Adishakti was created in 1981 as a theatre company in Mumbai. Its main activity then was to stage performances that were already scripted. From 1985 onwards Adishakti started creating its own texts. Thus A Greater Dawn (1992), Impressions of Bhima (1994), Khandava Prastha (1996), Brhannala (1998) and Ganapati (2000) came into being.
Adishakti started to include research as a part of its activities in 1983. Since 1993, when Adishakti shifted base to Pondicherry, its concerns became larger. It was no longer preoccupied merely with the development of its own theatrical language and revitalizing contemporary theatre, but also with offering something to the traditional artist—its partner in dialogue.
From 2000 Adishakti extended its research activity into disciplines such as old construction technologies, traditional medicine, environmental protection for a healthy eco-system and instrument building. These investigations helped to reinforce Adishakti's growing awareness that knowledge creation is a crucial exercise for new creativity. Adishakti's profound hope is to revitalize performance itself as a powerful bridging agent, as a route between disparate worlds and knowledge systems.
1 hour
Direction, Concept, Music Arrangement and Choreography: Veenapani Chawla This production is the result of a collaborative project entitled Music as a Text in Kooddiyattam and Contemporary Theatre. Verbal text is minimal. One of the aims of the project was to create a theatre piece employing rhythm as a signifier of content.
The performance is an interpretation of the creation stories connected with the myths about the birth of Ganapati/Martanda. Its structured by the recurring cycles of creation, celebration, destruction and return—cycles which find parallels in these creation stories that are being explored. The performance is divided into seven episodes.
Performers Vinay Kumar Light Designer Jean Light Technicians Claude
Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research
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