'A Director Prepares' : #1 Memory

By Asta

~Reflecting back on essay 1: Memory, by Anne Bogart

Here, Bogart first describes the drawing of physical and mental strength from culture and memory to battle the exhaustion theatre inevitably brings.

She said, “if theatre were a verb, it would be ‘to remember’”. She said, when explaining her friend’s (Wendy’s) breakthrough during Grotowski’s workshop, that finally “her body remembered”. If we Indians were put under that same pressure, that same exertion, how would we remember? How would we move? How would be breath? Speak? Be? Would we move in intricate rhythmic patterns like in Bharatanatyam or use the melodrama of kathakali or maybe focus on footwork like in kathak? What would we subconsciously convey and use from our culture, heritage and upbringing?

If I was in Wendy’s position, if I had to remember, I’d remember what beauty means to me - I’d remember the hills I live near to; I’d remember the winter air and the monsoon moisture; the winter line, the summer bougainvillea. It will influence me, it will unexpectedly determine what I articulate. Then I’ll remember what ugliness means to me. I’d remember the pollution, the bursting population, the poverty, the desperation, the fear. I’ll feel those things creeping up from behind me before I have the stamina and will to strangle them dead.

“Every time you stage a play, you are embodying a memory.” ("Memory" 28)

By the late 1700's, every state in America had anti-theatre laws except Virginia and Maryland - the very roots of American theatre lay in politics. Whereas in India, theatre is far more ancient, beginning around 200 BCE through Sanskrit theatre that used music, dance, spoken word poetry, and prose to share mythological tales and narratives - thus, Indian theatre bloomed from storytelling above all else.

When an American play about Americans is staged by Americans, it wouldn't be surprising to notice the political undertones present throughout, which is also something that now informs much of the arts in the US today. When a modern day Indian play about Indians is staged by Indians, it's clear that plot and storytelling is the key focus and at the crux of our cultural identity, not only within the realm of performance.

The memory, assumptions, associations of our respective cultures influences what we create, how we create, and why we create.

I know there's no right or wrong, but this is what I've understood.

"Theatre is about memory; it is an act of memory and description. There are plays and people and moments of history to revisit. Our cultural treasure trove is full to bursting. And the journeys will change us, make us better, bigger and more connected. We enjoy a rich, diverse and unique history and to celebrate it is to remember it. To remember it is to use it. To use it is to be true to who we are." ("Memory" 39)

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“Memory.” A director prepares: seven essays on art and theatre, by Anne Bogart, Routledge, 2001.