Ekalavya Performing Arts and Picture Picture Productions (PWP) staged his non-verbal play, silent echo In Bengaluru. The play is a part of Kalakari 2024, an annual event presented by Ekalavya.
“The artwork was commissioned in January 2020 by Ekalavya Performing Arts, which was formed in 2016,” says writer and director Bodhisattva Sarkar. silent echo And founder of Eklavya Performing Arts.. “We staged shows, mime and Bengali theater and decided to dedicate a day to the combination of mime and theater and call it artform. This is the fourth version of the artwork and we have decided to make it a full mime show.”
Picture Victure Productions focuses on making short films in Bengali, says Bodhisattva. “Last year we decided to join both groups.”
silent resonances, Revolves around daily life – from household chores to paying bills, the things that make us happy, excited, sad or upset. “Sometimes we vocally express our thoughts and react to situations and sometimes we don’t. We express ourselves through our lonely words, cells, tissues, skin, bones, most importantly the silent melodies of our expressions. silent echo It portrays the same tunes of life vocally, through unspoken words.”
Theater practitioner and mime artist Bodhisattva says, “Mime is not a popular genre in India, and doing a 90-minute mime show is a challenge. I started doing mime when I was nine years old and always wondered why it wasn’t popular here. We have workshops for all other forms, but not for mime. We don’t see a lot of mime shows, nor are people given training to hone their skills.”
silent echoThere will be no spoken dialogue but will be presented with music and narration, says Bodhisattva. “Apart from traditional mime we have also added some body movements like dance and contemporary movements.”
The play is divided into two parts – the first is about water while the second is about life. The director explains, ‘Water’ has three acts and is a story about humans and their relationship with water. “The second part is dominated by physical activity and is about LGBTQ, puppets and depression.”
Mime is popularly performed alone, and rarely by a small group, but silent echo There will be about 10 artists in it. Bodhisattva, who learned mime from his father, Bibek Sarkar, who was also a mime artiste, says, “It is preferred as a solo act because coordination with one’s body in a vacuum is impossible in a synchronized act. ”
Later he learned mime from Jogesh Dutta. The 45-year-old Bengaluru-based mime artiste, who also imparts theater and mime training to children and adults, explains, “Since Jogeshji lived far away from my home in Kolkata, I also started learning his work by watching his videos and studying his work virtually. Learned.” ,
“We work every weekend, whether we have a show or not, we undergo intensive training and work on body language, theater and mime.”
On 1st December, Jagruti Theatre, Whitefield, 3.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets at BooKyShow.
published – November 28, 2024 10:51 am IST
