Target Margin’s latest production, PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE GIRL, based on various translation / transmissions of The One Thousand and One Nights opens March 29 and runs until April 21. During the run we are asking five questions to each of our five actors. WHO SHOULD WE PAY ATTENTION TO? The answer: DEEPALI GUPTA.
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Prior to working on PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE GIRL, how were you first introduced to the tales of The One Thousand and One Nights? How has working on TMT’s production, changed your understanding and/or relationship to the tales?
I can’t remember whatsoever when I was first introduced to these tales – maybe by my mother, maybe by a cartoon? I watched Disney’s Aladdin a million times, but I also think I may have had some sort of illustrated children’s edition. Scheherazade was the most important part of it all for me – I dreamed of becoming a young woman who had to save her own life every night by the power of her imagination. I hope I am like that, a little bit, sometimes. Working on this production, I’ve gotten so lost in the strange, fantastic details, even (especially?) if they’re mistranslated or outright fabricated. I keep wondering about characters who last about a paragraph.
One of the many things The Nights are about is the power of storytelling. As a Indian-American identifying artist, what has been the most challenging part of inhabiting and telling these tales? The most rewarding?
As a first-gen Indian-American, these stories are recognizable – not exactly familiar. I read a lot of Indian comic books when I was younger (adaptations of the most enduring folk tales and legends). Those stories contain good and evil, strength and weakness – but they avoid easy morality. As do these ones. As a performer – language is everything! I get caught in some of my lines – I’ll be saying something and realize I’ve never said anything remotely like it (I don’t think I had ever uttered the word ‘vizier’ out loud in my life before beginning to work on this piece). But then a sentence will come along that I want to say over and over again under my breath forever. I don’t completely trust any of the translations that we’ve been working with, but I hope these words stay with me.
In five words or less, describe PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE GIRL.
Oh god. Uncertainty and certainty.
This is TMT’s first production in our new performance space, THE DOXSEE, in Sunset Park. What’s been unique about the approach to creating the play? Has the new space opened up creative opportunities? If so, how?
THE DOXSEE has a strong presence. It has been a joy to inhabit the space since day one – memories of past experiments live in every corner of the room. And it’s huge, perfect for big ideas and small moments. I miss a ladder that we had when we first started rehearsing.
What’s important to you now? About the show, about life, about anything.
Rage and compassion. Sometimes I don’t know which is best in a given situation. I think that applies to the show.
Deepali Gupta is a composer-lyricist, playwright, and performer based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been presented at Ars Nova, Under The Radar, New York City Center, JACK, Vital Joint, and The Bushwick Starr. Recent projects as a solo artist include No Way To Say Goodbye and Over(Reverberating). Recent projects as a composer include original music for Cute Activist, Ski End, and Minor Character. B.A. Brown University (Weston Award, Writing for Performance), M.F.A. Tisch. Member of The Civilians’ R&D Group 2017-18. deepaligupta.net