Swar Thounaojam, winner of many awards, who writes, performs and directs plays; IFP had a quick chat with the woman who seeks her own feminism as separate from the ‘mainland’ feminism. She works under the banner of Fewer Emergencies.
IFP: Do tell us about how you came to be in theatre and performance? What propelled you into this?
Swar: I was very interested in Shumang Lila when I grew up but you know how educated middle class in Imphal thinks about such art. I was not allowed to watch such performance, I use to go in secret or tag along with aunts. During my graduation when I was in Hindu College I was active in Street theatre. After my Masters I wanted to do MPhil but I didn’t, the teachers in the department were not inspiring enough. At that period I applied to Arundhati Nag’s Rangashankara theatre in Bangalore. I write to her stating that I wanted a hands-on training. She didn’t promise me anything but I just boarded the train and went to Bangalore. In the interview or rather the interaction we had she straightaway said “Why don’t you join today?” This was in the month of September 2004. This move proved lucky for me. I was a part of the one month festival and since this was a very prestigious project I got to know a lot of people in the theatre circuit. I was a part of Rangashankara for a year. We did everything from sweeping the floor to coordinating to everything. After I left Rangashankara, I free lanced for a while.
IFP: When did you begin writing plays?
Swar: My life as a playwright began with Writers Bloc a collaboration of Rage theatre and British Council, Royal Court theatre. I sent in a play. This was a turning point. I was selected; I went to Bombay and was in the Jindal farmhouse as a part of the residency. As a part of it I wrote a new play to be a part of the festival. What began in 2006 was performed in 2007. Sunil S directed the play. I was lucky because he is a well-known theatre director. Turel, was the play. I was 25 years old then. However, I was thought of as a cultural ambassador. “As an artist do I want to work within this confine?” was a question I began to ask myself. I wanted to be a playwright but had to figure out what kind of playwright I wanted to be. It is very important for me to write in my own terms.
In 2006, after my marriage I told my husband that I wanted to leave India for a while. We were in Munich for two years. This time was very important to me because in Munich I could be anonymous. During this time I read a lot of plays, looked up the work of various playwright. I was a part of an Experimental Theatre. I did a lot of learning by watching.
After I came back to Bangalore I got the Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarship and got a residency in London, Royal Court Theatre. My first directorial venture is Fake Palindrome. It consists of seven pieces. We rehearsed through 2010 and it was performed in 2011. As a playwright my worldview is affected by what is happening around me and also by the fact of being a woman and as a person of north east India residing in Bangalore. From 2011 -2014 I tried different collaborations to see what kind of directorial venture I could think of. I’ve also resumed performing and have been doing so for the past two years.
I am seeking my own feminism as separate from the “mainland” feminism. The perpetual question is –What is my narrative? I am also very interested in Ima Keithel. It is my first project here. After my work here in Ima keithel I went to London and saw the Paula Rego Retrospective exhibition. Her series called Dog Woman inspired me to look at Ima keithel anew.
Lucky Lobster, 2011 is a satire. Bogeyman, 2013 is based on the stories of Churanthaba, Tapta, Lai Khusangbi etc. but with the idea of policing being central to it. I am looking at policing through the lens of terrorism, space and the body. Bogeyman is an investigation into this.
IFP: Tell us about your Future Projects?
Great Game East grew from my experience of the incident of exodus especially from Bangalore. My dissatisfaction was also with the fact that one rarely gets to see on stage the North East body. Other than theatre groups coming from the states of North East India there is no performer from here in the so-called mainstream plays. I started thinking of the possible way to initiate and thought of photography as the medium to begin with. This project is as of now self-financed. We go to neighbourhoods in Bangalore. The subject necessarily a person from the north-east holds a mirror, others -sights and people of the city peeps into the mirror out of curiosity. I also take videos around it. This would entail three different medium – photography, video and performance.
