Sreya Sanyal’s Experience (Participant) [she/her]

I haven’t always been the biggest fan of physical theatre, or anything that is remotely abstract. I’m fairly straight-shooting, and prefer to take things at face value because it’s just simpler. Not saying that I’m not capable of introspection, but then again, not everything has to be deep and meaningful. Cue the “that’s so deep, bro” memes. 

To be honest, I had little to no expectations going in. It was not my first time training with Split — I had participated in a few of their earlier productions, but by no means was I a regular member. I preferred to disappear in between shows, going on a long hiatus so I could be alone. This time, I decided to be receptive, and not question the experiences. 

While I consider myself to be a creative person, I’m not necessarily the most open-minded. I prefer routines, structures and schedules so I can stay organized — clearly a holdover from my day job, which I love. So after a while, I decided to stop looking for the “logic” in things, and just let them flow. And when I let go, I was pleasantly surprised at where my lack of skepticism led me.

During the training, we had to create a personal “score” for the word “prayer”. The simplest explanation of a score is a series of movements that instinctually come to us when the word “prayer'' is spoken. Tethered to every action is an association — this can be a memory, experience, or some other thing which can be related to the action. Apart from that, we also explored different ways of “connecting” with one another — allowing us to cement our place within the ensemble.  

A memorable experience was the exercise (maybe not the right word) where we had to “care” for each other. It involved us standing next to each other diagonally, while only asking “can I ask” or ‘can I receive”.  And while I was very uncomfortable being in either of those positions, it was interesting to see how connections could be formed without the use of many words. While this work is supposed to take place in pairs, there were moments when 4 or 5 of us would sit together, first in silence, and then we’d break into moments of laughter, have funny conversations in hushed tones, or mimic each other’s actions for fun. 

Another moment I remember vividly was when we had to create a score for random words, such as “yellow”. If we had to stop and think because we couldn’t come up with an action on the spot, we’d have to roll over...and keep rolling until we could just go. 

While all these memories probably seem like gibberish to those without context, I would describe it to an outsider as a philosophical group project accompanied by lots of movement. There’s quite a bit of unearthing of the psyche that goes on, and I realized that I received the answers to a lot of questions I didn’t know I had. Yes, there are elements of theatre involved but it doesn’t require one to be an expert. All you have to do is be open-minded, receptive and get ready to play! 

I always thought that working on the self was an act of self-indulgence. Now, I realize that it’s a necessity. You can only be fully present and show up for yourself consistently, if you truly know yourself. And if I had to sum up what I learned about myself at the end of the training, it would be “as above, so below.”