Tryst with India & the world

Though Erin was involved in plays during college, the real formative experience began when she began developing new plays for a small theatre in New York, and later, at the Guthrie Theatre and the Public Theatre.

“I absorbed a little from here, a little from there,” she recalls. “I loved working on new plays but was also drawn to the rhythms and approaches useful in Greek drama, Shakespeare, and musicals. Each influenced my work in different ways,” says Erin, who has directed plays in over 36 countries.

Her connection to India began with a trip in 1991, initially intended as a break from her intensive work in New York. “A friend suggested I attend a week-long festival organised by Kavalam Narayana Panicker in Thiruvananthapuram. I saw Koodiyattam, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Bharatanatyam, Kalaripayattu, Theyyam, and a Sanskrit play by Bhasa. I was instantly captivated by a physically expressive, non-realistic style that was profoundly moving,” Erin recalls.

Over time, she studied these forms in depth and developed collaborations with Indian artists. A Fullbright fellowship soon followed, allowing her to work closely with Panicker’s company, Sopanam. During this time, she directed an adaptation of Faust.

“I’ve enjoyed these collaborations immensely… with Panicker, Mahesh Dattani, Chandra Dasan and several others. Artists in India, I noticed, approach work differently than in the US, and it’s endlessly enriching to observe and learn,” she says. On her return to New York, not only did she carry shards of new learnings, but she had with her sheets of Malayalam and Indian plays, notably Panicker’s Ottayan and Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana, which she directed at the St Mark’s Theatre in 1992 and 1993, respectively.