[ ACTOR P.O.V X ] Come watch MADHAVI naatak's next hindi play

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*** Discount period ends THURSDAY NIGHT ( Jan 29th) !!! ***

*** Both VIP and General seats will be assigned in the order tickets are purchased, so buy early to get the best seats. ***

*** Read the MADHAVI preview on Water, No Ice***

NAATAK
presents its 29th production

Bhisham Sahni's
MADHAVI
(Hindi)

Directed by Abhishek Das
Produced by Shubhra Prakash

SHOW TIMES
13th February, Friday 8 pm
14th February, Saturday 6 pm
15th February, Sunday 3 pm

Cubberley Theater
4000 Middlefield Rd , Palo Alto , CA 94303

TICKETS
Until Jan 29, General $15, VIP $25
After Jan 29, General $20, VIP $35
VIP tickets include preferential assigned seating and complimentary snacks.
Both VIP and General seats will be assigned in the order tickets are purchased, so buy early to get the best seats.
Children under 8 will not be admitted.
Buy online at www.naatak.com
Or email tickets@naatak. com
Or call Soumya, 408 425 2647

ABOUT THE PLAY
Madhavi recounts a tale from the Mahabharat. Munikumar Galav must
fulfill a promise made to his guru, while the sage Yayati must live up
to his reputation for generosity. Both achieve their ends through
Madhavi, who lives in these two worlds of male pride, blessed with the
ability to regain her youth at will, and the promise that she will
give birth to great kings.

ABOUT NAATAK
Naatak is a San Francisco Bay Area-based theater group dedicated to
producing creative and thought-provoking plays. Since its founding in
1995 by students at UC Berkeley and Stanford, Naatak has staged 28
productions in English, Hindi and Tamil. For more information, visit www.naatak.com.

[ ACTOR P.O.V VII ] Mataji and when I read 'Begone Godmen'

It was the time when I found myself standing in the temple in a long queue with my mom holding a flask of milk. I should've been in school instead I was there at the temple on my mother's command.. we were to go feed the milk to Lord Ganesha's idol as it was discovered earlier in the day that Lord Ganesh has miraculously began drinking milk .. and not just the idols but even the ones in the lockets hanging from people's neck. It was the time when I happened to see a lot of a guy named "Chandraswami" on TV claiming to posses immortality, he would appear in a religious outfit and a staff with a crystal ball on it ... he would claim fortelling the future, people would speak of his powers of healing... Chandraswami is now facing several trials for many of the scams that follow such characters.

It was this time, less than a decade ago that I helped myself to "Begone Godmen" a book from my father's reading collection. Curious to reaffirm the fact that we were simply being fooled by such figures I was happy to find my sanity restored as I indulged in Abraham T. Kovoor's encounters of Godmen and Godwomen around India and Sri Lanka.

He who does not allow his miracles to be investigated is a crook,
he who does not have the courage to investigate a miracle is gullible,
and he who is prepared to believe without verification is a fool.
- Dr Abraham T. Kovoor -

Like a detective he solved each case of a 'ghosts', 'magic', 'miracle',etc. chapter after chapter, with use of logic and scientific explanations. Kovoor had seen it all, ghosts, saints, shamans, godmen, etc. A Yale graduate Kovoor continually challenged any ghosts and Godmen to deal with him, he was ready to go through any ordeal to show how logic and reasoning prevails.

Kovoor did more than just solve the mystery, when possible he dug deeper to find out what in the person's life brought them to this stage. This caught my attention more than the tactics that unraveled the tricks. Kovoor often discovered common themes in the psychosis of these figures, the presence of all kinds of abuse, physical, psychological and sexual.

These figures whose disciples painted them as entities as untainted as the purest drop of elixir, strongest as the vigor of lightening, compassionate with overflowing forgiveness and powers of healing all calamities in the common man, were in fact broken, lost, defeated and most troubled among their own followers, only they had learned to hide it well and succumb to deceit.

I am excited about an upcoming production by Naatak that has caused me to reminisce and revisit the revelations put forth by Kovoor.

'Mataji' is Naatak's telling of what lies behind the mask of one such demigod and what happens when the mask is removed in the most unexpected of circumstances. While one might laugh at the specific exaggerations the play presents as it dvelves into the capabilities and powers of it's heroine 'Mataji (mother)', many might find it ironical that often worse is believed and fabricated to create such charlatans in the real world. 'Mataji' examines where the demigod stand in dealings of their own human emotions and adversities. The play portrays desperation experienced by both, the forces that feed the so-called 'phenomenon' and masses that feel the need for the 'phenomenon'.

From the playwright Sujit Saraf:

Mataji, born on the banks of the Ganga, has a simple gift to offer to the
world: a loving hug. Over two decades, she has travelled to sixty-five
countries, hugging thousands of devotees in one sitting, sending them into
raptures through the transmission of pure bliss that accompanies her hugs.
Her followers on five continents regard her as Krishna incarnate. Then, on
her sixteenth visit to California, she confronts a devotee she cannot
satisfy. Through him, she discovers much about her powers, and the world
discovers much about her.

Related Stories :
Interview with playwright Sujit Saraf
When the hugging mother is confronted. Click here

For more information on the play:
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MATAJI
A play in English
Written and directed by Sujit Saraf (http://www.sujitsaraf.com)
Produced by Sunil Ganu

SHOW TIMES AND LOCATIONS
Cubberley Theatre
4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto
July 26 - 3 pm
July 26 - 6:30 pm
July 27 - 5 pm
August 1 - 8 pm

NOHspace
2840 Mariposa Street, San Francisco
August 2 - 7 pm
August 3 - 3 pm
August 3 - 6 pm

Front Row Theatre
17011 Bollinger-Canyon Road, San Ramon
August 9, 2008 - 5 pm
August 9, 2008 - 8 pm

BUY TICKETS
Until July 11, $15 general, $25 VIP
>From July 12, $20 general, $35 VIP
VIP tickets include preferential seating and complimentary refreshments.

Buy online at www.naatak.com
Or email tickets@naatak.com
Or call Asheesh, 949 394 8776

PLEASE NOTE
Children under 8 will be admitted ONLY to the July 27 show.
Child-tickets ($5 off the general price) are required for children under
8, including infants.
There are no VIP tickets for children under 8.
People accompanied by children will be asked to sit in "exit-friendly"
assigned seats.
While this is not a children's play, it does not contain language or
content inappropriate for children.
Proceeds of Naatak benefit non-profit organizations such as Asha, India
Literacy program, America India foundation, etc.

Naatak is a registered 501c(3) or ganization. For more information, visit
www.naatak.com.

[ ACTOR P.O.V IV ] Believing in your craft

This came up on the second night of our performance (Sultana Daku) we were praying and expressing our thoughts right before run, when an interesting point was made, people will have have different reactions based on their perceptions to what we offer on stage. We must not make hasty decisions, we must have faith in what we have worked on and believe in our craft. I think this is an important message for a show like ours where there is a certain way of doing things and it should be adhered to if we want to perform the art form the way it is meant to be. There are audiences that we have had and will have (March 29th show) , who are not familiar with true form of nautanki, who will be challenged and will react, but we must stay honest to what we have learned and portray it with artistic audacity. We cannot compromise the art for those who do not know about it. Who knows what they didn't necessarily agree with might cause them to learn more.

Pictures from the first two shows : Click Here
My previous post on Sultana Daku : Click Here

[ ACTOR P.O.V II ] Sultana Daku

I am currently taking part in a nautanki called Sultana Daku... now hold on a sec... for all Indians reading this... this nautanki is very different from the nautanki portrayed in Bollywood. I have to admit that I went into the auditions with a preconceived notion, thinking ...oh nautanki... funny stuff.. over dramatic / over comedic funny stuff....nope not at all... first off, you need to be able to sing.. and sing like.. up there sing ... like waaaay up there...and there are about 18 ways of singing ...at least in this production..behertabeel, sher, vaarta, qawwali , etc.. each time we have sat down for rehearsal, it has turned out to be more than just learning our parts and knowing what to do on stage.. it has been cultural enlightment. There are nuances and details and stories that are shared by the director who is well versed in nautanki... I was not aware that in my own family people had actually watched nautanki in villages and they had experiences that they reminisced when I talked about how I was in a nautanki... (generic reaction of some relatives in India : "Ok so you are in U.S. and you are performing nautanki, an indian folk art, there??") Being in this production has given me a chance to talk to my family about something new, something that I had no idea was a big part of their growing up, they have been telling me about stuff like.. how no one in the audience would know what nautanki was to be performed till the very last minute.. it was a suspense..and a nautanki would run all night so from 10pm all the way to 6am.. so how does that work? The script is only about 60 pages max.. so what happens is that sometimes the audience really like the way something is sung ... there are many encores.. a song is sung in many ways to please the crowd.. I picture it in my head and it's like..those scenes from Shakespeare in Love where the audience is as involved in the play on stage as the actors .. our nautanki in India was perhaps the same way... We may not have a globe theatre.. but it seems as though we did have the spirit and the enthusiam... there are many events and historical significances of nautanki that we discuss in rehearsal, and I am amazed to know that I didn't learn any of that in my indian history classes in india (1st std - 8th std). I am from a place where nautanki was and probably still is performed in its original form and my credibility of being from there was questioned when I was speechless during discussions... I felt deprived that I didn't know anything about all that ... but I'm glad that I am learning... I ended up asking my aunt in India and she talked about how my grandma had a whole nautanki memorized, somehow it occurs to me that all this should be preserved and kept alive... I hope I can do something about that...

Perspectives
I
So I'm also taking lessons for musical theatre singing and I told the teacher, that I'm in this Indian musical .. it's a nautanki..I told him to come check it out and then quickly I said.. um .. but it's in Hindi..you might not get the thing... we are passing out a synopsis or scene-by-scene summary... but you know it's in Hindi ... so you know... at this point my teacher tells me ... OH so it's like Opera...and I had an epiphany.....he carries on about how not even native italian speakers might understand the opera and what is specifically being said .. but it's about the performance and the singing and the soul of the whole performance... I have to say I was amazed at this interpretation ... it made me think of how... us Indians a lot of times brag about how ... we have so much culture and the west is deprived of a rich heritage like ours... and we brag and brag and brag ... but to no effect or any value ... because I have learned that the west has an enthusiasm and yearning to learn and adapt .. something I think we don't have... our nautanki director shared with us that a student from Berkeley, actually spent years with their family perfecting and learning this art... a foreigner, a westerner.. felt drawn to what we don't even recognize... we brag but in the end.. it's them who preserve and truly cherish...

II
For our rehearsals we were looking for musicians dholak and harmonium players... let me tell you.. for a nautanki you need to be somebody who is versatile as a musician who can read the movements and improvise and hit the beats at the right spot... a good foundation is required.. no questions asked... but there is more than that... you need to be present..so I emailed a few indian music institutions about how we are looking and perhaps you can join us... I received one particular reply that made me ... well let's just say .. think about many things.. It read something like this ... "We are very rigorous and serious in our classical training, please do not send us messages about such things.." Now... my first reaction was to invite them to our rehearsal so they could learn what rigorous and serious really means...my second reaction was... were they confused by "nautanki" did they think we were doing a cheap dance number (as Bollywood has made nautanki out to be) If they really are indian musicians there is no excuse for them to not know what real nautanki is ... I mean these people are claiming to know the music of India .. how can they not know nautanki... I have decided to invite them to rehearsal and then to the show and have them experience the rigorous and serious art that they obviously don't know anything about ...

Spin off!!!!
Ok, so our nautanki production poster had a footer showing the designers of the poster .. so I go to their page and started browsing and under portraitures..(I need a headshot soon :P).. I see none other than my co-blogger's pic !!! what the... life is so weirdly connected.

If you are around in the SF Bay Area, watch us!! tickets and info Pix from rehearsal