While some foreign productions focussed on excellent theatre techniques, plays by Indian directors were appreciated for their storylines. Utpal K Banerjee writes on the most discussed plays of the just-concluded Bharat Rang Mahotsav
Sound, hand gestures and body movements were synchronised by the artistes from Studio Metejka, Poland, giving an introduction to the post-modernist physical theatre
Awkward Happiness: Physical Theatre Performance, presented by Studio Metejka from Poland at BRM was neither theatre nor unalloyed contemporary but a blending of both: in a highly abstract sense. It was performative art in a medley of Polish, English, French and Slovak languages: showcasing the journey of two couples in their struggles to discover happiness. Four different perspectives were apparently in use on the nature of happiness and how to reach it (or not).
Over a span of nearly an hour, the passage of time seemed to paint a relationship with layers of beauty, secrets, surprises and misunderstandings. When one holds a mirror to a human relationship, does the image it reflects brings one closer to an understanding of happinessIJ Is happiness something that one seeks in another person: never to be fully realisedIJ
In the performative process, it did appear to be the post-modernist “physical theatre” that stretched and contorted, constrained and spread the bodies, limbs and legs to their utmost. It seemed that a story was emerging through primarily physical means. The unifying aspect was a reliance on physical motion of the performers rather than text to convey the story. The dancers talked through hand-gestures, body-language, thought-tracks and other physical features.
In a free-ranging discussion with Daniel Han — one of the dancing quartets, groomed in the USA and proficient in English — he was asked which contemporary school of dance their group followed, namely, Martha Graham, Robert Joffrey, Pilobolus, Merce Cunningham or any others. Han responded, “They are all American institutions and we follow none in Poland. The seed of our performance began from Studio Matejka’s research on the human body in contemporary performance practices of physical theatre. During 18 months of research — while in residency with the Grotowski Institute — the physical training and exercises were explored through themes and images drawn from the performers’ own inspirations. Those rough drafts of creative material were crafted into physical fragments of duets and solo structures, which went through a continuous process of de-construction and re-construction under the direction of Matej Matejka hand-in-hand with guest collaborators of post-modernist school. Studio Matejka grafted the resultant product into Awkward Happiness.” Han quoted approvingly the noted litterteur-critic, Milan Kundera: “We can never know what we want because living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.”
Matej Matejka added, “Rather than using music as a background to bring colour to the atmosphere, our intention has been to integrate the sound with the physical action: to merge the live action and the music into a united channel for expression. Minimal set-design places an accent on the foundation of our practice: the human presence of the performer. In this production, for instance, the bench serves as a ‘meeting point’: a hard, emotionless spot that gives us the space for the projection of dreams, wishes, struggles and tensions in our search for happiness: with others and alone.”