After performing across India for a year, theatre actor and director Jyoti Dogra is back to present a modified version of her performance The Doorway for the first time in Bangalore.
After performing across India for a year, theatre actor and director Jyoti Dogra is back to present a modified version of her performance The Doorway for the first time in Bangalore. Her first directional piece, The Doorway was devised over a period of two years before Dogra started presenting it in April 2009.
Based on a style of theatre developed by Jerzy Grotowski, a Polish theatre director and innovator of experimental theatre, Dogra portrays personal and symbolic cultural experiences in an abstract manner in this one.
“There is a doorframe in the piece with open spaces in front of it and behind it,” says Dogra. “The movements are inspired by how the body responds to a confined space and open space and the transition between both. The body’s impulse to space brings sounds, expressions and words.” While text is minimal in the piece, there are sounds, words and short phrases in English and Punjabi. “The text is not direct, it is not the way the story is being conveyed. It’s more like a pointer, simply suggestive and egging you onto things,” explains Dogra.
However, it is still difficult to directly answer the question “what is it about?” There is no specific plot or storyline but the piece explores recurring themes, among them loss, emptiness and sexuality. “All
I want as a performer is for people to engage with it, very individually. I respect an audience’s personal vision; I don’t want to colour it. I want to leave it open so the audience can engage more freely and intensely,” she says.
Originally the piece was 75 minutes long, now cut down to 65 minutes. Parts have been added and subtracted. Along with her experiences, the piece has changed as it travelled through many parts of India, where it has been presented.
The performance was received differently in different places. “In Madhya Pradesh, people focused more on the physical imagery. In Kerala, the reacted to the Punjabi sounds, even if they did not understand them,” says Dogra.
Dogra used to track the changes she would make, but later decided to let the performance take its own course. “The more and more you just let things come, the more you see the process,” says Dogra.
In a year, Dogra has noticed the difference in the audience’s attitude towards the altered performance. “They seem more giving and engaged now,” she says happily. “After the performance they discuss what it may mean or what it’s about.” But like Dogra says, there is no right or wrong answer. “It doesn’t matter what I’m trying to say,” she says. “You’re watching me, but I’m watching you watch me. You’re directing it!”
The Doorway is supported by the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) under their Extending Arts Practice programme. It will be presented for the first time in Bangalore at Ranga Shankara from July 23 to July 25.
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