Hanuman Ki Ramayan: a nautanki-inspired perfomance encounter

Photograph: John Soans

In Feb 2012 we invited Dr. Devendra Sharma to conduct a workshop on 'nautanki' with artistes of our repertory.

The 2-day workshop was an eye-opener for most of us and it also inspired us to start working on a performance using this style. We were very clear that we did not want to re-perform or re-create any of the old nautankis as they are for adults and not for children and young people - our target audience. So we set about looking for stories that could be adapted into nautanki (swaang-geet). Finally Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik's Hanuman Ki Ramayan was chosen. The adaptation by Pt. Ram Dayal Sharma brings in the many nuances of nautanki and uses a wide range of verses in this short 35 min piece!

This entire journey seems like an experiment, not in the form but more an experiment on the artistes. Swaang-geet has helped us extend ourselves as performers and understand the unique grammar of an operatic form. Words in a song and words in operatic verse work so very differently. It would probably have taken us years to realise this, had it not been for this engagement with nautanki. I am sure this will influence our approach to text, especially verse.

Photograph: John Soans

Traditionally children have been a secondary audience during nautanki performances. In our play children become the primary audience and adults 'tag-along'. It is our sincere effort to share with urban audiences the 'ras' of theatre without any labels. For us it is as contemporary as any other performative form. Not folk or traditional or fossilised, but alive and vibrant... something with huge value to us as performers and our audience as 'rasiks'. 

Shaili Sathyu
Artistic Director
Gillo Theatre Repertory

Monkeying Around

On World Book Day, Tharini and Prince from Book Lover's Programme for Schools, had a storytelling at Sunshine Matriculation School, Mehta Nagar, Chennai. Notes from Tharini on an eventful morning...

Two hundred kids screaming, clapping and bringing the roof down is therapeutic. You come back slightly hoarse, but happy, contented and knowing for a fact that it was one of the best mornings ever. You should try it sometime! 

On March 1st, Prince and I went to Sunshine Matriculation School to tell Classes 1, 2 and 3 stories as part of World Book Day. Niveditha had called us earlier and asked us to tell three stories. We chose Hanuman’s Ramayan, When Ali Became Bajrangbali and The Sky Monkey’s Beard out of the list we had been given. Niveditha had evidently chosen an ideal theme, for when I began the session by asking the kids whether they liked monkeys, there was a resounding “YES!”. 

We started with the “Shake Shake Song” as all the kids shook and sang, clapped and jumped and stretched with us. Once everyone was happy with all the singing, I started on the first story of the morning. From Hanuman’s Ramayan, it was an easy transition to When Ali Became Bajrangbali, where all the kids got a kick out of the Meesaikaran’s long long moustache. Then it was time for another song. 

This time, we sang “Five Little Monkeys” more or less in time with Prince’s guitar. Prince then started the story of the little sky monkey who wants to live on the land, rather than float in the clouds. To emphasise the point, he rolled around on the floor, much to the children’s fascination. We wrapped up the story telling session with one more song. And then, sadly, it was time to go home. 

Thank you, Tulika, for giving us a chance to tell stories to such a delightful audience. We hope to do more story-telling sessions with you in the future!

Tharini Viswanath, BLPS