When the audience plays its art

An immersive theatre performance encourages the viewer to question the purpose of art

When the audience plays its art

Anushka Ghose

It’s a question that doesn’t have one straight answer. What purpose does art serve? In fact, does it have to serve any purpose at all apart from entertaining people? If yes, then what sort of responsibilities do artistes need to shoulder to fulfil whatever aim it is that their craft is meant for? These are some of the issues that an immersive play called The Right Way will delve into when it is staged online this weekend.

Aditya Tripathy, Kokila Mohini Beri and Mohammed Lehry

The plot follows a fluid narrative where a solitary actor engages in conversation with a single member of the audience, exploring what the purpose of art is. The play was originally conceived by Italian playwright Daniele Bartolini for a physical audience. But it’s now been adapted for the online medium, with three actors — Kokila Mohini Beri, Mohammed Lehry and Aditya Tripathy — each taking turns to enact it, meaning that the conversations they have with the audience will be unique to their performance. They have also Indianised the narrative, and will be talking about the art forms they grew up with — be it paintings, songs or films — so that the audience members have a familiar context. And at the end of this exercise, both parties will reach a conclusion about the question at hand, except that it will differ for every performer based on how their conversation pans out.

But in order to reach a conclusion for the sake of this article, we ask Anushka Ghose, the producer of the performance, what the purpose of art is, according to her. “It’s different for different people, but for me, it’s about empathy and bringing about some form of change. This change needn’t be societal, although activists have often relied on that. I also mean changes in a person’s own life and perspectives. But the main thing is instilling a sense of empathy,” she says, and the answer leaves us with little room for argument.

On: April 3 and 4, 4 pm
Log on to: insider.in
Cost: Rs 300

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