BENGALURU: The new normal has flooded the digital space with events, webinars and more. With virtual fatigue setting in, artistes are now looking at new ways to use the online medium to present their work. Take, for instance, Indian Ensemble, a Bengaluru-based theatre group that is hosting an online play called A Zoom Call Re: Birds. This interactive experience will do away with visual elements and bank heavily on foley and natural sounds like chirping of birds, whooshing of air and more as it aims to shed light on avian creatures in the neighbourhood.
“Many people are excited about birdwatching during nature walks. But we have different species of birds in our own neighbourhood that most of them are unaware of,” says Shubham Roy Choudhury, executive director of Indian Ensemble. The idea was born during the lockdown last year and took shape in October.
This 60-minute play is divided into three fragments. “The first one is a discussion between two fictional characters centred around birds. The second will feature an engineer, Karuppuraja, who will speak about his relationship with birds. The third one will be an infotainment presentation and quiz,” adds Choudhary.
Tushar Mathew, one of the creators, explains what will go on behind-the-scenes of this event: “Saudamini Kalra and I will log in from Bengaluru and will be the narrators of the story. Phalguni Vittal Rao will be logging in from Hyderabad to manage the show.
We are attempting to give a theatrical experience over a Zoom call and sharing stories of the birds. You can even think of it as a live podcast.” Kalra, who is one of the directors of the play, says, “We invite participants to listen to a handful of stories born out of the lockdown: Stories of birds, of people and birds, and of people noticing things for the first time.”
The online play will be presented mostly in an audio format with little creatives displayed on the screen. The creators explain that this initiative is a wake-up call for people to be aware of the ecosystem around them. The viewers per show is limited to 10.
“It will be an intimate experience. Hence, we decided to make the play more interactive and personal to the viewers. The online video conferencing formats have picked up after the pandemic and now we are experimenting with the same to see what the response is going to be like,” says Choudhury. The play is taking place on March 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28. Tickets: Insider.in