers clear from a usual play. Directed by Aruna Ganesh Ram, I* is a story about four characters — an actor, writer, singer and a clown and their journey of self-discovery. “In a span of 24 hours, how they experience life, personal struggles, love, pain, manipulation, etc. will be presented to the audience. It is all about exploring different shades of one’s character and that exploration is ongoing and ever changing — that’s the inspiration behind the  asterix symbol. As individuals we play different roles and every situation demands a unique self,” begins Aruna.

She was always inclined to theatre right from her school days. “I was a part of many plays during my schooling and later it became my hobby. Over the years, it’s what I’ve loved doing and in 2011, I quit my full-time work and plunged into the theatre scene. It has been a 16-year-long journey,” she shares.

Aruna learnt the concept of immersive theatre during her post-graduation in London. “I’ve always felt that theatre should not be passive where people sit at a far distance and watch. I* is multi-sensorial that way and it is a montage of sounds, moments, moods, rhythms and movement. It is not a traditional play and the performance is intimate. The action happens up close, while the audience’s position being flexible — they can move whenever they want to,” she adds.

Another exciting aspect is that the performers have developed the material using their personal narratives and perspectives. She explains, “Deepthi Bhaskar, Laxmi Priya, Vedanth Ramesh and Vijay Krishna play characters that have been inspired by their own life experiences. We have come together as an ensemble and I have facilitated their journey in finding character shades that reflect who they are, both as people and as performers. The play is experimental and we aim at creating a surreal world through it. It is challenging, but not impossible. In immersive theatre, the audience and performers share the space and affect each other with breath, movement and gaze.”

Aruna will be staging the play across the country in Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Kolkata. She goes on to say that the play evolves over time. “After each show, we work on our play based on the responses we get. I believe that it is important for the audience to be reflective and present in the moment of action. I* is a personal journey for the audience and each one can receive it uniquely, based on their conditioning and perspectives. There are various ways to immerse an audience —immerse through the senses,

participation, etc. We are looking to immerse audiences into a kaleidoscope of moodboards and it is going to be a compelling experience for the audience,” she quips, as she takes leave.

(The workshop will be held on August 26 and 27 at Wandering Artist in
RA Puram)