IT IS YOU: Vivek Vijayakumaran and Pangambam Tyson Meitei’s seismic wordless play compels you to rethink the planet
A collaboration between Our Theatre Collective and Kalakshetra Manipur, the play is premiering at Ranga Shankara on January 31, with more shows on February 1. Here’s an exclusive interview with the makers…
By Reema Gowalla
It’s not every day that one gets to witness an artistic collaboration between a theatre group in Bengaluru and one of Northeast India’s most prestigious institutions — Kalakshetra Manipur. Things turn even more curious when it’s a wordless play that dabbles in the ‘embodied tensions and themes of collective responsibility, identity and the future of our planet’. Written by Our Theatre Collective’s Vivek Vijayakumaran and created, devised and performed by Pangambam Tyson Meitei (from Imphal) and Vivek, IT IS YOU is dubbed a groundbreaking piece that nudges the audience to sit back and think. Premiering at Ranga Shankara on January 31, followed by more shows on February 1, the play is produced by Our Theatre Collective and Kalakshetra Manipur, with the opening shows being supported by Nirdigantha through Prakash Raj Foundation.
The 60-minute performance employs the elements of drama, movement arts and a plethora of musical instruments, as it challenges traditional storytelling by ditching the spoken word. Through the dynamic interaction between the two central characters, IT IS YOU ‘navigates the tension between the unknown and the familiar’. The idea is to encourage the audience to experience and interpret the performance sans any cultural or language barrier. The play compels you to reconsider your individual and collective responsibilities toward Mother Earth. Being non-verbal is a deliberate attempt at forging a raw, emotional connection with the audience.
Music and sound for the play is designed by Chaoba Thiyam, with music being operated by Kshetrimayum Priyobrata Singh and movement advice by Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy. Sudarshan K is in charge of poster and brochure design. Light design is done by Laishram Ibochouba Singh, with Arun DT handling light execution. Aastha is in charge of costume design, while costume realisation is done by Aloka Dsouza.
In an exclusive conversation with TheatreRoom ahead of the premiere, Vivek (V) and Tyson (T) take turns to decode this special play, which they have painstakingly crafted over a period of two and a half years. The interview includes comments on the genesis of IT IS YOU, the factors that informed its underlying themes and plot devices, how the Manipur violence influenced the creation of the play, and more. Excerpts:
Q. How and where did the collaboration between Our Theatre Collective and Kalakshetra Manipur begin?
V. I am a student of Kanhailalji [Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee Heisnam Kanhailal, who is also the founder-director of Kalakshetra Manipur], and I first met Tyson during my 2012 visit to Imphal, and since then I have always been in touch with him. Kanhailalji been a guiding force in my play Bhima, which premiered in 2015. In terms of theatre practice generally, Tyson is a very important person to me as an artist. When we opened the Our Theatre Collective studio in Bengaluru, I always wanted Kalakshetra to somehow come into this space.
Before the last leg of rehearsals began for our 2022 play Imagine A Room, I had invited Tyson to conduct a 10-day actor training programme, which was open to the public, and also simultaneously work with the actors of the play. During that time, we had two documentaries screened at the studio over a weekend. A little before all these events unfolded, I had the inkling of a new piece. But that took a backseat while working on Imagine A Room. During the rehearsals, I was kind of struggling to direct a particular scene, and because Tyson was here, I asked how he would translate that bit. The way he worked on the scene with the actors reminded me of Kanhailalji’s methodology.
Later, I discussed my idea of the other piece with him, wondering if he would be willing to artistically explore it with me. I was curious to know what it would mean if my practice — which is informed by Kanhailalji, Koodiyattam and urban theatre — to be in conversation with the Kalakshetra practice. So, I asked Tyson about a potential collaboration, and he immediately responded in the affirmative. In a nutshell, that’s how the idea of IT IS YOU germinated.
Although we both wanted to work together on this new project, there were a lot of delays. Primarily because, Tyson is an important senior member of Kalakshetra Manipur, who also has to take care of a number of logistical and administrative responsibilities at the institution. Plus, he has his family there. So, frequently shuttling between Imphal and Bengaluru was difficult. Nevertheless, we tried to somehow manage that and keep working on the piece.
Q. What do you mean when you say the play is ‘a critical reflection on where humanity stands today’? Is there an environmental or a political imperative that you are referring to?
V. The idea of the play germinated after many years of recognising religious intolerance, happening in and around our country and now also the world. I think the demolition of homes in Delhi’s Muslim neighbourhoods was a tipping point for me. As if there was a call and I needed to respond to it. A few years ago when my father-in-law had passed away and I was sitting inside a gurdwara, listening to the reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, visuals of a performance came to me. And when an intuition comes like that, I pay attention to it, especially when its aliveness stays beyond that day or week. Later, just when Tyson and I had begun work on the piece in Bengaluru, my friend from Mumbai, Rukmini Iyer — who engages in a lot of interfaith dialogue and peace-building activities — was starting a new online programme, as part of which she was offering once-a-week sessions on the themes of re-engaging with religion for our times.
Organically, these things just fell in place. So, you can say that the idea of IT IS YOU came from the urge to look at the birth of religion, the human need for it, how it gets used as a tool to manipulate people’s minds, and so on. Then, of course, one also realises that in terms of an artistic representation of the ideas, it would be perhaps difficult to capture its complexity in spoken words. That’s when we decided to make this a non-verbal performance. Of course, this was followed by a lot of research and deliberations in a bid to make the piece artistically relevant, which is not without a social message. Again in December 2022, there was a three-day conference at Fireflies Intercultural Center in Bengaluru, where Rukmini was leading a session. We attended it, which eventually led to the connection between the crisis in climate with that in religion. Having said that, it’s also sort of a timeless narrative of human existence. When we say the play is about a critical look at systems, we imply religion being one of them. But it could very well be perceived otherwise by maybe an office-goer or somebody in school. What I mean to say is that it’s not specific to religion alone.
Q. This has been a long-standing collaboration between you and Vivek. You have come all the way to perform in Bengaluru at a time when your home state Manipur is burning. What does this play mean to you?
T. I was very impressed by the idea of IT IS YOU when Vivek first mentioned it to me a few years ago. To be honest, I was also thinking of a piece along the lines of religion. But Vivek’s concept was quite unique. The things about religion that I discussed with him or we learnt during our sessions with Rukimi was a completely different experience for me. In Manipur, people from different religious groups — be it Christaians, Hindus or Muslims — have always lived together in harmony. Even in the conflicts erupting across the state over the past year, I feel it’s not so much about whether a person is Hindu or Muslim or Christian. That said, IT IS YOU is a complex and layered piece, and it took us some time to understand and depict the nuances of the performance. With what we could gather over time, we even did a small premiere at Kalakshetra in Imphal, which was followed by a discourse with our seniors and cataloguing of the responses we received from the audience. It wouldn’t call it an out-an-out religious or political play. It’s open to the audiences’ interpretation. Of course, Vivek and I have been working on it for years. But the Kalakshetra show reminded us that the play could have so many different interpretations about it.
As you know, Manipur is ‘boiling’ now. Even that aspect finds a reflection in the play, but we didn’t make this piece keeping that in mind. Things like deforestation and other climate change problems, which are happening in other parts of the world as well, have made their way into the narrative.
Q. Your comments on how the Manipur violence has impacted the state’s artist community…
T. I cannot possibly explain in words the kind of impact the Manipur conflict has made on the people of the state, particularly the artist community. Already many people in the arts and culture sector were still trying to cope with the regression caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. There were fewer to no means to earn money. Artists were compelled to sell their instruments just to buy day-to-day essentials for their family. That said, during the pandemic at least there were some means to connect with other artists and express our thoughts — by going online, or such.
However, the recent violence has led to a completely different situation across the state. Although we want to speak our mind about the kind of things we have witnessed or experienced over the past several months, there’s a lingering fear that things might get misinterpreted, jeopardising the safety of our family members and loved ones.
In Manipur, many view the arts as a medium that reflects our life and culture. Thus, it’s also educational in nature, while for the others it’s nothing more than a source of entertainment. So, if you’re someone who considers the latter, we artists have no existence amid the state’s ongoing conflicts. There’s no space for us. In fact, several artists have now become daily wagers or taken up other menial jobs or even travelling to far-off places to earn a living.
Q. Given that IT IS YOU is a non-verbal performance, musical instruments seem to be an integral part of it. How would you describe the role of music in the play?
V. Essentially, the play has three characters. Two of them are human beings — X (played by me) and Y (played by Tyson). The third character is Mother Nature, whom X and Y hear through the speaker. There is a conflict between X and Y, and Mother Nature — who is above them in terms of power — intervenes every time there is an imbalance between the two.
In terms of other elements in the play, there is recorded music, alongside live music. Here, Y uses that as a weapon to control and manipulate X. The performance features a djembe, kanjira, flute and saisen, among others. All these instruments are played by Y as his weapons, of sorts. Tyson’s character stands for the system. He represents the people who embrace the system, find value in it and are of the opinion that we need a system for everything. Meanwhile, my character X is curious and interested in finding new things. He doesn’t want to be boxed into a system. We are not necessarily trying to paint X and Y as ‘white’ and ‘black’, but rather inferring that whether we like it or not, human beings have both these traits within them.
Catch the opening shows of IT IS YOU at Ranga Shankara on January 31 (7.30pm) and on February 1 (3.30pm and 7.30pm). You can book your tickets here.