Gidree Bawlee's 'The Strange Vortex': Walking in circles away from freedom

Under the night sky, a small crowd sits in rows on a rooftop. A few bright lights are aimed at the open space: the 'stage.' Only the sounds of the night offer themselves as background audio to set the ambience. 

The performers had little help from the stage and setting and yet they gave it their all — which is all it took for them to amaze the crowd. 
 
On 8 March, Gidree's Bawlee foundation of arts, a non profit multidisciplinary organisation, presented a theatrical performance called 'The Strange Vortex.' Their Children's Team, formed with kids from Thakurgaon who attended a puppet making workshop prior to joining the group, took to the stage at Alliance Française de Dhaka's Gulshan branch. The group of performers was led by Sumi Rani.

The story of 'The Strange Vortex' was an extension of a play Sumi had created while visiting France for a learning residency. The performance was accompanied with a roundtable discussion on the rights for underprivileged children, hosted by Action for Social Development (ASD).
 
The story itself was an abstract tale of the challenges of achieving freedom. It begins with the protagonist, played by Sumi herself, singing to a doll, "the joy in the sky and the wind!"

As the girl goes one way, the doll takes her elsewhere. It guides the girl, almost pulling her, to a set of wings. Though she is amazed at the sight of the wings, she stops in her tracks as she falls face first onto a mask. Although the mask latches onto her and changes her; with sheer will power, she fights it off. 
 
Throughout her journey, more characters donned in masks surround her, but she helps them take their masks off until two dark, vulture-like creatures circle everyone, leading them back to their masks. The performance ends with the girl being encircled by everyone, forcing her mask back on her. 
 
The story itself is a fight of freedom against societal expectations. Sumi, the brain and talent behind the performance, explains the concept, "It's about our culture, the society we live in. When we seek freedom, people say a lot of things like, 'why are they doing that?' Why does someone think differently - this becomes everyone's headache."

"The character decides she will think differently at all costs," she added.
 
The story essentially narrates the struggle when our individuality sees the light of day – and is immediately suffocated by society, until it dies off. 

The concept of the vortex is shown through the movements of the performers. Each time the main character reaches freedom or helps another towards it, a bigger or more daunting group of mask-wearers surround them. 

This shows how the struggle towards freedom comes in layers, one after another, until we hit a ceiling, where all our efforts towards change become useless. The girl battles to achieve her freedom, and yet everyone returns to their old ways in the blink of an eye. 
 
In an age where our eyes have become numb to overproduced films, 'The Strange Vortex' had a refreshing impact. Instead of on a stage, they performed in an open space on the rooftop of the venue. This meant no costume changes, fade-to-black scene transitions, or intermissions. 

In fact, the only barrier between Sumi and the audience was the circle the performers sat in, smoothly entering the performance one by one as their turns came. 
 
I believe the audience would agree that the raw production worked in their favour, because as soon as Sumi started the performance with her singing, you could not hear a single sound from the crowd. By the end, you could hear voices exclaiming, "Amazing!"
 
Such performances succeed in one way that large productions fail; it makes the experience more intimate. 

Furthermore, the costumes were noteworthy. The first component of the costumes that will catch your eye are the props and masks the children are using. The bird looks to be made out of leaves, twigs make up their mask, and the doll seems to be made from a jute sack. 

Sumi explained this, "The props we made, we only used materials from nature." 

One way to describe the way they look is eccentric— far more odd than the Thalia and Melpomene masks in theatres. Sumi's mask held a solemn expression, while others bordered on animal-like. One of the vulture-like characters donned a mask resembling the plague mask.
 
Sumi explains how this was intentional, "I wanted to show the weirdness in things, such as, how weirdness exists in people and animals."
 
This 'weirdness' in the masks she wanted to highlight contributes to the concept of individuality. No two masks are the same as they are all handmade with natural materials. 
 
Sumi's message in 'The Strange Vortex' might have been conveyed by children through their performance; however, it is a universal lesson. The individuality in people bloom naturally through the pull of curiosity, much like the pull of the doll. Yet, people within society get caught in a man-made loop, a vortex, until the pull to stand out dies within them.