How Sahyande Theatre on the Attapadi Hills aspires to be world’s first carbon neutral theatre

“Experience the strong emotion in silence. It can convey as much as movement or mime,” says theatremaker Sankar Venkateswaran. These words resonate in the quiet evening at Attappadi in Kerala. We are at his space — Sahyande Theatre — perched on a hilltop, with a river flowing below, to witness Sankar’s latest work, IM TOD-In My Time of Dying.

During the rehearsal of Sankar Venkateswaran’s latest work In My Time of Dying at Sahyande Theatre.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The play, a collaboration with German theatremaker Leon Pfannenmüller, facilitated by Goethe-Institut through a co-production fund, has already run 20 shows in Europe and three shows in India.

From diary entries and postcards to a steel rod that was part of a leg, the play fiddles with fiction but is based on lived experiences. German dramaturg Maria Rossler helped them structure the text. Sankar believes finding words in theatre is the most difficult, especially after the explosion of the visual media. “I am trying to go to the deepest point of the text to understand what words mean today and how do you find words that can be convincing through real life, yet embracing the fictional world of theatre.”

The amphitheatre at Sahyande Theatre.
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Special Arrangement

Nature friendly

Shaped like a Japanese fan, taking inspiration from Noh Theatre, a form in which Sankar is trained in and informs some of his work as well, Sahyande Theatre aspires to be the first carbon neutral theatre in the world. The design of the building ensures you don’t need to switch on lights during the day, the green roof makes fans or AC irrelevant. “And, we have our own source of water, which will see us through eight months in a year, and then for the next four months we have to pump up water from a well, which is 100 metres below. In the coming years, we hope to transform the entire lighting requirements using a combination of solar and windmill,” says Sankar.

Kavita Srinivasan, an MIT- trained architect and theatremaker, wove together multiple ideas of life, work and Nature to create this space. It features a studio theatre, amphitheatre and five rooms to stay.

The idea to start this space came about when Sankar and his Japanese partner Satoko were working from Delhi, and later from Thrissur on Sankar’s Sahyande Makan – The Elephant Project, a much-acclaimed production like his other works – Ohta Shogo’s Water Station (2011), 101 Lullabies (2012) and Henrik Ibsen’s When We Dead Awaken. The space in Thrissur would get overbooked for government programmes. And they would be forced to cancel their rehearsals without receiving any compensation. This created problems for the artistes.

“I need immense concentration for the kind of work that I do. Many of my artistes come from across the world. We work in a residential kind of set up,” says Sankar, a recipient of the Shankar Nag award and Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. Many of his works have found international stage, and he is also a recipient of International Ibsen Scholarship (2013).

Sankar Venkateswaran during a rehearsal.
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT

Attappadi offered them a piece of land where they could plant their dreams and see their ideas of theatre bloom. Once they set up the organisation, Theatre Roots and Wings, the interculturality of the place struck strongly. With the settler community speaking Tamil and Malayalam, and three of the indigenous communities speaking diverse languages, this space too turned multicultural. “All of this seemed suitable to further my cultural practice, which was at that time connected to Japan, Germany and Singapore,” recalls Sankar.

His training in myriad art forms at the Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) in Singapore broadened his vision. “ITI taught me how to work with artistes with whom you have nothing in common. But if you have the will, you can still create work and make it meaningful.”

Art-llife connect

Sankar has been working with the local singers in Attappadi to revive Madurai Veeran Koothu, a folk performance. But he says his work with them is not for the market. “They sing to make their day enjoyable, and the labour more pleasurable. The art-life connect holds a different meaning to people here.”

Theatre director Sankar Venkateswaran, Sankar who has been working with the local singers in Attappadi to revive Madurai Veeran Koothu, a folk performance, says his work is not for the market.
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT

The resilience shown by theatremakers such as Sankar during the pandemic helped the fraternity sustain since artistes didn’t know where to seek support from to keep theatre spaces alive. It also turned Satoko and Sankar into beekeepers. “We learnt beekeeping through YouTube tutorials. We produced honey. Hopefully in the coming years, this would become a resource, which could independently run Sahyande Theatre. Bee brings in honey, honey brings in money and money runs the theatre. It also contributes to the ecology.”

One still vividly recalls Sankar’s absence from digital theatre experimentation that caught a lot of attention during the lockdown. “Even at that time, I had strong reservations and questions about the online explosion. I put one of my pieces online, but as soon as the pandemic was over, we quit the digital medium. Performance in itself is a human tendency. It is human to gather and tell stories, talk and socialise.” Sahyande Theatre stands testimony to this.