In January, the local organisers of a children’s theatre tour in Kolkata were approached with an unusual request. ThinkArts, a company that works diligently at creating art engagements for children and young people, have often hosted offerings by the Mumbai-based Gillo Repertory at various international schools in Kolkata. Their very first outing was a tour of Gillo’s Mister Jejeebhoy & The Birds in 2013. This year, they had brought down Catch The Crocodile , another from Gillo’s burgeoning repertoire of TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) plays. Shaili Sathyu, Gillo’s artistic director, requested them to find a space in less urban environs, like the culturally significant but still bucolic Shantiniketan, where they could showcase their work to young audiences that usually lie outside the purview of such programmes. “Organising this separately was not viable, which is why I wanted to piggyback on the Kolkata tour,” said Sathyu. The troupe performed at the venue ultimately selected (in the Tepantar theatre village) free of cost, but the experience was uncommonly enriching for all. “We are so cocooned in our urban structures, that the opportunity to engage with another part of India, that we are very cut off from, was a way of getting some sanity back,” said Sathyu.
Travelling efforts
That experience helped cement Sathyu’s vision of a month-long road trip with her troupe on a fully-equipped bus that would make stopovers at the remotest locations, and regale children with stories and performances. “I have only heard of a few such attempts in the past,” she said. “I know the Grips Theatre from Pune had travelled across Maharashtra in a bus in the 90s, and Ninasam organises a travelling theatre for three months.” Gillo is possibly the only group that runs a year-long calendar of TYA events, and the bulk of their performances take place outside Mumbai, so they have been able to forge connections with cultural agencies across the country. The idea of creating a pan-Indian performance circuit for TYA was compelling enough for Sathyu to reach out to like-minded organisations last year. It was to work out the feasibility of such an endeavour, that would eventually provide the blueprint for many such tours in the future, not only for Gillo, but other troupes as well. Apart from performances and workshops, they planned to organise ‘adda’-style gatherings where they could engage with local artistes, fostering a spirit of cultural collaboration.
Over the last few years, Gillo has been travelling to Bengaluru quite regularly — their play, Taoos Chaman ki Myna , is a crossover success and frequently staged at ‘adult’ theatre festivals. Sathyu worked extensively at a summer camp for children at Gubbi in the Tumakuru district of Karnataka, organised by actor B. Jayashree, the granddaughter of Kannada theatre doyen Gubbi Veerana. Similarly, the Mysore-based Natana Trust, Ninasam in Heggodu, and Rangayana in Dharwad were all potential allies. So, Karnataka was known turf. As was Kerala, where local groups like Thrissur’s Theatreconnekt responded enthusiastically to Gillo’s plans. The initial bus tour was to span these two states. However, in what was a giant spanner in the works, they were not actually able to arrange the bus — the raison d'être of the tour itself. “We didn’t get any response from manufacturers. We sent out emails, but there were no meetings forthcoming. Frankly, we weren’t able to push enough with our other commitments,” said Sathyu. Not having the bus meant that the tour wouldn’t be possible in the manner earlier envisaged. Organising travel, food and accommodation for around 15 facilitators would turn into a logistical nightmare, and their travel schedule would be dictated by local transport systems in place (or not). “We wouldn't be able to leave at the timings suitable to us, say five in the morning. We are happy to travel early morning, reach a school, and perform at ten. Then, go somewhere and perform in the evening. If travel is not in your hands it is difficult to maximise time,” said Sathyu.
Kindness of strangers
However, she wasn’t willing to completely forgo the entire shindig. Given the faith and support shown by so many organisations, the group has decided to execute at least a part of the venture by organising ‘Gillo on The Go’, a theatre tour that will take place across Karnataka over two weeks in November, but without a specially commandeered bus. Apart from the shorter schedule, the team size has been pruned down to just a dozen, notably missing the filmmaker and visual artist who were on board to document the earlier road trip. For this venture to take place without glitches, Gillo has floated a fund-raising campaign on Ketto. This is the first time the group has used a formal payment platform, although they have crowd-sourced funds before. “We didn’t have payment gateways and a lot of people just don’t want to get into the hassle of doing NEFT transfers, or issuing cheques,” said Sathyu. The entire cost of the tour is being shouldered by Gillo and no performance fees or other charges are to be borne by the local groups, who will instead provide reciprocal benefits like hospitality arrangements. The troupe has enough seed money to ensure the tour can take place, but the target fund (of Rs 5,00,000) would help them with activities like conducting rehearsals, ensuring that everyone is paid, and creating invaluable knowledge archives from their experiences. “Ultimately, this pilot tour could convince bigger donors of the vision we have in mind,” said Sathyu. Within a few days of the campaign going live, they were able to raise Rs 40,000.
In some of their sporadic outings to the so-called outback, Sathyu and her actors have experienced first-hand the sheer joy exhibited by children when confronted with a shot of culture that is so alien to the trappings to which they belong. “They do have, of course, a strong local culture, with their festivals and community gatherings, but events such as this can seed an idea of arts in their lives a little more than it already is,” she said. Gillo’s actors, with their suitcase of books, and untrammelled joie de vivre, are oriented to engage with the children at a human level, participating in their ethos, without bringing with them the baggage of being city-bred urban artistes; and what they get in return is absolutely gratifying.
The fundraiser for ‘Gillo on The Go’ can be supported on their Ketto page: ketto.org/fundraiser
