Introduction

Abhilash Pillai

I am Abhilash from Delhi, basically a theatre worker and at the same time I'm a faculty member
from National School of Drama and what I do is, the first time, I'll just raise certain questions
which, usually, I confront with my students and then I'll introduce all the three speakers and after
that they can get on with their own sessions. It is perhaps somewhat surprising to find that scholars,
critics, practitioners and theatre goers do not have a precise and widely shared vocabulary to enable
them to make/ meet and to participate in the multiple dimensions of the way space functions in
performance. It has remained confined to the domain of pedagogy. By contrast, the concepts such as
characterisations for the actor have been well-theorised in all its complex and problematic error. For
example, acting methods like the Stanislavskian have created a method of reading into acting and
also writing a specific vocabulary. Yet that actor occupies the space and even looking at that actor,
even a bare body on stage, requires a wide emotion of understanding space.

Now usually these are the questions confronted by me before the production is mounted or rather, I
should say, these are the questions raised by students in the theatre class and till today I don't have a
precise and widely shared vocabulary to answer these questions. How do we select a space for a
text or how do we mount a text in different given spaces? For example, proscenium theatre to
proscenium theatre, it's like - if I talk in the context of Delhi, it’s the same play, the same group, the
same company performs in Kamani which is a proscenium theatre; at the same time, performs in
Sriram Centre, it's different and how does the whole performance tweak around and how it fits into
Sriram or into the Kamani, even though they are both proscenium spaces.

Similarly it applies to the other works also like theatre in the round or even in the sandwich kind of
stage and everything. The next question - how much are we concerned about selection of rehearsal
space for a text or are we always given a kind of a rehearsal space? Does backstage discipline have
anything to do with the backstage space? Backstage space is also one of those very important
spaces; how do we get used to the backstage space of every given theatre architecture or theatre
space and mostly, because most of the times the theatre architecture which we have in this country,
we live with it and there is hardly any space around the wings or...even in Kerala there are theatres
where right on the roof we have fans so we can't think about lights on stage.

How do we compromise with different kinds of lanterns and equipment in the theatre? How do we
take decisions on the levels of sound in different theatres? How do we take the decision of the angle
and scale of the installations? And in a way what is the kind of spectator-actor relationship in every
space? How can we define it? If theatre is also about experience, then why is human body so
important in a performance space? These are the questions which...there are many more questions
that can come up that we can later slowly go to, now I'll just go through introducing all the three
speakers here.

Jayachandran Palazhy. Sri Jayachandran Palazhy is the founder and artistic director of Attakkalari
Centre for Movement Arts driven by Attakkalari's underlying philosophy that is - Traditional
physical wisdom, innovation and technology. Jayachandran is deeply committed to extending the
reach of contemporary movement arts. A gifted and innovative choreographer, Jayachandran's
collaboration with international artists and some works involved interactive arts and technologies
which have resulted in some very exciting multimedia dance productions of new-age genre.
Jayachandran has taken research on subjects such as teaching methodology in performing arts of
Kerala and as a part of a collaborative project at Arizona State University, he worked on the role of
interactive technology in telematics and performance. At Attakkalari, Jayachandran has directed an
exhaustive research and documentation project "Nagarika" on the movement principles of Indian
physical traditions. This seminal research series is the first of its kind and such initiative in India in
the field of traditional performing arts - this is historically important.

Now let me come to Zuleikha Chowdhury. Zuleikha Chowdhury is a theatre director and lighting
designer. Her work is an investigation of the nature of performance. It explores and develops a
series of questions to do with interpretation of narrative structure, how it reaches a construction and
experience, what is the relationship of the text and performer, what is the dynamics between
performer and space, how narratives are created and understood and finally what is the role of the
spectator in the performative experience. Her practice has developed over the past years into
working with light structures, installations as explorations of space. She is interested in the nature of
experience; her installations engage with the question of how we experience and how the
experience of experiencing can be created and communicated. Her installations are as much about
external landscapes as they are about internal geographies. They are as much about real spaces as
they are about imagined and unreal ones.

Now let me also introduce Mr. Atul Kumar. Atul has worked in India and abroad as an actor with
different directors, organisations and theatre forms. He has also directed various theatre
performances in different languages. In 1993, he formed his own ensemble, The Company Theatre,
that not only performed extensively but also conducted acting workshops, organised seminars and
conferences, explore alternative theatre spaces, engage youth in theatre and finally established an
international residency for theatre research and performance in the countryside of Maharashtra.
Today, Atul's paper will mostly be in tabular form in which he will simply list out all the major
things that work and do not work in performance spaces for them that is based on last 25 years of
performing all over Indian cities and abroad. His presentation will be in Question and Answer
session which are always more informative and interactive.

Now I would like to invite Jayachandran. He will be basically be...uh... Jayachandran will talk on
how he conceives space, both artistic and conceptual, in his work. He will also talk on physical
infrastructure for training and performance. Please...