Do I Know U?

review on "Boy with a Suitcase" in Mumbai Theatre Guide

2011-08-12T13:58:00.001-07:00

Last show of Boy in Ranga Shankara

2011-06-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

After seven sold out shows for the public and seven equally full school shows, the Boy with a Suitcase packed his case for the last time in 2011 yesterday at Ranga Shankara. The feedback from audiences has been incredible and overwhelming for all of us.

Thanks, Bangalore audience, you were amazing!

Boy opened in Ranga Shankara

2011-06-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday night "Boy with A suitcase" opened in Ranga Shankara to an enthusiastic audience. In my 11 years of watching Indian theatre and Indian audiences I have not seen such an applause with standing ovations, whistles and shouting. Wow. Three school shows ran prior to the opening to get used to the different stage and size of the auditorium. Schnawwl is an intimate space, the ceiling not being very high, where as Ranga Shankara is steep and large. We are happy. More shows, tiwce daily till 23rd.

short snippets of Boy on German Television

2011-04-13T02:06:00.001-07:00

http://www.3sat.de/mediathek/mediathek.php?obj=24369&mode=play

Today is the day - Opening of "Boy with a Suitcase" in Mannheim

2011-04-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

After two mothsn of rehersals in Nrityagram and Mannheim, we are opening "Boy with a Suitcase" today at Schnawwl in Mannheim.

Read more about the play, the crew and the background in our online programme brochure here.
note - you might need to get used to the online reader, you can enlarge the text if needed:

Open publication - Free publishing - More german

no words

2011-04-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

press coverage

2011-04-04T09:49:00.001-07:00

Some Bangalore press coverage form our rehearsal time Nrityagram.

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/06/16/stories/2006061602440300.htm

last week of rehearsals

2011-04-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

Mannheim is exploding with flowers and fresh greens leaves - spring is tranforming the city and our lives. While one day the Indian team asks for winter clothes in Evi's costume fundus, the next day Kirtana walks around in her pyjamas, because its has become so warm/hot she does not know what to wear. It must have been the first end of march bikini day in many years, but it was.

We have entered the last week of rehersals with the costumes and since today light design. Form tomorrow onwards, there will be some public rehearsals and a lot of fine tuning to be done.

Shrunga can read German from a newspaper now and it sounds like German. Pallavi is performing one scene in the play in German. The two of them are defenitely "Sprachgenies".

The poster is ready and plastered all over the city.

We are almost good to go!

Moving - to Germany and towards the end of the play

2011-03-17T03:05:00.000-07:00

We are settling into our new lives in Mannheim. For some of us it meant coming home, seeing their children and loved ones and for the rest of us it is another transit bed and space, but because we moved with the whole team, the transition is more a physical one. We freeze. We are wrappend in layers of clothes. We eat cheese and brown bread and pasta apart from Shrunga and Mustafa who have carried 7,2 kg of MTR ready made south Indian meals to Mannheim.

We have also reached the end of the play - at least the first round of blocking, after which a whole new round of fine tuning and revisiting will start.

This is how NAZs sister was developed yesterday. In the original script she is a brother, in our version the mother and sister are both played by Pallavi. The character is that of a refugee, whose parents have sent her to London in the hope that she can become a doctor and send money home. This utopia explodes for Naz as he finds her in a small room in London, wahsing cars for a living, barely surviving, having become bitter and cynical.

We again used the statue exercise to give her gestures, body positions and movements.

Pallavi's jetlag actually helped to find the exhausted look on her face.

the last days in Nrityagram

2011-03-10T05:09:00.000-08:00

three days ago it suddenly became hot. afternoon rehearsals are a challenge now and if we would stay longer, we would need to introduce the concept of siesta to our day and sleep form 2 to 6 and work in the evenings. We are all a little exhausted from the four weeks of intense rehearsals, in the play we have reached the last quarter, the part where Naz and Krysia are on the boat crossing the sea. We have had two game nights - what fun. Everybody is getting really good at "Werewolve", only Shrunga gets killed every time - and me!

Guests of honour

2011-03-07T22:49:00.000-08:00

Our singer and actress Pallavi had a concert in an amazing place sunday evening and took us along as her German guests. But boy, we were not prepared for this. The small village close to Bangalore is dominated by an organisation that feeds and educates 8000 (!) boys - homeless or poor. The Swamiji (holy man) who founded and runs the organisation is 104 years old. We watched the boys eating, met many of them and ended up on the stage with Pallavi. We had our glimpse of fame when we were being "falicitated" with shawls and flower garlands and Pallavi introuced each one of us to the crowd, all of them shouting our names. Andrea sang "Die Gedanken sind frei" (The thoughts are free, who can guess them, they fly past like nightly shadows, no human can know them, no hunter can shoot them, it remains like that: thoughts are free) for the crowd (wow!) and we went to have dinner, swimming through the crowds of children, many of them secretly touching out white skin. What a night!

Andrea: "Now I really feel we have made it to the other side of the world."

Simone: "I feel like Lady Di."

mornings and people leaving

2011-03-04T05:03:00.000-08:00

The mornings at Nrityagram are very special. The nature awakes around 6 o'clock with birds and dogs and a massive energy, kicking us out of bed someitems even before the alam clock rings. Coordt greets the sun every morning

Our two wonderful costume designers, Amba and Evi have left today. Evi is flying back to Germany where she will start stitching the costumes at Schnawwl. We are curious, because the two went shopping for two days and discussed the design all through the night, but we did not even get a glimpse of the fabrics.

Amba is on her way back to Delhi and will join us at Schnawwl later in march. She has said some wise and true things about theatre and intercultural collaborations and she told us her mother had gone to Berliner Ensemble back in the days, where she had met Helene Weigel! Indo-German collaborations do have a long tradition, thanks for reminding us, Amba.

into the third week of rehearsals

2011-03-02T23:58:00.000-08:00

After two and a half weeks, we have all settled into our "Big Brother" Paradise called Nrityagram. We eat, live, work together, with all the beauty and problems and frictions that come with it. A good example of two people having a heated artistic discussion, not being able to agree:

a. I feel like a rock.
b. and I am the water that flows around you.
a. but I want to be the water too!
b. what now, rock or water?

today, the rock and the water have found a very fruitful way of negotiationg their tempers and artistic visions. And the rock and the water sleep in the same small room, so there is absolutely no escape!

Our daily routine
Every morning we wake up at 6.30 and do one and a half hours of silent mediation, Surya Namaskars (sun salutaions), core work and biomechanics. Then we shower, eat huge amounts of fruits and at 9.30 am rehearsal starts with theatre and rythm games and then continuing with the play. We work till 1.30 pm with a short coffee break. At 2 pm we have a south Indian lunch, consisting of two vegetables, rice, dal (lentils) and curd. Then we rest a little in the afternoon heat, wash our clothes in a bucket, prepare the next rehearsal or learn text. We rehearse again from 4 pm to 8 pm. Then dinner is ready in our common area and we spend the evenings discussing, surfing the internet, eating, drinking the local wine. We go to bed between 10 pm and 12 pm.

visitors
We have a beautiful rehearsal space since monday, where the Odissi dancers ususally rehearse. On tuesday we had 50 children from Inventure Academy here, who are part of the cyber class project. They travelled two and a half hours from their school to see the first twenty minutes of "Boy with a Suitcase", meet the actors and the team and give us feedback. The kids were amazing and we were all quite happy, that the play seems to be going into the right direction and seems to connect to our future audience. Read comments of the super Grade 7 students here: Cyber class group 2
We announced an essay competition and got the first essay the very same evening! 7th graders, you rock!

finding the characters
A working method we have used to find the movements and gestures and facial expressions of the characters in the play, is the "statue"exercise. Especially for Nikolai, who has about 8 characters in the play with only a few lines for each, this method is very useful. We first read the scene and gather all the factual information that is given about the character. Then we discuss the character and interpret his/ her actions and motivations. Then the actor playing the charatcer is put on a platform and all the others can "form" him or her, move him into different statues, change his costume. Then the actor says what he liked and how he felt and starts moving around with the body position and gestures given to him.
Today we worked on Nikolai and the shephard. Have a look:

without words - foto by virginia

2011-02-27T09:02:00.000-08:00

NAZ - two or one?

2011-02-25T21:46:00.000-08:00

In the original script, the storyteller NAZ tells his story from the present and the same actor enacts the scenes of the story, as his younger self. In the German translation the older storyteller NAZ and the younger NAZ are divided into two actors. We have used this device so that the actor David, who plays the storyteller NAZ will be able to do tell the story in German in Germany and in English in India. The younger NAZ is played by Shrunga, who can use English and Hindi. Now we are working on moments for the two actors who play one character in different times.

First week of rehearsal

2011-02-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

The rehearsals for "Boy with a suitcase" have started on 15th febuary in a quiet and beautiful place called Nritygram - a village built for classical dancers in the 80s. The only dance form still praticed here is Odissi and a wonderful and amazing group of women rehearse here - an inspiration to every performer who has ever seen them.

We are all staying in the newly built "arts lab", a simple and sturdy building with 8 rooms that hosts two people each and and open kitchen and sitting area. The sounds of nature - crickets, birds and silence - accompany us through the day and it becomes hard to imagine that Bangalore is just an hour away.

We eat south Indian food twice a day and the Germans have gotten themselves fruits for breakfast - pineapple, papaya, chickoo and bananas all grow in the area.

Currently we are 16 people, 7 performers and musicians, two set designers, two costume designers, dramaturgs, assistants, all crawling out of bed at 6.30 in the morning to start the day with meditation, yoga, core work and biomechanics or - running through the fields beyond Nrityagram.

There is one thing that is valued by some of us with devotion - our wireless modem.
After and between rehearsals the virtual generation in hooked onto their electronic devices. But sometimes the modem does not work and despair sets in.

Another thing valued highly are the pickles that June has made, who lives here half of the year. Lemon, mango, tomato pickles, sour and salty and a happy maker for some of us.

We are getting into the play by reading and telling stories. Sindbads's stories that the main charatcer Naz refers to in the play and first person accounts of refugee children.

Stage designer Credi and Sridar work hard on the woden elements for the set - Credis design does not quite translate into the wood reality in India, so the wooden parts have to be strenghtend and covered with light cloth, which will be dirtied over the rehearsal period with the foot prints of red earth.

Today, we started with the actual text of the play...

More to come....

Cyber Class Project has begun!

2011-02-14T06:25:00.000-08:00

In the Cyber Class Project, 3 school groups with students ageing 12 to 16 from Bangalore and Mannheim are e-mailing, blogging, skyping about theatre in general and the production of "Boy with a Suitcase". They will all meet the team from "Boy with a suitcase" in the rehearsal phase, watch the show in their respective cities and exchange opinions

Check it out and keep track: http://cyberclassayouththeatreblog.blogspot.com/

Rehearsals for "Boy with a Suitcase" starting soon..

2011-01-24T23:51:00.000-08:00

As the last part and grande finale of the "Do I Know U?" theatre partnership, Schnawwl and Rangashankara are producing the play Boy with a Suitcase by British writer Mike Kenny as a joint production with an Indo-German cast. The production stars the Schnawwl actors Nikolai Jegorow, David Benito Garcia and Simone Oswald next to Pallavi MD and Shrunga BV from Bangalore. (see blog header for a photo of the actors).

The story is that of a 12 year old war refugee, who undertakes a long and dangerous journey to be with his sister in London. He carries with him only a small suitcase and a treasure of stories from his childhood.

Like his hero, Sinbad the Sailor, who went on many dangerous voyages in search of his fortune, Naz must travel half-way around the world to reach his sister in London. On the road, Naz meets Krysia, a young girl in similar circumstances, who helps him find safe passage over mountains, across seas and through the dangers of a city slum. With the help of Krysia and his stories, Naz finds his way to London and his sister. But is it the ‘heaven on earth’ that he expects?

A gripping narrative of adventure and stories, Naz’s journey also throws a spotlight on the real dangers faced by children who have to migrate alone today. You would imagine there’s not much room for laughter in this production but writer Mike Kenny has elevated this story with humour and spirit.

Pallavi Arun is a "beautiful thinker"

2011-01-10T18:57:00.000-08:00

Pallavi will be acting in the upcoming Schnawwl and Ranga Shankara's co-production of the English play "Boy with a Suitcase". But today she is a "beautiful thinker"
India Today - Beautiful Thinkers

The Song of Rama in Mannheim

2011-01-09T04:02:00.000-08:00

Read more about Schnawwl's production of "The song of Rama" on the Wanderlust Blog
Achtung, it's in German: Wanderlust Blog

Experiences 8: My incredible India - Julia Hesse, Dramaturgy and PR at Schnawwl talks about her first trip to Bangalore

2010-11-03T12:08:00.001-07:00

My Incredible India

“You say you’ve seen seven wonders and your bird is green – but you can’t see me.”

Before going to India for the first time someone told me: „India is absolute. Either you will hate it or you will love it. There’s nothing in between.” She was right.
Before getting into anything in detail I tell you straight ahead: I love it. I loved from the very first moment I arrived at the airport in Bangalore. Although it was almost 2 a.m. the air was soft and warm and had a special perfume, I can’t describe, but it smelled different from home, excitingly different.

During our instrument-shopping-tour I didn’t know where to look first. The coloured buildings, the beautiful ladies with their magnificent saris of different styles, the shops with all these statues of Hindu gods and goddesses, the old woman that sold flowers to put in your hair (Kirtana once offered me such flowers for my hair. Jasmine and tiny orange flowers that smelled so unbelievably sweet and divine, that you wish to have them as your everyday perfume). The music shops were great and very different from our way of storaging instruments as drums, sitars, weeners etc. looked kind of stuffed in every free space and it was not what you would call clean or tidied up in a German way, but it was rather like a big tresurehold, where you could get lost. We bought a kanjera (but with goat, not lizard skin) and a cachon so that Coordt would have some instruments to play on during his session with the musicians we were meeting to find a cast for “Boy with the suitcase”.
For lunch we met Arundhati, the founder and artistic head of Ranga Shankara, at her theatre. She welcomed us very warmly although she was in big stress as the next day the big folk festival for traditional Indian theatre was going to be opened at Ranga Shankara and she had to leave for one day to Delhi to receive her latest price for best supporting actress, some kind of Indian Oscar…
Thanks to the excellently programmed festival at Ranga Shankara, Andrea, Coordt and I enjoyed several traditional Indian plays from all over India you normally never would get to see as a tourist and even as an Indian you would have to travel all over the country to see these kinds of different performances. As a matter of fact we didn’t understand a single word of the plays in Kannada, Tamil or Urdu, but the way of performing, the wonderful all-over present music and the impressing way of using the body to express feelings made us totally get the atmosphere and the mood of every play. Plus we were lucky enough to see big myths as the Ramayana we just produced in Schnawwl also and the story of Draupadi, this brave Indian heroic woman that fights again her fate of being pushed around and humiliated by men and is rescued by Krishna (?) who sends her a never ending sari so she can’t be seen naked.

Mission Musician

The following days we kept meeting with all kinds of musicians that were masters in handling their exotic and beautiful instruments and as I am rather good with words than scripted music, which means I’m no musician and can’t even keep a rhythm I just attended the jam-session of Coordt and the musicians enjoying the great sounds and rhythm they created without even knowing each other more than a couple of minutes. After some days we found our musicians for “Boy with the suitcase” while being in paradise on earth in form of Kirtana’s and Cookie’s farm out of Bangalore. Sitting in the open air rehearsal space with a overwhelming view on the amazing countryside with its banana trees and round shaped stones and hills, Andrea and I got lost in the soundscapes the six musicians including brilliant and famous Pallavi, who will sing and act in “Boy” created and made us shiver with their heartbreaking improvisation of a Lullaby. Together with Shrunga, who will also act in the play, the musicians improvised on scenes in the play and invented sounds for a scene in the mountains or expressed an emotional sound setting for the children’s’ work in a sewing factory.

“Mergendising”

For “Boy with the suitcase” as a co production of Ranga Shankara and Schnawwl on all levels we want to collaborate not only on stage, but also have a common poster and production design in both cities. So on Monday Gayathri and Arundhati set us up with Sonya from “Idiom” a top agency for design and advertising, who does the design for Ranga Shankara. We agreed on having several suggestions for the design from Idiom and from our designer Tanja in Mannheim. The best ideas we will melt in one single design for our poster. I’m already very excited about the proposals and ideas of the designers and I hope we will make up something really excellent and extraordinary but fitting at the same time for both theatres and countries. Big challenge, I like that!

Cyber Classes

On Tuesday and Wednesday we went to two schools Kirtana had gotten in touch with for our outreach project “Cyber Classes&Virtual Pen friends”. This project wants to connect classes from Mannheim with classes from Bangalore so not only our theatres will benefit from our artistic exchange but also our young audience can get the most out of this interaction. The Cyber Classes give students the opportunity to exchange via internet, by blogging on one hand and by writing emails on the other hand. Additionally to an personal exchange about the different ways of life in Mannheim and Bangalore the students can ask each other about, they will get to know a lot about theatre in both countries as all classes taking part in the project will meet our ensemble of “Boy with the suitcase” during the rehearsals in Bangalore and Mannheim and they will also see the show and discuss about it. The project will be from January till July and it will end with a meeting of everybody on the internet during a skype conference with cameras, so the students can talk and see each other for one time “for real”.

The rock

My most amazing experience was our very early morning walk upon a hill near Kirtana’s and Cookie’s farm. After having wandered through high grass, banana trees, having jumped over a small creek and fought against bushes with bamboo sticks we reached the steep rock. As my shoes had no grip I was forced to leave them at its foot. First I was not comfortable with the idea of climbing the huge rock with bare feet, still having in mind the stories about snakes and spiders Vindi, a wild camp guide, was happy to tell me in the evening before (and by that arrived easily to freak me out for the rest of the night and for the big amusement of the rest of the others). But against all my fears and expectations my skin on the stone wasn’t hurt at all, but the moment I touched the solid and at the same time soft ground, I felt an enormous energy floating my whole body which I never felt before. I don’t want to sound like that Elizabeth Gilbert woman and talk about spiritual stuff, but being on that rock in the silent and still air of morning, facing a landscape so unknown and beautiful touched and marked me in a way I surely shall never forget in my life. Thank you so much, Kirtana!

First review on "The song of Rama"

2010-10-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.morgenweb.de/nachrichten/kultur/20101011_mmm0000000672037.html

This review is more a description than criticism, but well, the reviewer seems to have been impressed at least.

50th show of "Robinson & Crusoe"

2010-09-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

Robinson and Crusoe has seen its 50th show on Monday, Sep 13.

Close to 18,000 children and adults have watched the play so far. While the children bring the house down in the school shows in the morning, adults have a rocking time in the evening too and always give a standing ovation.

Next, the play is invited to the National School of Drama's Festival in October 2010.

Article about Shrunga

2010-07-23T03:06:00.000-07:00

...by Schnawwl-Dramaturg Anne Richter in the theatre magazine "Jünge Bühne".
In German!
Read it here:
www.die-junge-buehne.de/de/artikel_lesen/54.html

Extensive Experiences 10: Kirtana trains German actors in Kalari

2010-07-19T08:57:00.001-07:00

The opening play of the next season at Schnawwl will be "Das Lied von Rama" by Tor Åge Bringsværd. For this production Kirtana Kumar is spending two weeks in Mannheim training the actors in Kalari payattu, a martial art from South India. Read about her personal and professional experiences here:

http://infinitesoulsfarmandartistsretreat.blogspot.com/search/label/germany

Experiences 9: Kirtana Kumar "Sophia Chews On Me"

2010-05-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

OK, this blog was written under duress. Torture. Waterboarding...nah! It's been so crazy-fantastic-rich it makes me want to stay with it a while...and simply mull. So much art, so much inspiration. I've liked it most when performances are questioning of the status quo, when form grabs my throat and leaves me breathles and in love. When theate-makers reference their passions - the cool and intrigue of film noir (hats, spats et al), the music of Frank Zappa - one of my teenage Gods (remember the sex and magic of Catholic Girls?)the lonely heart of Kerouac and his Bodhisattvas, I'm sold. I am not just interested in the form and the content, but the memory and the roots of the work.

From the high culture ethos of Puccini's Turandot to the simple Grotovsky inspired Open Circle (Lithuania), it has been an aesthetic roller-coaster ride. So...some moments.

- A poster for the Pat Metheny Group on the Altefeuerwache, the building that is home to Schnawwl Theatre, Mannheim. As luck would have it I miss the concert by a few days, but am thrilled by the idea of the continuum. We are here, Pat Metheny will soon be here. How cool, no?
- Watching Berlin '61. Lovely details strewn casually all over. The very '60s cocktail sticks, the 3-in-1 lamp, the use of music and that subtle yearning for the West, that we recognise so well. The sadness of it.
- Hanging out with the actors of NIE and Open Circle. Hopefully, friendships made and held onto beyond work, time and space. Listening to the ephemeal Unai speak about his method - transparency, honesty and in improv - just going with things and seeing where it gets you.
- The opening visual for the libretto in Verdi's Macbeth was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Haze of the blue scrim, an installation of trenchcoat behind. Then young girls in red wigs and tiny kilts appearing and pressed against the scrim...oh.
- Meeting and doing workshop with the sweetness of the actors at Schnawwl. Seeking something fragile and organic that is interesting and truthful for children and young adults. Also, chasing an ideal of participation and democracy.
- Learning that the Open Circle actors (so young, so talented, so hot!) have promised each other they will never take the commercial, establishment route. I applaud them and am thrilled by their idealism.
- Portrait la familia! How do actors become so strong of voice and body? I want so much to discuss with them the dramaturgy that I was just so unsure about...which brings me to the last thing.
- What I have loved the most is the German commitment to the discussion and analysis of theatre. What could be more dispassionate? To unpack and dismantle with a clear heart and mind, with only one intention.To forward the journey and movement to theatre.

That's it for now. I suppose I should write about the copious glasses of champagne and Pils, the interesting faces and souls, the nice rollies, the general decadence...but that's a given, no? The reason we do this thing?!
love, peace, freedom,
kirtana

Experiences 8: Artistic Director Arundhati Nag on the German luxury of subsidised theatre

2010-05-19T03:50:00.001-07:00

This is my third German festival ("Schöne Aussicht" in Stuttgart) and my second theatre for children festival and I am completely in awe of the fact that Germany has build this movement of theatre for children, which we could emulate in India also. Its very recent that theatre has been brought into the Indian educational system as an optioal subject, for students at the 10^th standard level (16 years old), so we have a long way to go, considering the number of people and the shere size if the country, the diversity of languages. Tt will mean very large political will to bring in change for all. Ranga shankara is a small dot on the map which has this collaboration with Schnawwl and I am an fortunate Indian to have seen these festivals – this is a beginning and there is hope.

Experiences 7: Costume Designer Amba Sanyal on the Germans & Truth

2010-05-19T03:44:00.000-07:00

The festival has been a revelation as to the way the German percieve reality.
The need to tell the truth, which might not encompass the TRUTH.
But it opens windows, which is very interesting as it gives you a peak into the German mind and rythms.

Experiences 6: actor Shrunga's thoughts on the Cold, Warmth & Magnitudes

2010-05-19T01:16:00.000-07:00

Cold....
I had heard people telling me about how cold the can be, but i had a first hand, first body experience when i got out of my Lufthansa flight at Frankfurt. The cold can just get into ur system in a few moments if u r not prepared for it... Luckily, i was.

Warmth....
I was pretty ill equipped to handle the warmth that i got here....
Having heard stories of the German discipline and punctuality, i was pretty nervous comin here...
But it was all dispelled by the hospitality, the warmth, the openness, the spirit, the cozyness of all the people here...

Workshops?.....
Funshops rather!!
The ``Do I Know U`` game, which gave insights into eachother, without being judgemental;
The ``Sheep and Shepherd``, which was so much fun especially for a person as disoriented as me!!;
The ``Sunnnies and the Moonies``, which made us literally roll on the floor! But at the same time, opened me up to explore the differences in our way of expression;
The ``Kalaripayattu``, which i ve alwayz been a fan of and been wanting to learn;
The ``Konakhol``, which actually has opened up new avenues for me personally (Am thinking of creating poetry in a serious way now:))....
The ``Translation Line``, that can open up a world of possibilities of saying the same thing in a hundred different ways...
Cant forget the improvisation that me n Nikolai did!
It started with us having to say the same story in two different ways... But then, it took on a totally different and hilarious colour, and it ended up with me and him in each other´s arms on the floor!
They ve all been great learning experiences and great fun at the same time....

Magnitude......
The sheer magnitude of the Mannheim National Theatre has totally bowled me over....
I witnessed the magic that a technologically advanced theatre and stage and set can weave.

Do i know me?!!.........
And my people?? No i dint!
Many things about our own culture were alien to me!
But this journey s helped me to unearth a lot of questions...
Questions that will take a long time to be answered...

But right now, am just gobbling it all up.... Not thinking too much...
I ll chew the cud some time later...

Experiences 5: Pallavi's impressions - ten days in Germany

2010-05-17T12:18:00.001-07:00

“Is this a dream?” I ask myself. No. I am lying on a bed looking at the ceiling and it is not my house. I thought I had dreamt it – the magical evening of asparagus at Credi’s, Turandot’s voice sailing above the tenors and the sopranos that had surrounded us with their larger-than-life vocals, the suave conductor confidently creating ripples of music by the wave of his hand, ballet dancers creating a new film noir vocabulary to show us Frank Zappa’s music and Jack Kerouac’s poem, the never-ending corridors of Mannheim Schloss, Mr.Wind opening the magical opera theatre doors to us and walking us in and out of the unending rooms reserved for make-up, costumes, lights, curtains, storage and more storage, savouring the spicy Indian meal that Aru cooked for us, meeting the Schnawwl team- realistically speaking, this had to be a dream. But it was not. This is a dream that Rangashankara and Schnawwl dreamt, a dream that Aru and Andrea dreamt, a dream that two cities dreamt, a dream that two countries dreamt. I am in the dream. I am still in the dream. We meet the Schnawwl team. Dedicated and hardworking Andrea, supercool Credi, gorgeous Evi, super-efficient Anne, soft-spoken Julia, gentle and caring Anne, quicksilver Coordt, mysterious and urban David, ever-smiling Simone, charming Nikolai, full of wonder Maike, strong and rebellious Jule, beautiful Angelika and the most un-German German I have met - Sophia. Ten days ago, my life was different. I didn’t know these people. Today, I am wondering how do I leave them and go away. I also have met Shrunga, Amba, Srini and Kirtana after I come here. Now they are friends for life. Journeys influence me. I change after each journey. I doubt if the journeys of the characters of our play are as magical as this one that has just begun. That remains to be seen. As for now, more of ‘Berlin 1961’, ‘Kill the Katz’, ‘Risiko’, ‘Echoa’, ‘Open Circle’ and many more. Set the sails, we are off to wonderland.

The "Do I know U?" game and the beauty of freestyle swimming

2010-05-14T15:56:00.000-07:00

There is an exercise that is mostly used as an Ice Breaker, where two strangers sit in front of each other, describe each other preceisely and then fantasise about the life of the other person. Within the last week this exercise has started to take up more and more workshop time and crept into leisure time, we find doing it in the tram and missing the station (which - to be honest - is mostly due to my extremely bad travel guiding in Mannheim). We have spent a week of getting to know each other, which happend while wokshopping, walking, changing hotels, dragging extremely big suitcases with saris all over the place, watching plays, and, just now, swimming. Language does play a huge role - in the workshop and in the rest of our time. Shrunga and Pallavi say "Danke" and "Leitungswasser" and we listen to the actors speak in Kannada, Russian, Spanish, Swiss German, French, Kannadised English, Russian sign language and creative Bharat Natyamised Pantomime - as of today I know what jogging looks like in Bharat Natyam. Our German brains have worked hard on rythmical patterns called Konokol and we did konokol-rap some weird stuff funky today. Which brings us to the word "Scheisse" which the Germans do not agree on how bad the word actually is - while eating "Mannheimer Dreck" (a chocolate biscuit that wants to visually resemble a heap of scheisse!) in the evening, we heard the word on stage in the Schnawwl play "Risiko" at least five times. In the audience simoultaneous whispered translations af the whole play for our Indian friends, pissed of audience members changing seats. And then we do audio plays for each other in Kannada and German and later have a discussion on the phrase "I love you" and how overused it is, we tend to all agree on that. Language is not a problem anymore, its is music, a difference of beauty I feel after we read part of our play today, simultaneously in Kannada, German and English. I am systematic

ally relieved. We can talk and talk and we do - but Arundhati says "I know you when I eat what you eat" and so she comes fresh from the plane directly into Sandra's small kitchen where she spends the next five hours cooking for 50 people with brave Gayathri and the volunteers Lisa and Magdalena who heroically dissect the first chickens of thier lives. We all - who cooked-wonder how we will ever get that garlicgingeronion ( yes I am randomly connecting several nouns into one word, as Germans like to do) smell of our skin, which becomes an issue two days later, after partying in Casino and we all smell like ashtrays, which is not such a big problem if you are German and have no hair but if you have long Indian hair to get rid of that smell is a task. But just now we smell like new born babies because we ditched Verdi for the swimming pool where Pallavi and Shrunga learned the breast stroke and freestyle breathing in just two hours. Pure water talent in action. With wrinkeld skin and burning eyes we are all sure we will sleep like logs tonight, while the washing machine works hard on our ashtrayed gingered garlicy sweaty clothes.

A footnote on food - almost all of us people love to eat and we have to mention that excellent Black Forest Cake we all had in the Castle restaurant of beautiful Heidelberg. We know each other quite a bit better today. Tomorrow we leave for Stuttgart, more plays, more workshops and a swmimming pool?

PS: I apologize for being the officially worst travel guide through Mannheim ever!

PPS: I proudly announce the official " Do I know U?" table footall championships. The leading team Kumar / Stepf is waiting for challengers.

Sprache - Politikum, Hürde, Geräusch

2010-04-29T02:35:00.001-07:00

Die Lokalsprache Kannada klingt für uns, als hätten die Menschen Murmeln im Mund. Die Schrift scheint eine graphische Darstellung der Lautqualität zu sein. Unsere deutschen Ohren möchten Kannada auf der Bühne hören. Wir möchten unsere gegenseitige Fremdheit nicht über Englisch oberflächlich gleichbürsten. Aber wo fängt Exotismus an? Im ersten Satz dieses Textes, in der ersten geistigen Vorstellung der indischen Schauspielers auf der Bühne, die wir in ihrem Anderssein belassen würden, sprächen sie Kannada für Mannheimer Kinder.
Wenn Kannada sprechende Kinder in Bangalore Deutsch auf der Bühne hören, von deutschen Schauspielern gesprochen, werden sie keine lauwarm poetischen Gefühle über Murmeln empfinden, sie werden die Herrscherklasse sehen, die in einer Herrschersprache spricht, das Nicht-verstehen für sie ein internalisierter Zustand des Ausgeschlossenseins von der reichen, gebildeten Welt. In Bangalore findet derzeit ein Kulturkampf statt. Das Kannada sprechende Karnataka wehrt sich – gegen English, gegen eine entwurzelte indische Bildungselite, gegen IT, gegen Gleichmacherei, gegen gute bezahlte Call Center- Jobs ohne Zukunft. Ein lokaler Rechtsruck hat mit einer neuen Regierung alle Kneipen ab 23 Uhr geschlossen. Die kreative Elite wandert nach Bombay ab, das lebendige und vielfältige Kannada-Theater übernimmt immer mehr das Ranga Shankara, unser Partnertheater. Hier ist die Sprache eines Stückes ein Politikum, hier trifft sich das dörfliche Indien mit Volkstheater in Kannada und eine Satire über das Call Center Leben auf English. Hier wird in in der Saison über Prozente an Sprachen nachgedacht und versucht, zwei scheinbar unversönhlichen Sprach-Welten einen Ort zu geben, wo sie beide sein dürfen.

In Mannheim sitzt ein Kinder-Publikum, für die die Erfahrung einer Fremdsprache oft Deutsch heißt. Auch viele von Ihnen leben damit, dass sie Theater nicht in ihrer Sprache sehen, dass sie Dinge nicht verstehen, weil ihr Deutsch vielleicht nicht gut genug ist. Und nun, für all diese Kinder in Bangalore und Mannheim, ein Stück über eine Reise, in Sprachen, die sie verstehen sollen, damit sie sich im Theater am richtigen Ort fühlen. Ist das machbar?

Theatre for ....

2010-02-22T12:14:00.001-08:00

Toddlers in Chennai !!
Please check out
http://toddlertheatre.blogspot.com/

"Robinson & Crusoe" premiering at Ranga Shankara

2010-02-01T06:59:00.000-08:00

This February, the famous children's play " Robinson & Crusoe" by Nina D’Intrino and Giacomo Ravicchio has its premiere in the first Indian production at Ranga Shankara on Feb 5.

The play is directed by Gracias Devaraj, who acted in the same play in an earlier production by Schnawwl, back then directed by Andrea Gronemeyer. This production had come to Bangalore in 2006 through Goethe Institute's initiative of presenting exciting German theatre productions for children in India.

The set for the new production was designed by Schnawwls stage designer Christian Thurm, wo spent some time in Chennai and Bangalore in 2009, learning about south Indian roofs, construction tequniques and materials.

Designed for the young (eight years and above) and old alike, Robinson & Crusoe is about two soldiers from enemy camps who are stranded together on a roof and surrounded by the nothing but a vast ocean.

The play will premier on Fri, Feb 5^th at 7:30 pm and will run till Sun Feb 7^th. There will be a 7:30 pm show on all days. There will be a 3:30 pm show as well on Sun, Feb 7^th.

Direction: Gracias Devaraj

Stage Design: Christian Thurm

Music: Praveen Rao

Fights:Krishna Prathap

Actors: Sathya and Tariq Vasudeva

Sound: Pramod

Lights: Mustafa

Production Managmement: Manjunath Gowda

Set execution: Sridhar Murthy

Tickets are available on www.indianstage.in and at Ranga Shankara.

Workshop for Theatre for Toddlers in Bangalore

2009-11-09T04:49:00.000-08:00

Workshop for Toddlers

   Unlocking the imagination of the young minds!

Workshop for toddlers is inspired by an artistic approach to create "performance" for the innocent minds. Christine and Mirra, both movement artists and teachers, will conduct the workshop which will involve movement, sounds, rhythms, music and simple materials to encourage the imagination of the toddlers in a creative and supportive environment.
The age level is for toddlers from 18 months to 3 years.

    Venue: #1, Shanthi Gallery,
                       Shanthi Nagar, Bangalore

Dates and Time: Wednesday to Saturday, 11-14th November
                                         10.00-11am. (1 hour)

  For Further enquiries, please contact Mirra on: 9972529139.

Experiences 4 : Marcela Herrera and Anne Gorath, theatre pedagogues on conducting a 10-Day-Workshop in Bangalore

2009-10-06T01:54:00.000-07:00

We were very excited when we heard we should come to India to conduct a 10-day-Workshop on theatre for toddlers. We didn´t know what to expect. We had heard a couple of things about Indians - for example that they are not very punctual in comparison to us Germans and that it is difficult to criticize openly. But during our stay, we experienced just the opposite!

On Monday the 31st August we arrived at the Ranga Shankara. 17 theatre colleagues from all over India welcomed us and told us about their background.

Lots of unusual names were said and we were wondering if we would be able to remember them quickly. We managed, after a few hours we knew not only the names but got to know our colleagues much better.

Right from the first day we felt that there was an amazing energy in the group! Everyone was absolutely full of wonder, excitement and openness. 7 days we worked together with the whole group. Two days more we could work with the colleagues from Bangalore.
After understanding the production and research process of the play “The big Lalula”, our colleagues developed ideas and concepts for theatre games and their own performances. Some of them could be “tested” in a day nursery straight away.
It was an overwhelming time of exchange. We got to know our colleagues, learned about there ways of working and the structural problems that theatre people in India struggle with. We learned about Indian theatre traditions and that many issues do not depend on which country or culture one is from!

It was an intense time of exchange. We were amazed about the willingness to experiment together. The openness to criticize each other, the trust were there right from the beginning.
At the end of the workshop we saw performance concepts and game ideas where the year long experiences of our colleagues was well visible.

Back in Mannheim we are still very excited and hope that the seeds that have been sown are going to grow and that there will soon be some performances for very young children. We are hpoing to stay in contact and continue the exchange and hopefully we can also come and see the productions!

What is amazing in India is traffic. In Germany it would not work as it works in India. Many cars, motorbikes and rikshas are supposed to share the street. Even if it seems to be too tight or too narrow every now and then, it works. Using the horn in this context is not – as in Germany- an expression of anger or aggression, no, it rather shows all traffic participants who´s on the road and who the attention should be shared with. Using a riksha nearly every morning as a person from Germany you need to relax. You need to get used to it. And you´ll see that it works. You also need to get used to the sound that goes with it. Being next to a main road means that you´ll always hear the beeping and the horns. In the workshop room, in the Ranga Shankara, in the hotel room, you´ll always have that background sound.

Experiences 3 - Schnawwl Director Andrea Gronemeyer about the five days of "Think Tank" in Bangalore

2009-09-14T01:49:00.000-07:00

Only one week in Bangalore changes my view of my own country. Stepping out of the air plane in Germany, taking the train early Saturday morning, I am stunned how quiet and slow live seems to be here, birds singing, fresh air. But the few people that I meet on the street on my way home don’t seem to be happy about this, they don’t recognize me and look somehow worried, nobody would answer my good morning smile. I am tired not only because of the long flight, but because of so many impressions that I take home with me.

In our so called "think tank", Arundhati Nag, Sophia Stepf, Gayathri Krishna, Christian Thurm and me had been working on the shape of our co-production that would be the third step of the entire project “Do I know you”. The first idea that we all agreed to explore was the staging of the Friedrich Schiller’s play “Intrigue and Love” with a mixed Indian-German cast. The reading of the play evoked an interesting discussion: the theme of impossible love between people of different castes or religion seems to be a very contemporary question in Indian
society, such a hot topic that it is the topic of nearly every second Bollywood movie. What can a two hundred year old German play add to this current discussion, is it able to open a new point of view? Is there any need to also look at the political implications of the play dealing with the emancipation of the German bourgeoisie of the 18^th century? The next day we listenend to the reading of a very important Indian play form1972, Girish Karnad's “Hayavadana”, a post-colonial interpretation of the old folk tale “The transposed heads”, which is known also in Germany because of the Thomas Mann’s novel that is also based on it. A great play with an interesting epical structure that suits the aesthetics of nowadays theatre for young people in Europe. It’s a very challenging play, full of references to problems of modern Indian society torn between cultural roots and the western culture that has been transposed on them. It took us Germans some time to understand the abstract philosophical metaphors of the play, which we gratefully got to know. Some days and a trip to Mysore and meetings with many artist later we all agreed, that we should not end the discussion about the topic too early. We all want a play that really exites our young audience in Bangalore as well as in Mannheim. We agreed on a political topic and a form that can also entertain und startle our audiences. The idea to ask a contemporary Indian playwright to create something very special for our co-production, in a good cooperation with the German directing staff, maybe based on a tale or a novel seems to be a good way to approach this goal.
I leave Bangalore with the impression that we have made a big step. All the discussions and meetings, but also the experience of life in Bangalore, food, smells, sounds, smiles, the wonderful hospitality of Arundhati Nag, Gayathri Krishna and the the excitement and passion about theatre form all the young volunteers that guided and supported us helped me make a big step towards knowing my partners better.

Andrea Gronemeyer

Experiences 2 - Christian Thurm, stage designer about looking at roofs and material for the RS production of "Robinson& Crusoe"

2009-09-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

Context: As part of the partnership, Ranga Shankara is producing the play " Robinson & Crusoe" , which in the Schnawwl production had traveled to Bangalore in 2006 and won the hearts of the Bangalore audiences. The play is set on a swimming roof in the ocean, on which two soldiers from enemy armys meet. They do not speak each others language, but learn to communicate with each other and in the end become friends. In the Schnawwl production one soldiers was played by Gracias Devaraj, a Bangalorian who has been living in Germany for many years. He will now direct the RS production of the play for children 10 years plus with two actors from Bangalore. The stage designer Christian Thurm, who is the technical head of Schnawwl, has come to India for two weeks to look at different kind of Indian roofs, construction techniques and material available.
Here are his experiences:

"Stage design in India seems to be not quite the same as in Germany. There are many cultural differences and I'm always afraid of making bad mistakes.But there is one thing that makes me calm: The people here in the theatre have the same aim as me. And they are so warm, kind and friendly, that there is no need for fear.

And so I went around and found the steel I need in the city.

and for alternative also some aluminium profile. I've seen wood that works for my construction and what is most important, I've seen a lot of different typical Indian roofs and their construction underneath, in a museum in Chennai, so that i can choose what is needed.

I was accompagnied by Raghu, a 21 Year old student who knew a lot about Indian architecture.

Now I just wait for the main decision of Graci (the Director) about which direction he wants the stage design to take: Abstract or naturalistic - that will determine the final design."

Christian Thurm

Impressions of "The Great Lalula" in Bangalore

2009-09-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

For all who have not seen the show - after the performance of about 30 minutes, the children can come on stage and play for another 30 minutes. Children at this age seem to be the same all over the world....

or maybe not? We are discussing in the pedagogy workshop, whether Indian children, who are used to much more noise and colour would need a different kind of Lalula...

... but then as Arundhati remarks:
Lalula is not a show it is science....

but then again it's simply about the beauty of blowing sand.

Experiences 1: Jule Kracht, actress about her six days in Bangalore

2009-09-05T06:01:00.000-07:00

it is saturday and i am sitting in sophia's hotel room and thinking about the last 6 days! a t 2pm i will be on the flight back to frankfurt, where hopefully my little girl and my husband will wait for me!
this was a very short time in india and even for bangalore it was not enough, but it was filled with hundreds of experiences! the theatre "ranga shankara" was such a beautiful place where i felt very comfortable! also the festival "aha" was really well organised ! we had enough time for reharsels and to build up our stage ! there where lots of great volenteers who helped us with everything !

and it didn't matter if we needed a help with a spotlight or a nice shopping tour through bangalore! even our performances where such nice experiences ! i was very exited to perform in front of so many indian children and on top of that my english is not the best ! the space was very big, so normally we perform in front of 30 children and now in one show there were around 150 people! so it was big fun ! the shows very well and i really enjoyed myself and had the feeling that there is a really open minded audience in bangalore! after the shows a lot of people came to me and asked me questions or told me that they liked it very much and the children came to me on the stage and said thank you and told me their names!

the city of bangalore is a really big town and has two different worlds, one is very rich and similar to ours but on the other side you have poverty and pollution! for example: you buy a south indian meal (which is a lot to eat, see picture below) in a local restaurant and you pay 20 rupees and in the evening you go to a upper class night club and you pay 300 rupees for a beer!

the food is very nice but for me it's all a bit similar in taste! you have different types of dosa, which are some kind of pancakes with vegtables, potatos and some nice dips! it can be very hot! but the best thing is, my stomach is feeling fine! one thing that makes me really laugh are the homeless cows everywhere! they walk between the cars and the rikshas, it is unbelievable!

so now i am very rich of experience and hope i will visit this place again!

me in the mouse costume with arundhati

First steps in many ways: Theatre for Toddlers in Bangalore

2009-09-05T02:08:00.000-07:00

For the first step of the partnership, Schnawwl brought 2 plays to Ranga Shankara's AHA festival, introducing theatre for the age brackets of 18 months plus (The great Lalula ) and 4-6- years olds (The Garbage Mouse) to the Bangalore audience.

The Great Lalula

The Garbage Mouse

Alongside the shows, a workshop on "Doing Theatre with and for Toddlers" is currently being held at Ranga Shankara. Marcella Herrera, theatre pedagogue and director of "The great Lalula" and Anne Gorath, theatre pedagogue, are conducting this intensive 10-day workshop for 16 Indian theatre pedagogues, theatre teachers and actors from Bangalore, Kolkata, Bombay and Pune. We are hoping and are positive, that the workshop will enable the participants to create the first shows for toddlers in India.

Furthermore, a symposium on theatre pedagogy was held in the Goethe-Institut Bangalore yesterday, where Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schneider talked on his new brand new book "Theatre for Early Years. Research in Performing Arts for Children from Birth to 3".
Also the collective effort of all participants of the workshop and symposium was made to finally establish a vibrant and lively Assitej India - and by doing that connecting the Indian theatre parctitioners with the world wide network for theatre for children and young people: Assitej International.

http://www.assitej-international.org

For another overview of all these activities check out:

http://www.german-info.com

2009-06-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

Indo-German theatre partnership
Schnawwl at the National Theatre in Mannheim & Ranga Shankara in Bangalore

Two cities shaped by migration, many languages and different cultures
Two theatres that are places for intercultural dialogue and lively local culture

Who: Schnawwl at the National Theatre in Mannheim and Ranga Shankara in Bangalore
What: professional intercultural theatre for children and young people
How: an exchange in the form of workshops, exchange of artistic staff, guest performances and a co-production
When: September 2009 to September 2011
Goals: increase the participants intercultural competency, provide cultural impulses, stage three top-class productions, awaken the enthusiasm of young audiences for a contemporary intercultural theatre
Visibility: guest performances by Schnawwl at the AHA! Theatre Festival in Bangalore, one production with an intercultural theme at each of the theatres with artistic impulses from the partner theatre, 30 performances of a co-production in Bangalore and in Mannheim