September 1998. Editor: Anjum Katyal
If one drew an imaginary map joining all the criss-crossing lines in this issue, it would connect up India-Poland-Pakistan-Sri Lanka-Canada in a way that rendered geographical borders and boundaries irrelevant, or, at best, mere technical irritants. Ideas and influences recognize no checkposts. 'A production' said Ingmar Bergman, who was more a theatre director than a filmmaker, 'stretches its tentacle roots a long way down through time and dreams. I like to imagine the roots as dwelling in the special room of the soul, where they lie maturing comfortably like mighty cheeses. Some, reluctantly or quite enthusiastically and quite often, come into view; others do not emerge at all...' He continues on to describe this deeprooted resource bank as a 'store of slow ideas and swift flashes of inspiration.' In a postmodern landscape of pastiche and surface mappings, depth needs reaffirmation. Perhaps our only true borders have always been layered vertically, inside our minds, strata of memory and experience which each of us, in our own journey, must cross; internal borders which bind and limit us, but which also, once transgressed, mark freedom.
CONTENTS Unshackling The Human Instrument Khalid Tyabji Against All Odds An Interview with Madeeha Gauhar '...If you have Bad Politics you can't have Brilliant Theatre...' An Interview with Gamini Hottatagama 'The here and now are Important' An Interview with Premanand Gajvi A Sip of Water: An Extract Premanand Gajvi The rise of Dalit Literature in Maharashtra Sashikant Tasgaonkar I really have to meet God: An Extract Sashikant Tasgaonkar Theatrescapes Samik Bandyopadhyay 'What politicized me was the Power of Performance An Interview with Rana Bose Theatre notes on a Bright October Morning in Montreal Rana Bose Theatre Notebook Download the complete issue here