Oorali Express: A bus that takes art, music and theatre to its audience

On January 18, 2019 an unusual bus will wend its way from Kochi to 10-15 of Kerala’s tiniest villages on its southern coastline. At each village, the Oorali Express will stop, metamorphose into a stage with lights and music, and be the setting for a theatre performance. The shows will be put on for the fisher community of Kerala, many members of which risked their lives to rescue fellow citizens during the devastating floods of August 2018. After some two months on the road, the bus — the only moving art installation at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2018 — will perform its final act at one of the biennale’s main venues, Aspinwall in Kochi, in March.

The Sadhana Centre for Creative Practice was launched in 2010 as a theatre group that blended theatre, music and visual art, spreading a larger social message through its performances. The scripts feature a mix of English, Malayalam and Spanish, but the performances are “language agnostic”, as Saji Kadampattil, 37, who plays guitar for the group, puts it. “The idea was that anyone who watches can perceive it in their own way but leave with a larger message that forms the basis of our performance,” he explains. The group of five musicians and two actors, led by director and lead vocalist Martin John, put up performances in their hometown, Thrissur. 

But performing was a challenge for lack of suitable venues. Moreover, by limiting themselves to a specific region, they were not able to reach as many people as possible in as wide a geographical area as possible — their ultimate goal.

For one of their performances, the group ended up renting a bus. And that’s when the idea was born. Why not take art to those who it is directed at rather than wait for the audience to come to you? A large vehicle on wheels that could move from place to place and transform into a venue with a slight application of the imagination and some technology provided the perfect solution.

Oorali was originally set up as a band to provide the background score for theatre performances

In 2013, the group found a bus on the verge of being scrapped. They pulled out its insides and converted it into a stage that opens out and allows the group to interact with the audience. The bus thus acts as a vehicle, a casual interaction space, an exhibition space, office and stage for the group.

Oorali (the name owes to a mythical character in search of the truth) was originally set up as a band to provide the background score for theatre performances but it later morphed into a full-scale music band that performs in the folk reggae style. Band members, however, say that terming Oorali a band is limiting. “It is more a creative collective — music, theatre, conversations — than a music band,” says Arjun Varier, 24, the group’s youngest member.

Their songs address social problems — class and caste divides, environmental concerns and climate change, freedom, violence, economic inequalities, among others. At times the lyrics reflect the political climate in the state — satirising the more sinister aspects and poking fun at the ridiculous. “Using humour and satire, we try and convey the message that the human species is one. We have the same biology. Where one is born is out of one’s control. We have no say in that. Art becomes a tool for people to introspect,” adds Kadampattil.

An illustration of the band poster of Oorali Express

In its early days, the group put on theatre performances in five villages in Thrissur district. The bus would arrive at a village and open a sort of art hub where locals could attend workshops involving paint, sculpture, clay and other mediums. On the second day, the group would put up its show, which began to attract large audiences including from neighbouring villages.

Over the last six years, Oorali acquired a name across the state and has completed over 500 performances. It now meets its expenses by performing at college shows, music festivals and corporate events. The stage, Saji says, is like an elephant that needs constant attention. But not, of course, a white elephant — it is the very heart and soul of what they bring to the table.

Oorali decided to step in to help with “mental rehabilitation” after the floods when they realised that state and government funds were only available for physical rehabilitation. Widespread cases of suicides and depression were reported across the population. After the floods, the group has covered around 10 locations in badly affected districts, performing in schools and Dalit colonies. Kadampattil says that it is important to remember the floods as it has taught them important lessons. From January to March, the Oorali Express will travel between Thiruvananthapuram in the south of Kerala and Mallappuram in the north to thank those who laid down their lives for others. It will be a moving journey in more ways than one.