Who is Deepan Sivaraman?

Answer 1

Deepan Sivaraman is an award winning theatre director and scenographer from India. He is the Artistic Director of the Thrissur-based Experimental Theatre Company Oxygen, is one of India's most-sought after modern theatre persons, his reputation enhanced after his powerful play, Spinal Cord, won seven out of 13 Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards in 2010.

"I start with space, not form or words. I draw the space I want to work with and then make several drawings to give shape to the visual dramaturgy I create '', "The moment the word appears, it claims supremacy over action, over whatever else may follow. And then the word proceeds to hijack the plot, the visual text, I see the immediacy of challenging the hegemony of word in Indian theatre "He says.

Talking about the spatiality of his new works spinal Cord and Peer Gynt Deepan emphasises "With interactive theatre, the audience is never safe, it is trouble continuously. The nature of the play changes, it acquires a transparency. The audience, when the action revolves around them, see their reactions mirrored and are exposed to the action." There is the element of the ritualistic in the way the participation is demanded of the audience.

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design's Scenography post graduate Deepan Sivarman is presently a research scholar and lecturer at Wimbledon College of Art.