Acclaimed theatre director and actor Atul Kumar speaks to Team Viva on his latest production Khwaab-Sa, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
He seems the coolest man you have ever come across. He is exactly what his long-time friend Rajat Kapoor has always said, “What Atul Kumar brings to the rehearsal room is a rigour which not many actors have.” Atul does the same on stage. Driven by mad ideas like collecting and selling paintings from artists to setting up the workspace for his very own The Company Theatre at Kamshet in Mumbai, he chooses to visualise the impossible. Khwaab-Sa, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the actor-director’s latest production, after the hit Piya Behrupiya.
On choosing A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Atul says, “It has been a fascination for me since childhood. The world in a forest full of lovers, fairies, beasts and performers is very enticing and easy to fall in love with. I always wanted to go there. Shakespeare gives you a vast canvas to play with and there is something for everyone, every form.”
Atul has done the play with contemporary music and dance as he loves different forms to portray his vision. “I realised the magic of contemporary dance when I watched Bengaluru-based Diya Naidu’s performance. I fell in love with electronic music during one of my trips to Europe recently. When I came back I could find musicians who compose that. And before I knew, one of the actors in our group started translating the dialogues into Hindi gibberish! The play, hence, has turned out to be a collaboration of various artists from all over the country.”
Asked about the expectations of the play, Atul says: “When you are experimenting with different forms you can never know what to expect and how the audiences would react, until you have done four or five shows. Every time I come up with a new production I feel pressure and it’s the same even after 30 years. But I love that uncertainty.”
The play, which was premiered in Bangalore on Sunday, is produce by KHAM Theatre in Taipie, Taiwan. “The association with the group began after they watched The Company Theatre’s previous production Piya Behrupiya in Shanghai years ago and invited me to direct MSND,” Atul says.
He believes that he is far behind the times and his ideas are not really mad: “Many talented young people are coming up with brilliant mad ideas and I have to keep up with the pace. I am following my way and moving in a direction of my own. I invest everything I have in my works. Then it’s for the audience to receive them or not. It needs intense desire to chase a dream. I am proud that I did it, in spite of facing setbacks.”
Atul is optimistic about the current scenario of theatre in India: “Theatre is growing and growing. There are thousands of young theatre companies all over India. Now artists are able to exchange ideas a lot, thanks to the internet and social media. Collaborations, festivals, workshops, presentations, which are creative, are taking place. It’s a good time for the performing arts. There are artistes now, who are managing to survive with their remuneration. Slowly, it will become thoroughly professional. Audience participation is also growing. Maharashtra is famous for those who prefer theatre to cinema and set aside money to watch plays in their monthly budgets. I am sure things are better in other cities and towns too.”
About learning Kalaripayattu and Kathakali in Kerala, he says that it helped in forming the theatreperson in him. “I am turning 50. But I can still feel the strength of being trained in both Kathakali, a traditional dance form and Kalari, martial art form. I can jump higher than anyone else around me and that confidence is good for an artist”, he chuckles.
“Kamshet is used and enjoyed by other artists from across the world. I wish I was 20 years younger so that I could have created more and more plays from there. Khwaab Sa, Piya Behrupiya and even Rajat’s new plays were created in Kamshet. It’s a vibrant place with workshops, festivals, rehearsals and research. I am shuffling between Mumbai and Kamshet now. We just had a baby girl, it’s a new life now,” he signs off.
The play will be presented in Delhi on January 21 and 22 and in Mumbai on 28 and 29.