The secret life of objects

Imagine this...ahand slowly peeling off the skin of a potato, slicing it ruthlessly beforeeating it with great abandon. "Paints a grotesque picture does it not, quitesimilar to molestation or rape?" questions actor and theatre personality,Choiti Ghosh of Tram Theatre, to highlight how object theatre works. She tellsstories by imbibing life into otherwise ordinary objects like potatoes, a fishtank, a toothbrush or a tube of toothpaste. Her art is called object theatre–awell-known concept in the West but back home, it is known to be used only inplays staged by Tram Theatre. Bandra-residentAva Tandon got introduced to object theatre for the first time through TramTheatre's Alice in Wonderland.

Thrilled by what she witnessed, Tandon says,"Everyday objects like pots, pans, spoons and crockery were made to representanimals. It was amazing to see how the team used their creativity andimagination with these mundane objects!" In their first full-length show,Nostos, which is based on Homer's Odyssey, a fish bowl with water was used todenote the ocean while in a shorter skit, two cushions of different sizes wereteamed together to symbolise a father-son duo via the artist's creativity andhandling. Question Ghoshabout the definition of object theatre and she candidly admits, "I do not knowthe definition of object theatre but I have come to believe that it is aboutcreating drama and stories out of ordinary things; mundane objects can alsohave a story to tell." According to Ghosh, the premise of object theatre is theobject itself, the actor, and the relationship between the two. "An objectcannot be manipulated, you can use it only the way it has to be used and builda story around it," says Ghosh, whose interest in object theatre made her takeup a month-long course at the Institut International de la Marionette in Franceto study it closely.

Object theatreis gaining recognition through Tram Theatre; its possibilities fascinatetheatre actors as well as the audience. Investment banker Rakhi Prasad, who waspart of Alice in Wonderland, got involved with object theatre when she took abreak from work. In this play, Alice is the protagonist, who wants to breakfree, while three other artists (including Prasad) played various partsincluding the Queen of Hearts, a caterpillar and members of the Mad Tea party.Prasad, who thoroughly enjoyed her role, says, "The method in object theatre isdifferent. It is an off-shoot of puppetry and the trick lies in how we (actors)convey the message through everyday objects. The challenge is to get the audienceto focus on the object and not the actor holding the object."

The body andvoice of the actors also play an important part, possibly a bigger part thanwhat object theatre purists would deem reasonable. But Tram Theatre is open tosuch hybridisation and is looking to construct fresh parameters for each of itsfuture productions. As objecttheatre enthusiasts struggle to bring this genre into the public eye, one ofthe challenges they are facing is the lack of object theatre practitioners inMumbai who can seriously promote the art.

"Inspiration comes from peers, andright now I feel like a child going to school to learn ABC...without ateacher," Ghosh explains. Also, often Tram Theatre tends to stick with smalland manageable objects which can be difficult for the audience to view from adistance. Michael Vaz, who attended one of their plays, too points out, "Whilethe concept was exception, I found it very difficult to focus on the objects asthey were small. Inevitably the focus goes on the one person holding it thanthe object itself!" Ghoshis confident of eventually making object theatre a regular genre. "It took DadiPudumjee (leading puppeteer of India) 30 years to make puppets popular inIndia. Tram Theatre is just three years old. Our journey has just begun!"