Covid forces a centuries-old art form to reinvent itself

It is not easy for an artist to perform without a live audience, especially theatrical performers. Yet, in a world upended by the pandemic, artists are going the extra mile to connect with people and to keep their art form alive.Some artists and schools of performing arts have been conducting one-off online performances and sharing them on social media but not many have been able to regularly hold such events because of lack of supporting artists, make-up teams and technical help.At Nepathya Centre for Excellence in Koodiyattam — the only surviving art form that uses drama from ancient Sanskrit theatre — at Moozhikulam near Kochi, the students used to give live performances after their practice sessions. Since the lockdown set in, they have been streaming performances of Koodiyattam, and its offshoots Nangiarkoothu and Prabandhakoothu on their Facebook page. medium78407411It was challenging for them, says Margi Madhu, who heads the centre. “We faced problems on the technical side with the camera, recordings and sound systems. Feedback and comments from the audience helped us make improvements,” he says. “Since all our artists stay nearby, we have managed to stay on schedule with a dedicated performance every Sunday,” he adds.Madhu’s son Nepathya Sreehari Chakyar, a Class XII student handles video recording when he is not performing. “We made a trolley and stand and mounted the phone on it. There were some issues with sound but, we managed without major glitches,” he says. Besides the live performances, the centre has also conducted a 10-day Prabandhakoothu virtual festival in honour of Padmasree Moozhikkulam Kochukuttan Chakyar (1928-2009) from August 2-11.boxcontentExplained: Kerala’s ancient heritage artsKoodiyattamKoodiyattam means ‘combined acting’. It combines Sanskrit theatre performance with elements of traditional 'koothu' (solo dance performance with more hand and facial expressions). It is traditionally performed in temple theatres known as 'koothambalams'. It is the only surviving art form that uses drama from ancient Sanskrit theatre and has a documented history of a thousand years in Kerala, but its origins are not known.NangiarkoothuAn offshoot of Koodiyattam, is the sole domain of female artistes. The stories for the performance are taken from the Sree Krishna Charitam, depicting the life of Lord Krishna with hand gestures, facial expressions, and body movements to the accompaniment of the resonant pot drum 'mizhavu'.Prabandhakoothu/Chakyakoothu This is an equivalent of modern standup comedy. The artiste narrates the story based in Sanskrit - with a mixture of prose (gadya) and poetry (shloka). He then goes on to narrate a verse in Sanskrit before explaining it in Malayalam. The narration uses wit and humour to draw parallels with current events and local situations.“The response was huge. It was a humbling experience. Holding such a festival was not easy. There were technological and financial challenges. High-definition live streaming is expensive. We need to invest more in technology to improve the video and audio quality of the webcasts. We also need to take care of our core team of artists whose only source of income is their performance fee,” Madhu says.Talking about the shift to the digital platform, Madhu says at the Koothambalam in Moozhikulam, they used to hold live programmes only twice a month. They had plenty of time and at times the programmes used to run for three-four hours, well beyond the schedule. “Some will sit through the whole programme while others would leave. But as artists, we would continue even if there are only a handful of people,” he says. medium78407578But while performing online, they have learnt that they have to keep it short. “We have to consider that the audience are using their data. Also, they might have other things lined up. So, we strictly stay on the schedule. It starts at 6.30pm on the dot every Sunday and ends in two hours.”For the students and teachers at the centre, the lockdown has been a period of creativity with meetings held at least for an hour every day followed by reading of ancient texts and discussions on slokas. medium78407440“One of the biggest advantages of virtual performances is that as artists, we reach a larger audience. People send us messages after watching the programmes. Some say they have replayed them and watched them again. During live performances, we had at the most 40-60 people watching us. In contrast, almost up to 3,500 people watch our online videos,” he says.So, how are they soldiering on? “Since there is no government support, we have to work out things ourselves. Since we have been holding live performances regularly, it has been suggested that we could offer paid subscriptions. We need to work out a viable model that benefits the artists and gives affordable enjoyment to aficionados,” Madhu says.Untitled Carousel 78380153