Walk the talk theatre: Staging epic narratives

Walk the talk theatre: Staging epic narratives
Director Nimmy Raphel
Director Nimmy Raphel on carrying forward the legacy of Veenapani Chawla’s Adishakti Theatre Arts with Bali.

After completing her training in Mohiniyattam and Kuchipudi dance from Kerala Kalamandalam, Nimmy Raphel joined the Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts and Research in Pondicherry in 2011. She is now the company’s resident actor, dancer, musician and puppeteer. Forever evolving, the theatre company, set up by the late actor Veepnapani Chawla, advocates a unique methodology — relating to the tantric centres in the body, movement behaviour, psychological and vocal expression. Some of the memorable Adishakti projects in which Raphel has been featured include Brhannala, Ganapati, The Hare and The Tortoise and Rhinoceros. Ahead of the opening of Adishakti’s Bali — celebrating one of the unsung heroes of the epic Ramayana, who helped king Ram win his war against the demon king Ravana — at Juhu’s Prithvi Theatre, Raphel speaks about her directorial work.

♦ What was the process of staging Bali like?
We premiered Bali last year in Adishakti, since then the production has been to many festivals and the responses have been good. The production has evolved out of Adishakti’s three year Ramayana Project that we did between 2009 and 2011. The focus of the project was to engage with performers with Ramayana as their text. The wonderful thing about the project was that it allowed you to look at Ramayana from multiple perspectives, where you can evolve your own idea as a creative person. By being part of this exercise, it made me realise the flexibility of our oral culture, these monumental narratives have lived through centuries in various versions, inviting creative interpretations of events and characters. And from there, the first seed of Bali was born.

It’s the first production, which the Adishakti crew staged since its founder Veenapani Chawla passed away...
Obviously, we were all nervous, especially because we were training under Veenapani’s watchful eye. But I was fortunate to have Vinay Kumar, who being a senior actor and now the artistic director, never questioned my process and prompted me with right questions. I would say we had a wonderful time creating Bali.

Does it adhere to the Adishakti’s model?
Well, I guess I won’t at any point replicate what Veenapani had done. I feel that I am still imbibing her ideas. But like any creative person, one is infested with ideas that you want to try out in your own way, but your ideas must be new and engaging. Adishakti’s philosophy has always been to create a bridge between the traditional and contemporary and to stay relevant to the contemporary world. Bali will, hopefully, connect with the contemporary world.

How has the theatre laboratory changed since Veenapani passing?
Veenapani and Vinay have been clear from the beginning for any institution to survive creatively, you need to develop a strong line of second and third line of leadership. And if that can be achieved by people, who know the philosophy of the institution, then it becomes sustainable for the company. Vinay is the present artistic director and managing trustee of Adishakti, under whose mentorship we continue our work. We are primarily a research institution. The trouble with research is that it needs uninterrupted and committed time for you to take an idea forward. Because we do multiple things at Adishakti to sustain ourselves, sometimes what we are left with is commitment and not enough time.


What’s the status of Veenapani’s Ramayana project, and her research on Sita?
Her Sita project will happen. I guess we have to be ready for it to be materialised in our mind more precisely.

A still from Bali

A still from Bali


Bali will be staged on Aug 24 and 25, 6 pm and 9 pm at Prithvi Theatre, Juhu. Entry: Rs 500 onwards. Visit: www.bookmyshow.com