New York-based theatre director Erin B Mee talks about her tryst with Kerala

On a balmy August evening, the halls of Lokadharmi Naadakaveedu in Vypeen, Kochi, buzzed with anticipation. Budding actors, theatre enthusiasts and students gathered for a rare opportunity: a workshop led by Erin B Mee, the acclaimed American director and founder of This Is Not a Theatre Company. Erin, whose career spans classical and experimental theatre in over 36 countries, is currently associate professor (drama) at The New York University Tisch School of the Arts. She was in Kerala recently to introduce her methodology: Viewpoints, a system of actor training that has reshaped ensemble performance in contemporary theatre. TNIE met Erin on the sidelines of this workshop to discuss her journey in theatre, the allure of immersive forms, her Kerala connection and more Erin B Mee Early years Im not sure when I first became interested in theatre, she begins. It was a slow process, starting in childhood. Growing up in New York, I could see Broadway musicals and experimental theatre. In high school, I saw Kerala Kalamandalam perform at the Asia Society on Park Avenue here and experienced Kathakali for the first time. That was transformative. For Erin, theatre has always been about exchange. What excites me is the interaction between performers and audience, between performers themselves, and even among audience members, she says. This, she also points out, is encompassed in Rasa theory, a cornerstone of Indian aesthetics which posits that art aims to evoke specific emotions or rasas in the audience. The exchange is of emotion, information, energy theatre thus is immediate, alive and deeply communal. This innate interest runs deep in the family. Erins father, Charles L Mee, became a renowned playwright, and her mother, Suzi Mee, had been an actress once. We exchanged stories and ideas at home, and my father took me to see all kinds of theatre, she says. Eventually, she adds, I realised theatre was something I wanted to pursue. And so I did. A montage of Erin B Mee's productions Tryst with India & the world Though Erin was involved in plays during college, the real formative experience began when she began developing new plays for a small theatre in New York, and later, at the Guthrie Theatre and the Public Theatre. I absorbed a little from here, a little from there, she recalls. I loved working on new plays but was also drawn to the rhythms and approaches useful in Greek drama, Shakespeare, and musicals. Each influenced my work in different ways, says Erin, who has directed plays in over 36 countries. Her connection to India began with a trip in 1991, initially intended as a break from her intensive work in New York. A friend suggested I attend a week-long festival organised by Kavalam Narayana Panicker in Thiruvananthapuram. I saw Koodiyattam, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Bharatanatyam, Kalaripayattu, Theyyam, and a Sanskrit play by Bhasa. I was instantly captivated by a physically expressive, non-realistic style that was profoundly moving, Erin recalls. Over time, she studied these forms in depth and developed collaborations with Indian artists. A Fullbright fellowship soon followed, allowing her to work closely with Panickers company, Sopanam. During this time, she directed an adaptation of Faust. Ive enjoyed these collaborations immensely with Panicker, Mahesh Dattani, Chandra Dasan and several others. Artists in India, I noticed, approach work differently than in the US, and its endlessly enriching to observe and learn, she says. On her return to New York, not only did she carry shards of new learnings, but she had with her sheets of Malayalam and Indian plays, notably Panickers Ottayan and Girish Karnads Hayavadana, which she directed at the St Marks Theatre in 1992 and 1993, respectively. Girish Karnads Hayavadana @ New York This is Not a Theatre Company era In 2013, Erin founded This is Not a Theatre Company, a name inspired by Belgian surrealist painter Ren Magrittes work, Ceci nest pas une pipe (This is not a pipe). Under this banner, she explores immersive, site-specific and interactive theatre. We experiment with what is real, what is not real, and what theatre itself can be, Erin explains. Some projects have been in swimming pools, on ferries, and even based on Dadaist techniques of chance. The audience is often a co-creator. In Pool Play, audiences sat at the edge of the pool with their feet in the water for an exploration of Americas relationship with the swimming pool. Ferry Play, a site-specific audio play for the Staten Island Ferry, was included in The New York Times list of top ten fringe shows (2015). Later, in A Serious Banquet, Erin attempted to create a cubist theatre piece, inspired by painting and literary techniques. Her fascination with immersive theatre stems from its multi-sensory nature. Proscenium theatre primarily engages sight and sound. You sit in a chair, and you listen, and you watch, she says. On the other hand, immersive theatre, Erin points out, lets you also touch, taste and smell, which are deeply connected to memory and emotion. When the goal is to move people, these senses are invaluable. This, too, is rooted in her study of Rasa theory, she adds. Workshop @ Lokadharmi Naadakaveedu in Vypeen, Kochi Viewpoints & visits Erins current focus is Viewpoints, a methodology adapted from dance by Mary Overlie and later developed for theatre by Anne Bogart and the SITI Company. Viewpoints trains actors to create immediate connections among themselves and with the audience, working physically in an ensemble and participating actively in creating a production, she says. It is a philosophy and a practical tool, encompassing nine aspects of performance: tempo, duration, kinesthetic response, repetition (time), shape, gesture, architecture, spatial relationship, topography (space). Viewpoints is a philosophy of movement, a method of actor training. It is about speaking together in the languages of time and space, Erin explains. The workshop in Vypeen delved deep into this tool. The visit was not entirely work. I come back every year. For family. My husband is from Kerala, and we have extended family here, Erin says. And, of course, the commitment, curiosity, and depth of the artists I collaborate with here. These continue to draw me back. Her visits also act as a bridge, a catalyst, encouraging a perennial exchange of ideas and concepts. In 2017, Pool Play was introduced to audiences here during the International Theatre Festival of Kerala. Erin has also expressed an interest in doing more work here. On AI & its impact on art But how will theatre be in the future? Would it remain as we know it, or like many things, would AI shape that too? Probably not, Erin says. I had my students write plays using AI as an experiment. And they were terrible. Terrible! They were so bad, banal and boring that I dont actually think AI threatens anything artistic at the moment, she says. But she adds, I dont know what will happen with future upgrades though. Regardless of changes, Erin posits that creativity will still endure. AI cant do what actors and playwrights can. In the case of theatre, Im certain it will continue to thrive because of its communal and embodied nature, she says. To anyone interested in pursuing it, Erins advice is simple. I encourage immersion, curiosity, and continual practice.