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If you catch the bubbly, chatty Australian theatremaker Benjamin Knapton art gallery-hopping or savouring a bowl of his favourite dal makhani in the lanes of Bandra this week, you couldn’t possibly guess that he’s in the city to orchestrate a daring artistic endeavour. Inspired by a 2017 visit to the Mallakhamb India school in Santacruz and a trip to the home of kalaripayattu in Kerala later, Knapton will debut his new production Warriors — a theatrical relook at the two traditions — at the Royal Opera House Mumbai, in collaboration with the Australian Consulate General, The Centre of Australia-India Relations, and Avid Learning, this weekend. The idea, Knapton tells us, is to open the audience’s eyes to the artistic expression and emotional undertones of the martial arts that are often overlooked amid the physical spectacle.
The audience is not the only one in for a surprise. “I was both excited and curious when I first heard about the idea,” admits mallakhamb artiste Atharva Angre, adding, “Mallakhamb is already an incredibly dynamic and visually captivating sport. This was the right opportunity to present mallakhamb in a fresh avatar while staying true to its traditional roots.
” While it’s not the first uphill climb for Knapton, who presented a simpler version of contemporary mallakhamb in the city in 2019, the inclusion of the CVN Kalari Sangham artistes ought to add a layer of challenge. The director has just locked in the final structure of the 90-minute show before we catch him over a call. He gives us a peek, “The show begins with artistes from both art forms showcasing their skills on stage together — much like a collage of traditions.
My favourite part, though, is a semi-improvised jugalbandi between a mallakhamb and a kalaripayattu artiste that plays almost like two jazz musicians riffing off each other’s lines. It will be a first for both the audience and the performers,” he reveals. City-based music producer Donn Bhat, who shoulders responsibility to lay out the soundscape to this novel production, admits that it’s not every day that you make music for a martial arts performance.
“Being a theatremaker, Ben [Benjamin] usually throws musical ideas at me in terms of words and emotions. To understand what his vision is, and to bring it to life has been a fun experiment,” he laughs. Angre chimes in agreement to the novelty of the challenge, “Synchronising our movements with live music requires us to adjust our routines, timing, and focus.
It was undoubtedly more challenging than usual, but equally rewarding,” he adds. Angre and his troupe might find some semblance of familiarity amidst all the newness, though. “We are using ambient sounds from the troupe’s home turf in Santacruz.
Sounds of airplanes flying past, waves crashing and other chatter from the area are all part of the composition,” Bhat reveals, adding that the duo is still toying with South Indian sounds like the konnakol leading up to the premiere. What has kept an Australian theatremaker, a Mumbaikar obsessed with experimental music, and traditional artistes from two ends of the western coast together through four months of gruelling planning and trial and error, we wonder. It’s the shared aim to take the indigenous arts to the global stage, they agree unanimously.
“We performed a show at the Sziget festival in Budapest with the mallakhamb boys, right before the COVID-19 lockdown. The audience there spent an hour after the performance talking to the performers about the intricacies of the art form. We have seen the intrigue these art forms can spark in audiences from all walks of life.
If the premiere is received well, we might just set out on a world tour with it,” Knapton signs off. November 30; 7 pm Royal Opera House Mumbai, Girgaon. insider.
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