CHENNAI: Have you ever imagined what a goat sounds like when it is beatboxing? When Bharadwaj Balaji aka BBB, performed this beatboxing version at Stories with Shru at Art Kin Centre, the audience erupted in laughter. Saradha U, the next performer, came on stage wearing a pink outfit sharing that pink is all the conventional femininity everyone was going to receive from her. She shared her life experiences and brought humour even from topics like existential crisis and therapy sessions.
Sruthakeerthi, the star of the show, started her act by asking if there were any Gautham Vasudev Menon fans in the room, as the director had set unmatchable standards for romance through his movies. Through her stories on relationships and modern-day dating culture, she effortlessly clubbed real-life experiences with comedy. The three artists joined together to create a different perspective on the craft of storytelling. The first part of the four-part series was thus a celebration of modern-day storytelling incorporating poetry, singing, beatboxing and involvement of the audience.
Fusion of art
The performers concurred that the idea was to introduce a free form of storytelling not adhering to any guidelines as such. Unlike stand-up comedy shows which require punchlines in the script, storytelling can be an interactive craft that exchanges experiences by fictionalising them. Sruthakeerthi explained, “ My goal is to entertain people by making them think. To make them laugh is not the ultimate goal. That could be the byproduct. I want people to enjoy whatever we are putting out there and also to understand that there is more to art than just stand-up comedy. I think storytelling creates interconnectedness.
Even though we are all coming from diverse backgrounds and have different stories running inside our heads, at a given moment, we might relate to a particular story. Through that connection, a sort of togetherness comes in.” She had been performing and experimenting since 2016. “During the pandemic, I used to put up a series of videos on Instagram telling stories which explored topics like modern dating, cyberbullying, sexual harassment, body image issues and so on. Since that got a lot of encouragement, I thought of putting up a show engaging the audience,” shared the artiste.
Need for support
Even though there are more opportunities for upcoming artists post-pandemic, people’s reluctance towards welcoming new forms is evident, commented the artists adding that it is the reason a few forms of art are more popular than others. “The sabha culture has so much to do with identity, caste, and so on. Art forms that don’t fall into that structure, try to break such barriers. Also in storytelling, there is an intersection of different art forms. This promotes different art forms and artistes together. Encouraging regional voices is pivotal for the artistes to grow,” shared Saradha, who has been exploring spoken word poetry and theatre.
Art Kin Centre hopes to bridge the gap between classical art forms and upcoming artforms. Anahata Sundarmurthy, visual artist and founder of Art Kin Centre said, “When there is a lot of gatekeeping happening, a large group of people who may not have an art education academically, or the network or the deep pockets that art requires you to have, people who have the potential or talent or self-trained artistes don’t get nurtured. There need to be art centers that support local artistes which are also financially viable.
Sometimes, the artistes whom independent organisations try to aid don’t always see the long-term benefits of supporting these organisations back. It takes a combined effort to rise above the current reward-based system that’s in place.” The artistes jointly sum up that there should be an openness from the end of the audience to experiment new art forms. BBB concluded, “People usually think twice before paying for a full show. It is only from the support of the viewers, we independent artistes can improve.”
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