Gargi Datar and Alistar Bennis, respectively the writer and director of a brand new play, Who's Afraid of the Naayika, take us through their journey of making this play and their plans for it, and the Alienstar Collective.
Q What and why is Who’s Afraid of the Naayika?
A Gargi: I’m a second generation Kathak dancer. I’ve been learning Kathak from the age of 5, which means for the last 25 years I have been consumed by the form - practicing, watching and teaching. The form taught me some important life skills and moulded my love for the performing arts but something always felt amiss.
Everywhere I turned, I kept seeing the same ‘Naayika’ - the female protagonist - trope. Always coy, always beautiful, always vulnerable and always at the beck & call of the Naayak. For years we’ve joked about this trope in rehearsal rooms. But as I grew older, the jokes became taunts and the taunts led to anger. And this anger led me to putting pen to paper for this play.
Q This sounds like a very personal story and experience. As you were writing, did you ever consider that this could be a short story or a book or even just a journal entry? Why is this important for others to hear this story?
A Gargi: This could have been an intellectual discussion with a few fellow artists, some will agree and some might not, but sooner or later the conversation will die down. If I am questioning narratives of a performing art, I realised it needs to be with ‘performance’ as the medium. It’s important for one Kathak dancer to think differently within the system, but it’s also important for others to know why she thinks this way. And the medium of theatre helped me to expand on the why.
What began as a personal story about female representation in Kathak has grown into a broader exploration of what defines the "sacred" in the form, what makes it "classical," and why are we so afraid of change? As the play’s protagonist Rukmini says “There will never come a time for change, if we don’t make time for change.”
As the writer, Kathak is the thread I’m pulling because that’s the world I come from. But it’s a story for every artist and any audience member about re-looking at the world around you with a specific filter. What is that filter? You will have to come for the play to find out.
Q This is your first play as a writer. What do you know about writing now that you didn’t know before?
A Gargi: My background in writing comes from being a student of advertising - where hard selling a lie is a part of the job. And here the only prerequisite was to be honest!
So it was challenging from the get-go but I believe that I also became more aware of myself as my Naayika poured herself out on paper.
All my romantic notions of sitting in cafes, with a steaming cup of coffee and typing away on a laptop were shattered by Day 2. As a first time writer, I had to navigate not just the basics but also tread carefully on some really sensitive subjects. I read somewhere that you must write even your worst character as if they are pitching themselves to God at the gates of heaven. This kept me up at night.
I spent around 2 years ‘rabbit-hole diving’ into the history of kathak, what contemporary artists and well-established Gurus are saying about my hypothesis, and fact-checking all thoughts I had! This gave me enough material to write a thesis on my Naayika. And the first draft of the play was just that - almost like a research paper written by one angry yet articulate Naayika.
So I had to start from scratch. We had an opening date set but no script. Chanakya (Vyas, the mentor) and Alistar (Bennis, the director) pulled me out of this black hole. This time, I began weaving her into a story, setting aside the 'angry yet articulate intellect' and instead leading with her emotions to drive the narrative. The more I invested in the other characters in the play, the more humane this Naayika became. And I pitched all the characters to God at the gates of heaven so much that ‘God’ and the ‘gates of heaven’ ended up becoming characters in the play!
Q Okay Alistar. Over to you. What is ACT? What’s the group all about?
A Alistar: Alienstar Clowning & Theatrics or simply Alienstar Collective is a company of professional theatre makers with their forte in improvisational theatre and comedy. Founded in 2018 by me, one consistent theme in most of our shows is humour that makes you think.
In 2024, the process of making Seize her, The Clown and Who’s afraid of the Naayika? centred around ‘finding the game’ within very serious topics. Clowning has been a very influential factor in shaping our recent work. It reminds us to keep a connection with the live audience and be here in the now with a naive sense of discovery.
Over the years, we’ve enjoyed taking our shows in alternative spaces and also conducting micro-theatre jams to festivals like Spoken. It’s exciting for us to bring theater to people who might not typically attend, whether through workshops or by integrating our performances into events like BIT (Brand Immersive Theatre). Should you inadvertently find yourself in an ACT rehearsal room, be prepared to encounter two individuals engaged in a pun-war whilst analyzing the text, and someone persistently offering you a variety of snacks.
Q Alienstar. Alistar. Something you want to share with us about the genesis of this name?
A Hahaha, besides the obvious pun on my name, the idea of being alien was not very foreign to me. Growing up with an eccentric personality often left me as an outcast. But when I discovered theatre I was surrounded with other quirky theatre personas (who sometimes shared the story).
So when I created Alienstar Collective, I imagined a space that was safe for all those who felt alien to bring in their own unique selves and just shine like stars whilst doing so.
Q So ACT is Alistar’s company. How did you decide to produce and direct this play? Who approached whom? How did that conversation go between the two of you? And what’s the collaboration been like?
A Alistar: I think at an awards ceremony of Thespo 3 years ago, Gargi mentioned that she has been to perform this story for a while and I told her, just do it! And that was that, nothing really happened out of it. We’d vaguely known each other and worked on a few projects together but I think it was when I got her around on board as an actor for Seize her, I realised what a gem of an all around performer she is! Midway through the project, I called to tell her that I wanted to credit for more than just an actor as she was inadvertently contributing so much more. I love working with people with such exquisite skill and high work rates because the possibilities are endless. A few months later, I remember as we were applying for another festival she called to tell me that there was a half an hour deadline for the grant and she wanted to perform this story. And I said, ‘JUST DO IT!’
Gargi: Alistar and I kept bumping into each other over the last few years but the process of Seize her really introduced us to the potential of this collaboration. Because this project is such a personal story, I knew I couldn’t or rather, shouldn’t don too many hats! So I asked Alistar if he’d be interested in directing. I knew I wanted to tell this story but I doubted whether I could really go through with it. I think he believed in me more than I did and that has kept this boat afloat! We’re both nerds, we love to fall into endless pits of research, but we’re also yin-yang as creators. He lives in the moment and I live in the head! I come from a rigid, classical form of performance background and he comes with a background of Improv and Clowning, so we complement each other well in that aspect.
Q This play got the Niloufer Sagar Alumni Production Grant from DSFM. Is this the first grant you’ve successfully bagged? What did it feel like when you heard you’d got the grant? What would you recommend to other alumni on how to write a successful application?
A Gargi: It is the first grant and it’s also the only reason this play is seeing the light of the day! It’s not just the monetary support but the systemised approach of the DSFM NSAPG really helps new theatre makers like me. It grounds you so deeply at the application stage itself that you’re prepared for almost any curveball thrown at you during the actual play-making process. Like Alistar said, my first draft of the grant application was jotted down in half an hour after years of just marinating in the idea! But the journey from that day to the final draft submission 3 months later is when the mould of the play was set.
And the highlight was the actual grant interview. A 3-woman panel with whom I have debated, laughed and chatted away for an hour; I had almost forgotten it was an interview! So when the email announcement came, I was overjoyed but also just pumped to get it started with! We started working from literally the day of the announcement, that’s how excited we were.
When I was writing the application, my biggest worry was “I only have an idea, no script, no team, nothing!” But through the process I realised, it’s an asset. The application is not about how ready your play is, or whether you “have enough” to apply. From what I have understood, the grant backs the potential of an idea and the verve of the theatre maker. If that reflects in your application and in your interview, the rest will follow.
Q One of the provisos of the grant is that you have a mentor. You mentioned Chanakya Vyas earlier. Did you pick him? How has the mentorship been, as a process? Would you consider inviting a mentor for your future productions?
A Gargi: Yes, as part of the grant process, the grantee has to pick a mentor. I knew that I would need help in the writing stage since this is the first time I was going to do something from scratch! I had worked with Chanakya as a student during my DSM course and the exchange of ideas in those 3 weeks really resonated with me. So I got on a call with him and we jammed about the Natyashatra, about classical forms, their practitioners, etc. He seemed like the perfect fit. I thrive on structure and he brought tons of that to the writing process, which otherwise is so fluid! He came in with deliberate questions at various points in the process, he got into various exercises, workshop modules, etc. which are now part of a process I can refer to for all future projects.
I think everyone makes theatre in very personal ways. For me, having a mentor, or someone on the outside who can objectively look at your work has always been important. The director, writer, actors, are so invested in the work that often we become blind to certain aspects of the project. So someone on the outside that you trust and that comes in with specific expertise is always a great addition.
Q Okay back to the play. You have shows lined up in Bombay and Pune, two days apart. Will this be a challenge? How do you imagine this play changing in different venues or places?
A Alistar: The protagonist is based in Pune and we are nervously excited on how the Pune audience would react. Regardless, we believe that their feedback would be crucial in the evolution of this piece. There is a sense of universality in this text, that we believe we can unlock the more authentic we are to the character's world.
Once we achieve this, more than imagining it would be more fun to experience how the play changes with venues. Post the first run we are planning to perform this show to a school of dancers in a more alternative performance space. As creators it is exciting to strip a show down to its bare minimum and still keep its essence intact. This process always leads to some wonderful innovation in design, as we have done in the past.
By the fourth run of Seize her, The clown it was delightful to see the entire show from set to costume neatly packed into one suitcase and a box. We hope to achieve that with this show and make sure we travel more in order to reach new audiences!
Q And finally, what’s next from ACT?
A Alistar: Post our shows of Who’s afraid of the Naayika on the 18th and 20th of January. We plan on bringing back Seize her, The Clown (a satire of Julius Caesar) right before the ides of March.
We are also planning a clowning workshop in the month of March or April. During this time we will also try to apply for festivals, grants and look for producers such that Naayika travels.
Photos courtesy Harsh Shah
UPCOMING SHOWS
18 Jan | 6pm and 8.30pm
Chaubara, Aram Nagar 2
20 Jan | 8.30pm
The Box Too, PUNE
About the play: What would you do if the Gods descend on earth to tell you - “You need to be saved… from yourself!!” Who's Afraid of the Naayika? follows the story of Rukmini Joshi, a second generation Kathak dancer whose critique of the traditional dance lands her in trouble yet again. But this time, she has stirred trouble not only for herself but also in the heavenly office of Dharma-Ticks Comms Corp. Does her rebellion have a cause? A cause for concern? Or does her rebellion break the chains that bind? The play is a satirical rethinking of classical dance and the stories it tells. It invites audiences to reflect on the complexities of tradition, the freedom of self-expression, and the courage it takes to break free from the past.
This play is supported by DSFM Niloufer sagar Alumni Production Grant
TEAM Credits
GFX Designer (Communication Creatives): Siddhant Seth
Sound Operator: Arjoon Kabir Kakkar
Music Composer: Palash kothari
Light Designer: Utkarsh Babbar
Costume Designer: Yash Thakkar
Set Designer: Chetan Dhawan
Stage Manager: Shubhangi Gaikwad
Cast: Sayalee Meshram, Lobsang Jimba Norbu, Gargi Datar
Creative Producer: Parul Rana
Concept, Writer, and DSM Grant Recipient: Gargi Datar
Director: Alistar Bennis
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