India has always been associated with snake charmers and the great Indian rope trick. We hardly see these acts on our streets anymore. “These traditional arts are dying in India,” says Roysten Abel, who is bringing his musical production, A 100 snake charmers, to Bengaluru. “We are so much more than snake charmers and rope tricks.”
There will be no snakes on stage, Roysten assures. “Else people will be petrified. In fact, when we were passing through Milan with the same production, the immigration was curious about who the performers were. Once I told them snake charmers, they almost sent us back!”
The musical will feature over a 100 snake charmers who will perform as an orchestra, which will be conducted by Roysten, who has been actively propagating folk arts and music through his theatrical productions for years.
The event will include solo and group performances where the ensemble will use the been (Indian pipes) to present traditional tunes, Scottish bagpipe melodies and Bollywood tunes. “The sound is just going to be fascinating as 100 beens will be played together,” says Roysten, who has conceptualized and directed it.
A 100 Charmers, Roysten says was inspired by his collaboration with Bahar Dutt. “She has an NGO Jeevika Foundation in Delhi and their tagline is ‘Friends of Snakes’. She wanted to take care of snakes and also break the misconception that the snakes were harmed by the snake charmers. This fallacy caused snake charmers performing on the streets of India to be banned.”
Bahar, Roysten said, was looking for an alternative livelihood for snake charmers. “With their vast knowledge of snakes, snake charmers were helping with cases of snake bites, antidotes etc. Also, since they had this music, she asked me if we could do something with them through theatre. I had worked with a few snake charmers and told her we had to something larger, so let’s look at a 100 snake charmers together on stage.”
Roysten Abel | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Roysten’s next task was to find 100 traditional snake charmers. “I knew one charmer, and then gradually the number grew. As the word spread, around 500 charmers from across north India connected with us.”
Getting the snake charmers to play the been synchronously was a challenge, says Roysten. “It is a solo act and these people are not comfortable playing in groups. We first did a trial with 30 to 40 of them and then gradually added the remaining numbers. Some of them are heads of their villages from across the northern states. When we started rehearsing, it was a nightmare, but finally we did succeed. The best part is though they are no musicians, they magnificently picked up the tunes and A 100 Charmers was born.”
On a train ride across Edinburgh, Roysten heard Scottish pipes playing across every mountain and street to celebrate Scottish Day. “I still remember the effect that had on me. I wanted to recreate something along similars line with beens and snake charmers.”
Though this is their debut in Bengaluru, the ensemble has travelled abroad with the same show. Roysten is known for his unique productions including The Manganiyar Seduction, Weaving Voices, and The Kitchen. From award-winning plays to stunning, larger-than-life musical productions that let rare traditional Indian music forms and artists take center stage, his diverse range of work has won him national and international acclaim.
An NSD graduate, Roysten has worked in theatre for over three decades. “I never thought of using it as a springboard into the world of cinema. As an art form, theatre does fantastic things that cinema can not do and vice versa. Theatre has its magic and I am fascinated with what one can do with it.”
Roysten founded the Indian Shakespeare Company in 1995, and his initial work mostly reflected the name of his company. Later he changed lanes to create stage productions steeped in Indian folk art and music. He gives the credit for the change to artist Rajeev Sethi.
“I was doing Othello: A Play in Black and White, which at the time was a contemporary theatre work to came out of India. It won many international accolades. I was also curious about Indian theatrical folk forms like nautanki. Rajeev introduced me to traditional performance. He took me to a slum in Delhi called Shadipur Depot. There were around 200 families of artisans. I witnessed a life-transforming performance despite the extreme poverty.”
At that point, Roysten asked himself why he was looking to the West for inspiration when there is so much happening right here. “That is when I started exploring folk arts that could lend themselves to theatre. We have so much skill and talent in India that contemporary art or artists struggle to get.”
A 100 Charmers will be staged at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, 5pm and 8pm on May 4. The event is presented by Bhoomija in association with Jaaga. Ticket available on BookMyShow.
