Name
Ahon Gooptu
Major
Theatre and Dance, English, and Technology Studies
Hometown
Kolkata, India
Act 1 of my life was set in Kolkata, where I started doing theatre when I was in middle school. As I grew older, I knew that this was something that had to be a part of my life no matter where I went.
As I went through my college search, Grinnell stood out to me as a place where I could pursue my passion for theatre alongside a range of other topics that interested me, within a community I felt connected to.
Act 2 brought me to the United States for the first time - in the middle of everywhere!
My professor and mentor, Dr. John Garrison, often made us themed cookies and bread!
In my first semester of college, I dove into the canon by enrolling in Introduction to Shakespeare. While reading Shakespare's plays and sonnets, I also watched contemporary movies and TV shows that reimagined his universe.
In the spring of my first year, I took a new special topics English course, titled Lighting the Page: Digital Methods in Literary Studies. This class introduced me to tools that allowed me to explore and present the texts virtually, including multimedia mapping and creating Twitter bots. Who knew I'd be learning Python in an English class!
The natural progression was bringing my love for Shakespeare together with my newfound fascination with technological tools. I spearheaded a digital humanities project that re-contextualized absent elements in Shakespeare's plays by decolonizing their original roots.
Shakespeare research took me and five other Mentored Advanced Project (MAP) students to Chicago to watch Macbeth at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and exploring art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, and Chicago Cultural Center (pictured).
At the end of my first year, I saved up some money for my first solo trip - to San Francisco, California! I walked around the city on foot and found artistic inspiration at every street corner: on the streets, outside galleries, and in boutiques.
Artistic inspiration found during my walks around San Francisco.
Back in Grinnell, I used these inspirations from my travels in various theatre projects: directing, stage managing, acting, and devising original work.
(L-R) The Courter (director), Desi Divas (choreographer and performer), Spring Awakening (actor); Finger Food (director), The Universal Language (actor), soft lights for sleepless nights (stage manager).
My pursuit of the digital humanities ultimately led me to a Mentored Advanced Project (MAP) in theatre, which involved designing scenery and projections for a production of one of my all-time favourite plays. This was also my first time working with a professional theatre!
Having created my fair share of theatre in the Midwest, I embarked on a six-month journey across the country - from the West Coast to the East Coast! - in pursuit of new artistic adventures. My travels took me to Seattle, Waterford, New York City, and even London!
After my off-campus semester, I was looking forward to returning to Grinnell, engaging in new projects, and applying all I had learned during my experiences away. Unfortunately, my time with my friends and collaborators was cut short due to the pandemic, although we were able to squeeze in some moments of togetherness!
(Picture 1) I visited the Guthrie Costume Shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Erin Gritsch-Howell, our resident costume designer and instructor, to rent period costumes for one of the mainstage productions. (Picture 2) STI: The Musical! (Picture 3) My roommates and I hosted a Disco-themed party for our friends on the last night before everyone went home.
The shift to the virtual realm allowed me to make theatre with my friends and family back home in Kolkata, India (and a couple in Copenhagen, Denmark) from the comfort of my dorm room in Grinnell. For Three Men in a Boat + Monty, I puppeteered and voiced Montmorency, the dog.
Don't miss my makeshift green screen!
I worked with my dream theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, as one of their four remote interns. As the Education Intern, one of my responsibilities included researching and compiling a study guide for a radio play adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm, which reached over 500,000+ students worldwide!
Check out the synopsis, the "voices" of Animal Farm, and the contextualizing piece about the play as an allegory for the Russian Revolution, as well as my interview with the director of the radio play!
I also had the chance to make theatre as part of the Theatre and Dance department's virtual mainstage. In this picture, my professor, mentor, and director Dr. Irma Mayorga is filming footage for my character Lord of the Underworld in Eurydice.
This is also how I discovered that there was a skating rink right here in Grinnell!
I was, however, in a privileged position, to be living with two of my castmates, who had scenes together in person for the virtual production.
Here's a sneak peek into our very own Theatre House!
Post-Grad
After graduating from Grinnell, I became a graduate teaching assistant at Florida State University, so off to Tallahassee I went for my third act, experiencing a completely different side of the United States than I had before! As a graduate teaching assistant, I taught world theater history and theater to both majors and non-majors.
In the meantime, I side-hustled as a managing producer of Side B Society, leading fundraising and season planning, and producing new work for theater with the executive producer. I also worked virtually as an artistic associate at Make/Shift Theatre Company, facilitating transnational interdisciplinary collaborations for two flagship events.
Occasionally, I go back to my hometown in Kolkata, India, to do some seasonal work that I really believed in: helping reimagine the live performance experience through increased funding and infrastructure across the country and commissioning the first-ever pan-Indian dance and theatre database!
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