WHERE THE SHADOW ENDS
The Kriyative Theatre Trust, India
Author: Shreekanth Rao
Cast List: Laxmi Chandrashekar, Preethi Bharadwaj, Kristian Al Droubi, Vinaya Chandra
Concept, design, choreography, direction: Veena Basavarajaiah
Music: Tejas Shankar and Maheshaswamy
Participants: Laxmi Chandrashekar, Preethi Bharadwaj, Kristian Al Droubi, Vinay Chandra, Veena Basavarajaiah, Shreekanth Rao
Duration: 75 minutes
Presented by the KRIYATIVE THEATRE, in collaboration with Serbian performer Kristian Al-Droubi, Where the Shadow Ends is a contemporary interpretation of an epic story. The narrative travels through myths and history that are common across cultures, and looks at how myths have turned into history and shaped the moral fabric of societies across the world. The play explores a South Asian epic story and finds similar stories that exist in Serbia and across cultures. Though the epic acts as the starting point, the play slowly develops into a much more complex layering of socio-political issues of the past and the present. It moves seamlessly between the personal and the political, whilst questioning notions of duty, belief, loyalty, patriotism and patriarchy. The play is in English and uses contemporary movement and text to explore the space between reality and shadows of the past. This experimental work is designed to shock, tease and tickle you into thinking.
The Kriyative Theatre Trust, established in 2005, is now a premier theatre group in Bangalore city, with several critically acclaimed productions in its repertoire. The group has performed around 600 shows of 19 plays across the country and around the world. Apart from staging plays in Kannada, the language of the region, this unique bilingual group has the distinction of introducing the non-Kannada audience to outstanding Kannada literary texts by adapting them for the stage and translating the adaptations into English as well. The uniqueness of the group is that almost all the plays produced by the Kriyative Theatre are original pieces, scripted by members of the group. The directors, designers, composers, casting and technicians of all the plays are hand-picked and are the best and the most reputed in their particular field that makes their plays more qualitative. The choice of plays too is led by a desire to contribute their mite to the creation of a better world and to bring the best from all over the world to their audience.
Apart from producing plays, the Kriyative Theatre has been trying to create awareness among people of the role of theatre in tackling social issues like dowry, different forms of oppression of women and weaker sections of society, drawbacks in our educational system, corruption and so on. The group has been performing educative plays in schools and colleges and holding discussions on issues relating to theatre and the above subjects. ’Carbon Cake’, a more recent production by the group, revolves round the problem of global warming and our own responsibility towards mitigating it.
—————————————————
Where The Shadow Ends brings together folklores from across the world in a single play
A few minutes into the play, Where The Shadow Ends, and you will see that the lead actress has forgotten her lines. To cover up, she will narrate stories from her own life. But the catch is that her life story is similar to the original script. Whether she has forgotten her part or not is just one of the many surreal elements that this play is made of. A little later, actors will interact with members of the audience. And before you know it, they will return to their respective roles on the stage. Not just the format, the storyline will keep you guessing as well. It revolves around some of the most notable epics, but no single one is in its focus. These tales are borrowed not just from India, but from cultures across the world. Each one blends into another seamlessly, because the plotlines are similar and somehow, connected. (…)
Barkha Kumari, The Indian Express