In the present day, do you think a play like Yerma can be revived?
The play was relevant at one point. It was an ensemble work and the music designed by BV Karanth was quite spectacular. Personally, I have moved on from that kind of work. My own tools of training have changed. Back then, I preferred to stage something which was more emotive whereas now I prefer to keep it much more subtle. Now, one would really have to move the text around in order to restage it. But quite honestly, I think it’s very important for an artiste to reject his/ her previous work in order to move forward. But three years ago, you revived the production of Nagamandala, which was first staged in 1990… Actually, it was Arundhati Nag who requested me to revive Nagamandala for a playwrights’ festival in Bangalore. I was a bit apprehensive because I wasn’t sure if the play would still speak to me like it did several years ago. But it did. Although the music and some of the actors in the play remain the same, it has been recasted. I have brought in new experiences to the play an
