Shravan Shetty, Career Coach Interviews Shatarupa Bhattacharyya, A young Theatre Maker resident in Bangalore. Shatarupa stumbled into the theatre a decade ago in 2009, when she made her stage debut in a production of Mother Courage and Her Children. Since then, she has acted in more than a dozen productions in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, with directors like Mohan Maharishi, Satyabrata Rout, and Vijay Padaki, among others. She made her co-directorial debut last year with a production of Rabindranath Tagore’s Chitraa. She has finished her Ph.D. in Development Studies from the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, for which she studied local festivals in the Sundarbans.

1. Shatarupa Bhattacharyya
Theatre Maker | Multi-Faceted Careerist
Shravan Shetty
( Career Coach)
The Career Interview 12

2. Lets Explore Careers
Actor-director Shatarupa Bhattacharyya is a well-known name in
Bengaluru’s theatre circuit. Shatarupa Bhattacharyya is an
independent researcher and theatre artist based in Bengaluru. She
holds a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the National Institute of
Advanced Studies, Bengaluru and an M.Phil. in History from the
University of Hyderabad. Noted for her work in plays like ‘Ashk Neele
Hain Mere’, ‘Shaadi Ki Kirkiri’, ‘Fat Pig’ and ‘Six Dead Queens and an
Inflatable Henry’, Shatarupa has dabbled in both acting in plays and
creating them.
She specializes in the history and culture of the Sundarbans, especially
the festive practices prevalent in the region. She has published her
research in a peer-reviewed journal as well as in edited volumes, and
presented it in national and international conferences.
In this interview we focus on her as a “ Theatre Maker”.

3. Current designation---------0
I work as a theatre practioner in
Bengaluru

4. What are your main responsibilities as an
academic?
It is difficult to divide the responsibilities of a theatre
practioner in a very strict jacketed term. What I do
essentially is to create content for stage and in order to
do so many times I might wear the hat of a director,
researcher, dramaturg, scenographer or a performer.
Nonetheless if I have to say my principal responsibility
is to create theatrical productions with varied
responsibilities so to say.

5. What is a typical day (or week) like for you?
This again depends on the kind of work that I am
engaged in. If I am engaged as a performer there have
been days when I super busy juggling with multiple
rehearsals and traveling from one part of the city to the
other, investing equal amount of time and energy.
Whereas if I am working for matters off the stage then it
is essentially a solitary activity with occasional meetings
with other fellow theatre practioners to discuss or
exchange ideas. In that case it might be less of outdoor
activities and more of indoor ones engaging in my own
creative process. It might come across as lazy as there is
less physical activity but surely a lot of mental activity
that goes in.

6. This however is different when I am working as a
performer. I love performing when I get a character
which gets me away from my comfort zone; which
makes me do or learn things which otherwise I won’t; a
character which is stark opposite of my personality. In
that case the purpose is just not to act but also to
explore as an actor what is that one thing I can bring to
the character. This in turn also makes the performance
better. I especially love doing this if I am working with a
director who gives me enough opportunity to explore
on my own rather than dictating.

7. What kinds of problems do you deal with?
I think the major problem is the fact that people do not
consider practicing theatre as a ‘job.’ It is still considered
as a hobby and do not take it seriously; and because
understanding of ‘job’ factor is still murky among the
general population people do not consider that artists
deserve to be paid.
Apart from that of course there are other problems like
writer’s block or the days when you don’t feel like doing
anything just like that. Those days can be uncountable for
which the work might suffer or at times you might take
up other projects which causes a distraction. Also it is
important to give time and space and be kind to oneself.
That is something which is not possible all the time.

8. What kinds of decisions do you make?
As a performer
I think the major decision for me would be how much I
am ok to surrender myself to my director? This also
depends on the way I am communicating with my
director or what sort of scope is available for me to
communicate with the director. Do I rely completely on
my director or there are elements that I can bring about
in the character that I am portraying. Am I ok to face the
challenges that come with the performance of this
character? Or as a performer do I visualize a certain
growth in me, while being on stage which etc. These
are some of the decisions I face while performing on
stage.

9. However as a writer the choices are more personal
and intellectual. I do take suggestions from people
but the principal decision of inclusion and exclusion
remains solely mine. In this case I firmly believe that
there is no bad idea. An idea can be feasible and not
feasible but no idea can be bad. The decision also
becomes how to make the idea feasible.

10. How does your job affect your general lifestyle?
There is a lot of scope for distraction. Because it is a
solitary activity and no fixed working hour’s
distractions are inevitable. But on the other hand it
also gives me an opportunity to work on my own pace
and on my own time. It is crucial to keep that time free
no matter what the other engagements might be. I
usually divide my day. If I have some other work at
day I try to finish my writing work in the evening or if I
am writing at day I rehearse for a performance in the
evening. It is possible to multi task but one has to
manage time and prioritize.

11. What are some common career paths in this
field?
Acting, Directing, Writing, Researching, Designing
itself are career paths that one can venture out.

12. What kinds of accomplishments tend to be valued
and rewarded in this field?
Just like any creative fields there are awards in the field
of theatre but that is something I believe one shouldn’t
aim for much. I think biggest reward in that way is if your
work can contribute something meaningful in the society,
whether it added any value to the people who were
engaged in or even for the audience who are watching it.
Apart from that I think the success of a theatrical
production also rests on how many shows the production
can have. It gives an added impetus to the people who are
engaged in. If the production can run for a very long time
that is an additional reward.

13. How did you become interested in this field?
It was a pure accident. I was pursuing my M.phil degree
at the University of Hyderabad and there happened to
be an audition call for a production on Einstein’s life. I
went, gave the audition and landed a role in there.
Unfortunately that production was shelved but was
picked up by another director for a major character in
Mother Courage and her children. And then it all started.
I became interested in writing recently. I had an idea of
adapting a novel on stage for which I enrolled myself in
a writing workshop. From there the interest just grew.

14. How do most people get into this field? What are
common entry-level jobs?
There is no designation in theatre. Most people would
get into saying ‘I was always interested in theatre.’ But
otherwise there are also drama schools and acting
schools that one can get into and start. At first one
might get back stage work and eventually grab acting
jobs.

15. What kind of education, training, or background
does your job require?
There are drama and acting schools one can enroll in.
Apart from that there are innumerable other acting,
writing, direction workshops that are conducted by
eminent people which one can attend as well.

16. What skills, abilities, and personal attributes are
essential to success in your job/this field?
Ability to think out of the box, ability to make oneself
look like a fool in front of others, ability to analyze and
explore unchartered territories, read, listen, question
and not understanding things as just right and wrong.
.

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