Theatre - Ensemble and Devised

This for That

On 11 February ’14, I joined a very interesting theatre workshop. I had missed the workshop on 10^th and was sure I would be turned away politely. But the directors, Rowen Haigh and Sean Mahoney simply smiled, shook hands and welcomed me!! Six actors were already well into the workshop working on the exercises and improvisations. Strangely, though I joined late, I felt quite comfortable as the group comprised friendly people, all ready to learn and contribute.

And so we began with the theme of money and our relationship with it. A poem had been selected by the directors – “On Losing a House” where the issue of money was touched upon and we began with a reading of the poem. The line O dark, O heavy, O mossy money seemed to catch everyone’s imagination. We were divided into three groups and told to improvise a scene around money. We did and amid fast flowing suggestions the evolving of money from the barter system to the card today was devised.

An entry was planned. Beggars to enter from the entrance and beg for money from the audience and two herders, already seated among the audience, to herd these beggars on towards the stage. Freeze to music . Then the barter (cloth pieces for grain) begins and we move to the first recital of a stanza of the poem. This is followed by the improvised scene between husband and wife. Another rendition of the poem followed by another barter with stones for grain (rising prices) and we move to an improvised piece between two lovers. Another rendition of the stanza from the poem and another barter with cash for grain (with cheating going on). An improvised scene in an office with money changing hands through bribes which leads to money transactions at an ATM using the card. The money extracted is spend on self indulgence and is followed by a freeze. The lines from the poem are keys to unfreeze each actor and the rising chorus of Dark, heavy, mossy money rises as actors move among the audience and distribute money (sharing). Our performance was titled This for That.

Beggars and Herders - Frozen

We performed at the Pune English Theatre festival (Pukaar) on 15 and 16 February.The music and lights were handled by our directors and that truly added to the magic. The audience gave quite an ovation to the piece much to our relief. The novelty of it seemed to have got them. The interactive session was full of questions and extended beyond its allotted time. Such ensemble pieces are the trade mark of the White Flag Performance Group run by Rowen and Sean who live in Baltimore, USA. This was their first trip to India but they have promised to be back soon and work some more...