Beekeeping is not something one would expect from an ITI graduate, but it has become an integral part of Sankar Venkateswaran’s multifaceted career over the last 20 years. Since graduating in 2006, Sankar has been an actor, director, dramaturg and festival programmer, and has worked with various theatre groups across India.

As a way to sustain a practice as an independent artist, he established Sahyande Theatre and built a theatre space that works closely with indigenous Adivasi communities. The construction of the theatre in the lush mountain valley of Attappadi, Kerala began in 2010 and took around 12 years to design and complete.

In 2023, it opened with a three-day festival of performances that attracted audiences from across India and the world. Sankar brought his vision to life through physical labour and collaborative partnerships with the local community. As an outsider from a city background, working with these communities deepened his intercultural practice through bridging vastly different urban and rural cultures.

On top of that, his 20 bee colonies produce a substantial amount of honey, generating income that helps to sustain the theatre. “They bring the honey, they cross-pollinate and bring in money to make art and culture in this theatre,” says Sankar. “And that goes back into the community here.”

During the time he was constructing the theatre, he continued his artistic practice internationally. He worked as Artistic Director of the International Theatre Festival of Kerala from 2015 to 2016. He also presented work and served on curation panels at internationally renowned festivals including Zurich Theater Spektakel, Theaterfestival Basel, Spielart Festival Munich and Serendipity Festival in Goa.

Sankar describes his ITI training as a “soul-stirring” experience that was crucial in developing his intercultural practice. Sankar still performs kutiyattam, a traditional Keralan theatre form he learnt as a student at ITI. While he only plays small parts, he is honoured that professional kutiyattam players have accepted him into their fold even without formal training in the artform.

“The programme forced us to really seek and find the theatre that is within us, the theatre that we bring,” says Sankar. And this philosophy resonates clearest in Sahyande Theatre, a theatre that connects and sustains a community.