Of classics and contemporaries

Fresh version

If variety is really the spice of life, theatre artiste and director Nilanjan Choudhury can put a multitasker to shame. After graduating from coveted institutes, he pursued his passion and ventured into theatre and fiction.

He recently staged his version of the classic ‘Animal Farm’ at Jagriti Theatre. A very well-crafted and nuanced play, ‘Animal Farm’ was set in the Indian context against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution. Filled with laughter and satire, the characters are deep without being dense. The play explored power relations and drew parallels to the politicians of today with a fast-paced, racy plot. Nilanjan talks to Anushka Sivakumar about his experience of working with children and the need for inclusiveness in theatre.
 
Why did you choose to work with differently-abled children for this play?

I have been in the theatre industry for a while now. I found that it was very monotonous. We would see the same set of people on stage and in the audience — the educated, urban, upper-middle class. I wanted to increase the diversity in this play with respect to both. Initially, I wanted to work with government school children so that the audience will be quite different. At the same time, I was in touch with Snehadhara Foundation and eventually started working with differently-abled children from there. The cast includes five differently-abled children.

How did you decide on ‘Animal Farm’?

‘Animal Farm’ has been my favourite book ever since I was a young boy. I chose this play because it lends itself to a large cast. There are a lot of things I could do with children such as music and dance. In a broader sense, the play also talks about equality, inequality and the need for  inclusiveness. The important message in ‘Animal Farm’ is that all animals are equal but some are more equal than others. Similarly, I wanted to say that all children are equal.

Do you find this classic relevant today?

Of course. If you read between the lines and interpret it, the play is actually about power relations, politics, personal and public sentiments and an attack on larger institutions. It is set in the Indian context and I have tried to find my own voice in this play.

Was it a challenge to work with differently-abled children?

The main challenge was working with an 18-member-cast and getting them all together. There were problems of communication. A lot of children do have issues like a short attention span, not being used to too much bright light or loud sound. We have worked around these challenges and in small ways, helped them overcome them as well.
   However, the biggest thing I learnt from this play is that we should treat them like we treat anyone else and this has worked wonders. We shouldn’t make too many assumptions about people we don’t know. They are full of
surprises.

Is writing for books and theatre different?

For me, not too much. I got into fiction writing after theatre and I find them both quite connected and interpersonal. I find a certain fluidity when I work out of both spaces. I started with theatre and this made me fall in love with storytelling. I have a very strong emphasis on dialogue, characters and visual imagery in my books as much as I do in theatre.

Your opinion on the theatre scene in Bengaluru.

Getting the audience to watch performances on a regular basis is a problem. We need to tap the experience of the audience in a play and we have to move beyond a conventional audience. I would be very happy if somebody comes in and watches a play for the first time.

The traffic is another problem in Bengaluru and nobody wants to commute far to watch a play. If there is a big star or a brand name acting in the play, there will be an audience but not otherwise. This is bad for the culture of theatre.

    The choices that amateur theatre groups have in terms of performance spaces that cost less are also few. However, having said that, theatre has grown a lot in Bengaluru and has a long way to go.