Adishakti Theatre Festival 2022 is scheduled between April 5 to May 3. Find full schedule here
Is there anything better than sitting in the dark and watching someone on stage portray thoughts we have all been thinking, but never had the courage to speak about?
Adishakti Theatre
We were at the ‘Remembering Veenapani’ theatre festival, huddled on the floor and on chairs on the sidelines, along with a full house that broke into peals of laughter as Deepika Arwind took on everyday misogyny and feminism inNo Rest in The Kingdom, a strong performance that ended in a rap-like finish. The dimly lit performance space at Adishakti Theatre near Auroville is a setting that guarantees experiences like this are bound to stay with you for years to come. Performances feel more intimate than imagined as the festival brings together an audience of differing tastes in a space that feels personal.
Eclectic audience and performances at Adishakti Theatre
The audience themselves are a potpourri –locals from Pondicherry, University students, Aurovillians, medicos from JIPMER , theatre-goers and travellers – knowledgeable, multicultural, and cosmopolitan, and according to artistic director Vinay Kumar K.J, precisely the reason why Pondicherry and Adishakti is the best place to have a festival like ‘Remembering Veenapani’. Conceived as a tribute to the late founder and guru Veenapani Chawla, the festival in its fourth edition is a varied mix of contemporary theatre, dance and music performances.
Veenapani-Chawla Adishakti
“The fact that the venue is Adishakti , the humility moves me more than anything else,” says Nimi Ravindran, a festival regular who works with Bangalore-based creative services organization Sandbox Collective.
“Some of the most outstanding performers in the country are here helping- sweeping the stage, serving food, looking after guests and visiting artistes. I can’t think of a more theatre-friendly venue in this country.”
Keeping performances free for theatre lovers
Something that sets ‘Remembering Veenapani’ apart is the fact that all performances are free to the public, though contributions are welcome. The festival has also turned into a crowd-funded initiative in the last two years. “Being performers ourselves, we understand the struggles and the hard work that goes in to these performances,” says Vinay Kumar, who has been with the theatre company since 1993. “Crowd funding has helped to remunerate the performers as well pay for some of the equipment.”
Since Adishakthi has most of the necessary facilities, almost all of the money goes straight to the performers, even though they are willing to perform for free. In a way, crowd funding has made ‘Remembering Veenapani’ the audience’s own festival.”
The 2018 edition of Remembering Veenapani had lined up 10 performances over three weekends in February, featuring artistes and groups from various locations presenting varying performances. Taking the musical note a notch up, Friday will see Kochi- based Salim Nair’s Decohered featuring instrumental compositions of digitally created tone poems. Saturday will see Tadpole Repertory’s play Quicksand, directed by Neel Chaudhuri. Bringing down the curtains is Sujay Saple’s Agent Provocateur , a dance-theatre performance about indoctrination and self censorship beginning with the human body. The last weekend of performances are a mix of genres and ideas that stay true to the soul of the ‘Remembering Veenapani’ Adishakti theatre festival.
All performances are free and start at 7 p.m. You can support the festival, by contributing to the 2018 fund-raising campaign here.
Fathima Abdul Kader is an aspiring culture and lifestyle journalist and a perspiring blogger from the land of coconuts. When not staring at the beach or eating at Pondicherry's cafes, she can be spotted in the MA Mass Communication department at Pondicherry University.
