How many of us have stumbled upon our grandparents’ black and white photo albums and have been charmed by it? Needless to say, the number doesn’t stop at a few. It was this love for archiving that led Anuja Ghosalkar to use old photos in her artistic endeavours to create a curious version of reality. Now, the Bengaluru-based theatre teacher and artiste and her production house, Drama Queen are credited with evolving a unique form of documentary theatre in India.
The 37-year-old who was an artist-in-residence at Art Lab Gnesta in Sweden took a year to sculpt Lady Anandi, a show that will be presented by Sandbox Collective.
The powerful piece that brings together history, early photography and gender, is a quirky historical performance on how to act like a lady in a man’s world. For starters, it follows the story of an actor-writer who is haunted by the ghost of her maternal great grandfather— a female impersonator in regional Indian Theatre in the late 1800’s, every time she goes on stage. “Reading Virginia Woolf’s, A Room of One’s Own inspired the project. It was also an interest in telling a deeply personal story that delves into the family archive,” says Anuja whose fulltime tryst with theatre began only three years ago, rising to work with theatre directors like Atul Kumar, Abhishek Majumadar, Kirtana Kumar and Arundhati Raja. “Before that I have worked in cinema as a researcher, curator and in arts administration. I also work as a manager and programmer for Experimenta, a festival that seeks to push the boundaries of moving image art in India,” she says, putting aside her dream job of selling fish as a child, just so she could eat fish all day and sit by the sea!
The stage has always allured Anuja and she strives to be a part of it anyway she can. Her theatre company is credited with evolving a unique form of documentary theatre in India, for instance. “Documentary theatre is a complex idea and can be interpreted variously. But it is real stories of real people using documents, photos, materials from our everyday lives to make theatre and present a certain version of reality,” she explains. She also doubles as a teacher, imparting her skill to children and young adults at Jagriti Theatre and Ranga Shankara, “It has been the best learning ground for me – it has taught me a lot about my own limitations as an actor. All my classes have full attendance, and that’s the best compliment I could get!”
Just as she challenges her students, Anuja promises her performance on Saturday will not be one to sit back passively and leave with a head bob for approval or disapproval. “Since it’s a non-linear performance, they will have to connect the dots. It’s a performance that places much responsibility on the audience,” she says. Catch the performance of Lady Anandi today at BeaglesLoft in Ulsoor.
