First South Asian theater group debuts

Naatak, a word that means drama in the Hindi language, took on a new meaning in the fall of 1999 here at Penn. That's when Anita Sreedhar, now a College sophomore, and Wharton and Engineering sophomore Hareesh Chander collaborated to create a highly novel group -- the first South Asian theater troupe on campus. And their group, PenNaatak, completed its first show as a formal Performing Arts Council member last week. But the journey to becoming a recognized theater group has not been easy. The path began with Sreedhar and Chander's simple idea to bring a new type of theater to Penn. South Asian theater exists only at a few colleges and organizations across the nation. With performance topics ranging from the serious, like exploring the identity of second generation children living in America, to the comical, like bohemian rhapsodies about Indian food, the versatile group plans to expand even more in the future. Sreedhar, the PenNaatak chairwoman, grew up in Malawi and had been active in theater at her Austin, Texas high school, but had never performed in South Asian theater. While Indian cinema is ubiquitous, and dance and music are popular, theater is a genre that has had difficulty thriving, according to Sreedhar. So Sreedhar and friend Chander threw around the idea of performing South Asian theater at Penn. "If there isn't one, why don't we start it?" Sreedhar recalls thinking. The task turned out to be much more daunting than either could have envisioned. In the fall of 1999, the group had to undergo the standard steps involved in creating a performance group, before even enduring the actual process of choosing a play to perform and rehearse. To receive rehearsal and performance space, the group had to apply for admission to PAC. Yet, before becoming a member of PAC, a group must put on a performance, to test the legitimacy of the group. Without funding or any adequate performance space, Sreedhar, Chander and a few other recruits set to work in search for a play not written in Hindi. The group spent October through December desperately trying to find a playwright whose work they could showcase. Finally, they came across Indian playwright Mahesh Dattani and his play TARA. "We used to rehearse in the High Rise South Rathskellar for our first performance," TARA actor and Engineering senior Tarun Pall said. "And we still make heavy use of lounges in these buildings for practice." But after all the setbacks, the group hailed its first performance a success. "Anita is highly motivated, strong, independent, fun and a wonderful director," TARA actress and College sophomore Avani Shah says. "And that's what made the show such a success." PenNaatak's most recent show, the Asian Theater Fes, came after the group was finally initiated into PAC. The one and only performance was last Friday. Illustrating the group's ability to perform it's own work, the show's four pieces were all written and directed by students. Pieces ranged from serious issues plaguing families to the more humorous, such as "An Elementary Guide to Dating." College junior Sandy Foo commented that the piece entitled R.A.W. (Raunchy Asian Women) was "very different and straight-forward." Though it focuses mainly on South Asian theater, the group embraces anyone who is willing to put in the effort. A Jewish actress performed in TARA, eastern Asians acted in the festival last week and an Italian American wrote and directed a monologue in the Asian Theater festival. "We call ourselves a South Asian theater troupe, but we are not limited to performing and working with South Asian Americans," Sreedhar says. PenNaatak hopes to eventually encourage a network in which the South Asian theater troupes at Georgetown and Princeton universities, along with a non-profit group called Disha, perform together and support each other with resources. Despite all the hours spent researching, rehearsing and attempting to receive PAC funding, "it is really gratifying," Sreedhar said. "[There is] a warmer environment for students through performance. [The shows] bring people together. That's what theater does."