a line looks like this to me

performance stills of the solo called 'the line'

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text installation 

set design

people being installed for the moment and tied by the woolen thread to form a web

chairs tied to one another with a scotch tape

tete-a tete with friends post performance

Photo Shoot: Shubra Shukla

Camera: Vrattini Ghadge

Narratives 

This world is made up of stories, not atoms-Muriel Rukeyser.   

A narrative is a story which is created such that it describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events.Writing, speech, poetry, prose, static images, songs, films and theatre are examples of narratives.

On the other hand a narrative also refers to the human psychological process of an individual’s self-identity, memory and meaning making.While re-visiting the images of my studio project called – a line, I could think of the saying, - every image has a story to say.

As I casually browsed the static images, the text of the performance which was still fresh in my mind, began to deconstruct in a way.

What was done on a sub-conscious level during the performance sought its relevance in the classroom in many ways as I was introduced to the idea of Ways of Seeing and Saying, -a book written by John Berger.

Berger’s line in reference to the naked women in a painting “they are not naked as they are; they are naked as you see them”, left me thinking.

A day before, one of my distant friends looked at the performance stills and not having known anything at all about it, asked if I was playing a game with people around me!

In that moment, I wondered how what seemed clearly as performance stills looked like a game to him.

As I read through Berger’s book, I realized how important and relevant it is for one to see, based on how one thinks and perceives.It is therefore very truly said that we see the world the way we are, and not the way it is.

I could immediately think of my friend, who is a video game wizard and hence his comment as to how he found the performance stills such that it looked as if I was playing a game!Video games and other games are a narrative too! It was a revelation.

A line is a conflict-resolution text. The content of the text is an expression of my perception of a line which is based on my experiences.The text was installed on the floor with an objective to set it free from being in continuity, as I often felt that texts tend to tie the performer to a fixed idea. 

As I performed from one end to the other of the space, a woolen string was used to connect the people’s bodies across the room to form a web, installed in the moment.The central idea while making a web was to convey that we have common experiences.A red tape was used to tie the chairs. The woolen string juxtaposed to the tape, to connote that there is a difference between being tied, and being connected.

More importantly, the red tape was used, only in the second performance because I felt the need for another prop to create a value such that a ‘difference’, between being tied and connected to be brought out more powerfully.

The idea sparked as I simultaneously explored references sited inside the narratives classroom.

Jean Baudrillard’s concept of conveying a message through ‘what is not’ in semiotics and the object value system sounded relevant in connection to what I was seeking for in my next performance. And hence the red tape was used during the stage of improvisation of the play.

I revisited the props and the writing and began to deconstruct the text word wise to see what it meant to me after the performance.

It is during the very first performance that a long going internal conflict resolved.

I could also connect to the fact that a narration comprises of a story and the telling of the story. Having been through the performance myself I could strongly connect to the idea of the discourse and the story, wherein the discourse by and large referred to the ‘form’ of the performance, the way and the ‘style’ in which it was presented and manipulated in subsequent performances. The story of the line is meant to be free verse and thus, the text becomes the ‘content’- what I want to say with words itself.

The story and the plot on the same note become a part of the treatment, internally, whereas the discourse is more of an externally oriented concept referring to the duration, style and the time taken.

Proxemics was applied such that people were meant to sit randomly in a space. An arrangement was made such that it minimizes the gap between the audience and the performer to bring the performer within the area where the audience is seated. Since the conception of the play, I could imagine making a film on the performance which was shot in stop motion and the images moved in a non-linear space to depict my feelings.

The sound was consciously only restricted to the one which was created as the text was delivered while the red tape was stretched and tied including a scream which was inserted to create tension in the performance.

 In a semiotic sense the props and both the installations as well as the overall treatment were tightly knit to symbolize the text in a visual way.

The first performance was the most successful for me and the audience. I wondered about liminality and the experience itself as I read about Nongthombam Premchand and his theatre being situated in a context. Only after the first successful performance of the line, I could experience the exchange between me as performer and the audience taking place.

People appreciated it saying that while the text was personal, it had a sense of universality and that they could connect to the performance.In the second performance, two participants could not connect very strongly with the text and though I enjoyed performing again, the sense of resolution that came in the first performance was something of a moment only.

In the subsequent performances, the same feeling did not arise as powerfully as it did in the first one. The question then arose as to how, for varied audiences, should the performance be designed such that it maintains its internal strength of delivery, while improvisations may still follow.

Improvisations and continuous feedback as well reflection from my end became a part of the work in an empowering way.

Audience being an active receiver as per my performance, the feedback in the first performance was much more enthusiastic than that in the following one.Therefore, I learnt how self experience must be mediated and arranged in the play to maintain the universality.

Notes and References

1)Ways of Seeing and Saying- John Berger
2)GCSE Drama- Nelson Thornes
3)Jean Baudrillard was a French sociologist, philosopher, cultural theorist, political commentator, and photographer. His work is frequently associated with postmodernism and post-structuralism. - Wikipedia
4)Nongthombam Premchand’s theatre practice in and related theatre texts- Five Issues, Published by Gopika Jadeja
5)Modern and Postmodern Aesthetics--Dr.B.Tirupati Rao
6)Contemporary Art, Exploring Roots and Development-Charlotte Buel Johnson.

Theatre Practice Guide
Mr. Pranab Mukerjee
Best of Kolkata Campus Theatre
Kolkata