After an intense rehearsal, late theatre veteran Veenapani Chawla and four other actors had settled in the terrace of her Puducherry residence one night. They had with them drums that look like mizhavu , but smaller. Soon enough, the casual jamming had turned into an intense session directed by the thespian herself. With her gaze fixed on the floor, she had given curt directions, almost as if she had played this exact moment in her head at some other point. “1, 2, 3 4… 2, 3,4...3,4...” her voice had resonated. Veeenapani’s vigour of thought, and a look or a turn that would convey her thoughts, still linger in the rehearsal space in Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts Research. Five years after her demise, Adishakti plans to commemorate the artiste with the fifth edition of Remembering Veenapani, an arts festival.
Theatre was an organic process for this veteran, whose quest was guided by a wish to refashion the possibilities of tradition to find a new language of modern theatre. Adishakti Theatre Arts is testament to the same. The institute was originally conceived in 1981, in Mumbai, by Veenapani who wished to actualise a space that allowed a free and pathological growth for performers. But Adishakti was not meant only as a performance space. It was parallely meant to initiate a free and unapologetic discourse. It was only in 1993, that the design of the campus in Puducherry took form.
Veenapani’s tryst with theatre did not follow a path already trodden. In fact, she was a History and English teacher in schools, who chanced upon the craft while leading drama classes for children. Ever since, there was no looking back. After an impressive stint with Trinity College of London and the Royal Shakespeare Company, she delved into the world of kalaripayattu, koodiyattam, Mayurbhanj chau and more, which inspired her body of work where movement or physicality, holds centre.
- Bali directed by Nimmy Raphael (Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts Research) on April 8
- Parai Aattam directed by Manimaran Magizhini (Budhdhar Kalaikuzhu) on April 9
- Chango Tales , a musical performance by Jatayu on April 10
- Mondays Are Best For Flying Out of Windows by Perch Collective on April 11
- Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme , a musical performance on April 12
- Sangeet Bari by Kali Billi productions on April 13
- The Gentlemens’ Club aka Tape by Patchworks Ensemble on April 14
“She found rhythm through kalaripayattu and koodiyattam . She was talking to her koodiyattam guru one day and asked him what the secret behind performing overnight and emoting equally well throughout, was,” narrates Arvind Rane, one of the core members of Adishakti who has been associated with Veenapani since childhood. She was his history teacher in school: he was all of 14 years back then. But the guru, recalls Arvind, was a little upset with Veenapani’s question: he went on to say that she should find out herself.
Against the grain
“She did extensive research and study about performance. And finally, she found that there is a certain rhythm pattern with every emotion,” continues Arvind adding that unlike the gurus who remain stuck in the rigidities of tradition, Veenapani encouraged all her accomplices to share their secrets with others and educate them. “If you want to cry on stage for four days in a row, you have to control your breathing patterns accordingly. That’s all,” he says. While performing, Veenapani always believed that one must perform for the ‘divine’, Arvind continues.
But ‘divine’ simply means a superior consciousness, not any religion, he quickly clarifies. But what she worked with could never be called a technique, says Shanta Gokhale, the author of The Theatre of Veenapani Chawla: Theory Practice and Performance .
“Hers was a philosophy of theatre which emerged in the most natural way from Sri Aurobindo's philosophy. The day would be strictly structured around the skills that her group needed to develop and the ideas they needed to imbibe in order to become complete actors,” she says.
Says Vinay Kumar, the artistic director of Adishakti, who has been an integral part ever since its inception, there is no one who had nurtured him, like Veenapani did. He recalls a few moments and breaks into an anecdote: “She is not someone who comes with a conceived idea. One day, while working on Brhannala , she was struggling with how the concept of time-space continuum could be adapted into a performance,” he begins, “Meanwhile, I badly wanted to watch a cricket match because Sachin was playing but Veenapani refused to make that happen. I would glance at the TV time to time,” he laughs.
As an after effect, Vinay would often mimic the action of a batsman hitting the ball. This immediately caught Veenapani’s attention who later made the very movement into an extensive choreography that visually explained the concept. “While working with her, a performer is not put through a theoretical ambiguity; you start looking at everyday behavioural patterns much more.”
Veenapani’s physical presence is what Adishakti misses the most, says Vinay. “She created a thought process that still runs with us,” he concludes.
Remembering Veenapani 2019, will be held from April 8 to 14, everyday at 7 pm at Adishakti.Entry is free.
