Journeys to the Buddha

The small scale but profound production JOURNEYS TO THE BUDDHA came as a flash of inspiration when the initial thoughts of restaging a shortened version of BUDDHAM SHARANAM GACCHAAMI fell through. Not many of you know this, but the resources available to me then was just Giri, Mayuri and Mathan. It struck me that it would be a good thing to make a special offering to Swamiji on Wesak Day. After having seen Mathan, Giri and Mayuri in MERCHANT, I thought it would be an exciting thing to challenge them further by doing monologues. A monologue is almost like an arangetram in dance - you have nobody else but yourself on stage. What's more: you have to create your own music, your own dance movements, your own abhinaya - through the words and your characterisation of course.

The first version in Temple of Fine Arts Kuala Lumpur was very exciting because it was indeed a first in many ways. A first for the institution, for me as a playwright, for the actors, and for the audience we are used to. We took the show on the road - to Johor Bahru, and then, to Singapore in May and June.

The interesting thing for me, trying to gauge audience response, was that most people became quiet after the performance. A few told me that there were many things to think about after watching it. I believe many just could not begin to express how they felt - too many thoughts running in their minds. Thavam, in her review on SFI, revealed that she did not want to speak to anyone after the production because she wanted to contemplate on everything that flashed through her mind while watching it. Dhanya Thurairajah recently told me that after watching the performance, she went home crying, thinking of all the things the performance reminded her about herself, and how she felt she did not have the courage to transform. Wow!

It would be interesting for me to know what the Pancatantra team think with regards to the content of this production. Just to remind you - there are at least two layers in the production for analysis - the content, and then, the performance. In all this, it is the actor who brings subject matter into reality with his performance.

In terms of performance, Giri, Mayuri and Mathan had done their best at each outing. We must remember that we are all not born actors, and like everything else, the art of acting, dancing, singing and writing, is a process of exploration and growth. Nobody is expected to be perfect right from the beginning. No one can be.

So, when we talk about performance of the actors, we invariably talk about the direction of the actors. From the director's point of view, the actor is a whole person - with a certain mindset, emotional makeup, prejudices, thinking habits, fears and insecurities that come together to make the person. The drama coach, through theatre exercises, create an environment within and without to bring about an enhanced awareness of the actor about himself. The drama coach does not direct. He stimulates, illuminates, and suggests that the actor contemplates, so that this new awareness can be used with greater effect whenever the need arises; that is when a new role comes.

The director cajoles, provokes, teases, pushes, demands and manipulates the actors' awareness to create a performance with the actor. This can become a tussle of egos - and usually it is.

The tour of Journeys to the Buddha to JB and then Singapore gave us the opportunity to work on the performances further. And this challenge, Giri, Mayuri and Mathan took on with gusto. There were many moments of beauty and light. You all should know that during rehearsals, many wonderful moments came upon us as the actors began to create their roles. In a sense, those of you not in this production missed out on this experience but nevertheless, I am reminded of the characterisation class we had one late evening for MERCHANT when Mayilai drew a beautiful sketch of Gangadharan for us.

In fact, what you saw at the performance varied with the magical moments during rehearsals.

In Singapore, the production was presented to Shiva Family and Geetha Rajan spoke in an analytical way about their performances. She has written a review on SFI too. In all, most were taken up by the stamina and imagination of the actors. I have yet to receive any feedback about Mathan's performance during Swamiji's Mahasamadhi in Coimbatore. The night before, we worked on some finer details and Mathan "took the plunge" as I had asked him to. That is, to let go of his "fears" and to let the real Angulimala emerge, totally, during performance. Of course, this is a difficult thing to do. I mean, where do we draw the line about who is Mathan and who is Angulimala. Once again, this is the thrilling thing about creating a role - the subtlety of living for the moment.