The Meet The Artist series highlights talented performing arts professionals from diverse backgrounds. We’re back with this month’s featured artist. We encourage you to read these interviews with an open mind, and to remember that starting a relationship with an artist can be something smaller than a mainstage show such as inviting them to lead a workshop, sit on a panel, or collaborate with another artist.
This month Ksenija Spasic interviewed Sharada Eswar.
Sharada K Eswar is an Indo-Canadian playwright, storyteller, singer, arts educator and a community engaged arts practitioner. A graduate in literature studies, she trained to be a writer and a storyteller. Simultaneously, she immersed herself in Carnatic Music (south Indian classical music) in Chennai, India. Nominated for the Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts (Ontario), Sharada has represented India at the India Abroad show in Paris and New York. She was also one of the three chosen by the Centres Culturels des Lions Clubs de Paris to present Indian culture in Normandy, France. A published children’s author, Sharada is currently the Artistic Director at Jumblies Theatre where she is working on two new projects –The Sleep Project and The Princess Who Slept for 14 years.
Upcoming: The Mahabharata 2025 Tour (Whynot Theatre)
Instagram: @shads2012
You studied both literature and music. Could you talk a bit about how those two disciplines coexisted during your studies and how they intertwine now?
Stories have always been something that I have been drawn to. I grew up with a grandmother who was an amazing storyteller herself. So it was, I think, the most natural and organic choice for me to study literature. As for music – like any good South Indian girl, who needed to be well versed in the arts too, I was asked to choose between classical music and classical dance. I have two left feet and so music it was. Luckily, I love music! Today, as a storyteller, writer and vocalist, I combine these three worlds of art. My work synthesizes the stories - folklore, mythologies and aesthetics of India with the eclectic influences of the world we live in. What I create and perform reflects the hybridity of our lives and ultimately transcends borders of culture, religion and ethnicity.
Tell us about your musical education? What were some memorable moments you experienced during your veena and vocal training?
I started my musical education when I was 7. But as my workload at school increased, I took a five-year hiatus and returned to pursuing music at seventeen. But even when I wasn’t actively learning, there were times when I would go back to my music teacher’s house just to hear the others sing and to sing along with them. One of the best memories I have is singing at mini-concerts that my teacher would hold in her home during the Navaratri season (nine-days of celebrating the Mother Goddess).
The veena (Indian lute) came much later in my life. I remember visiting an art gallery in Mysore and being mesmerised by a painting of Goddess Sharada Devi, who has always been painted with veena in her hand.
Is there a piece of music that expresses some key aspect of who you are at this moment? What piece and what aspect?
At this moment what I am feeling is a certain restlessness and seeking a stillness and so have been listening on loop to a beautiful composition by Sadashiva Brahmendra called Manasa Sancharare set to a raagam (melody) called Shyama. The song has a meditative quality about it and the lyrics describe the need to still the chatter and the noise around us.
Ontario Presents aims to connect artists with venues across Ontario. Could you mention some of the different places you’ve performed, in Ontario, in Canada, elsewhere in the world?
One of the most exciting aspects of being an artist is being able to tell your stories to diverse audiences and communities and being able to travel across the length and breadth of the province, the country and also internationally. I have had the privilege and good fortune to share my stories in the GTA, Ottawa, Brampton, Mississauga, Milton, Kingston, North Bay, Stratford, Niagara, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, to name a few and Canada wide, in Nova Scotia, NFL, BC and internationally at venues in France, the US, India, UK, and most recently in Australia.
It is impossible not to be informed or shaped by the communities you interact with. It is difficult to choose any one memorable moment, there have been so many. While in Australia, I was hosted by the Noongar people in Perth. I think every place, every community teaches you something.
Could you give a taste of what it would have been like to attend one of your story-sharing performances?
I seek to synergize various storytelling forms: one form flows and blends smoothly into another, and all evolve into a seamless whole.
I juxtapose traditional forms of Indian storytelling, puppetry and music with my own contemporary interpretations of South Asian epics or folk tales. My writing and the work of other modern writers is included in the telling. In other words, my storytelling sessions are a crucible - a fiery chemistry blending multiple disciplines and allowing me to evolve as an artist and an individual.
You are involved in a theatrical adaptation of the Mahabharata currently being presented by Canadian Stage. Could you talk about your participation in this work over the course of its making and now?
Yes! The Mahabharata has been an extremely exhausting and also an extremely gratifying experience. I was the creative associate responsible for the cultural integrity of the story. I also wrote the libretto and have been part of this project since the very first workshop in 2017.
The commitment and dedication that each one of us has brought to this project has been, if you’ll pardon the pun, epic. It has been humbling and overwhelming to witness this work being staged and receive powerful responses from audiences across the world. From twelve-year-olds to seniors, we have seen the profound impact of the show. People have told me that watching a story which is a vital part of their culture has been life-changing. My favourite moment was meeting an audience member in Perth, who hails from Kurukshetra where the epic battle between the feuding cousins is set.
Spring can be a time of renewal and hope. As you look ahead to the remainder of the year, what do you hope to learn? What new creations do you hope to bring into the world?
Yes, spring is a time of revival. What I am most looking forward to is sleep! My next multi-year project for Jumblies (where I am currently the Artistic Director) centres around the theme of sleep and rest and I am looking forward to the sleep temple that we are installing in June. Sleep Temple is both an art installation and an invitation. Participants are invited to add their own dreams to the collection, experience a sound bath, take a power nap, dream of a deep sleep, or simply sit with the thoughts and memories this unique space brings to the surface.
In a world that never seems to slow down, Sleep Temple offers a moment to pause and consider how we rest, dream, and share our stories.