If the slow afternoons in Adishakti Theatre Arts are characterised by calming conversations and verdant greens, evenings are simply a world away. In one corner lined by earthen lamps, a song is in the air as artistes hug each other a little too tight, after two bleak years. In another, people sway gently to the guitar tunes. The scene is bittersweet; a breath of fresh air. Remembering Veenapani, the non-ticketed annual theatre festival that commemorates Veenapani Chawla, the founder of Adishakti, is thus back again after two years. And the feeling of warmth is familiar.
The theatre is packed. Andrés Fagiolino and Betina Domínguez from Uruguay, armed with antics and heavily powdered faces, are on a wild search amid many coffee cups hung from above. They are searching for ‘maashi’. What is ‘maashi’? Some in the audience say it’s magic. It could be hope or even a commodity like, say, water. They clown their way through a narrative that is both simple and abstract, with effortless physicality (handstands and human flags galore).
