Theatre Awardees 2020
The theatre awardees for 2020 are Vasanth Selvam, Syed Sadiq and Majira Dey.
In this week’s post Vasanth and Syed share their and journey through the world of theatre.
Vasanth Selvam: Actor – An endangered species
We all have moments in our life which has changed the course of our life entirely. Moments that transported us to an unknown space. Moments we felt livelier than ever. Moments tears & smiles rolled out of us. Moments that moved something inside us, which we cannot explain. I have quite a collection of these moments,
The moment I met Yama on stage in my school
The moment as a kid I walked for kilometres with my family to reach the touring talkies and watch a movie every Saturday
The moment my father placed me in a boarding school because I begun to fail in subjects
The moment I eagerly wait at the gates of my hostel for hours expecting my mother’s visit every second Saturday of the month
The moment I killed my mother, by refusing to take up my work as a software engineer and choosing to be an actor
The moment I kissed a girl in her lips
The moment I watched great actors of Theru-Koothu and Kathakali on stage
The moment a generous lady gave me Rs.10 after watching one of my performances in a village, a gentle man gave me 20 Euros and a pack of Marlboro cigarettes as a token of appreciation
I have many more tiny shining stones like this in my heart. This gave me strength and courage to be an actor and to do theatre. As years passed, the land beneath my feet became more visible. I realized, I am standing in quick sand. One day or the other I will sink unless I refuse to act now.
Why do I think like this? What insecurities I have?
I realised, the art form I am practising is an offspring of intellectuals of the cities or urban dwellers. It grew without having any organic ties with the already existing theatre forms around them. When I speak about organic ties, I don’t mean using the outer structure of a native/traditional form but instead sharing the life of the native forms and learning from the life of actors involved in those forms. Revolutionary theatre plays were written and staged in 1950’s in Tamil Nadu. I would say playwrights and actors were the backbone of Dravidian Movement. ‘Ratha Kaneer’ (Tears of Blood), a play written by Thiruvarur Thangarasu and acted by M.R. Radha is relevant even now. I wonder in the lane of time when and where we lost this spirit. Of course the role of cinema here is very important, an angel by birth it is now a monster swallowing all the others around it. It’s primary role now is to maintain the public in a hypnotized state. Exactly opposite of what art should do, theatre should do. I will not make the mistake of labelling ‘Cinema’ as the prime suspect and close the case.
Before me there were lots of actors who were born in this offspring theatre form in cities. They were brave, they too were aware something is missing in their work. They tried hard to solve the puzzle but one by one succumbed to the society. By the time of their death, these brave artists unable to solve the puzzle created 10 commandments:
1) You cannot live your life by doing theatre
2) You are special, not a normal human because you do theatre
3) The world of theatre is divided by words like, Contemporary, Urban, Folk, Traditional, Experimental, Hindi, English, Tamil, Collective, Queer, Amateur, Street, Elite...
4) Cinema is our enemy
5) But for actors, theatre is one of the gateway for the paradise of cinema
6) We don’t need a community and no need to create a relationship with the community we live in
7) It’s always the fault of the public for not coming to watch our performances
8) Do not dream
9) Sufferance is our fate
10) You will die at the age of 35
I am 35 years old now. I am not ready to die. Rather I will challenge these commandments. If only I have the power to burn these 10 commandments and turn them to ashes. It will serve as a fertile land for a generation of actors/artists to be born. This actor will look in the eyes of the people gently and bravely. Together with them he will create a space – an illusional space, a space erected with mirrors to reveal the truth. An emotion a person experiences when he walks around in this space is unpredictable. In between happiness and sadness there is an undefined spectrum of emotions which will pierce through him. At the most unexpected moment he will see himself standing opposite him. What is the minimum condition required for this illusional space to arise? Two actors, an empty space and a dozen of attentive audience. We need to be patient. It will take time. Evoking life is not an easy task. When you enter the gates of theatre, you should be delicate even in your footsteps, like in a temple or a church or a mosque. When you reach the centre, you will have two options, either to believe or not to believe.
Syed Sadiq
My name is Syed Sadiq but most know me as Riyaz Sihimonge. In 2014, while I was pursuing my bachelor’s degree I developed an interest in the theatre and started training at Ninasam Theatre Institute, a theatre center in Heggodu, Karnataka. After completing my training I joined Ninasam Tirugata Reparatory as an actor and technician. I have also worked as a drama teacher at the theatre institute, Shree Shivakumara Ranga Prayoga Shala in Saanehalli, Chitradurga and the education institution, Kautilya Vidyalaya in Mysore. In 2019 I received my master’s degree in Drama.
In the several years I have been a theatre practitioner, I have organized theatre workshops, summer camps and directing the plays focusing more on children's theatre and college theatre. I have been fortunate to work with a number of eminent directors like Raghunandana, Ramesh varma, Shanker Venkateshvaran, Ben Rivers, Chidambara Rao Jambe, C. Basavalingayya, Akshara K.V, Venkataramana Aital and Manju Kodagu. I am working currently with a New York City based theatre company called Playback Theater.
While my focus is education I am interested in working with the various forms of folk theatre in Karnataka. At the moment I am practicing a spectacular folk dance known as Kamsale that is widely performed art in Karnataka even today. I am working towards bringing together Kamsale and theatre.
I am very grateful to the Foundation for selecting me as one of their theatre awardees for the year 2020.
