[Reader-list] Fwd: To Fanatics, Crackpots, and Other Theatrical Creatures

Wed Jun 8 01:20:53 IST 2005

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                                              Subject:  eSTQ Invitation piece
                     06/06/2005 20:01
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e-stq
To Fanatics, Crackpots, and Other Theatrical Creatures
 By Sudhanva Deshpande

 Sometimes, it is easy to forget what a remarkable phenomenon Indian theatre is.

 I should instantly rephrase that: remarkable phenomena that Indian theatres
 are.

 For a moment, let us ignore that we have a performance history going back some
 two thousand five hundred years. Let us ignore that the first systematic
 treatises on performance and aesthetics were compiled in India. Let us ignore
 all this, not because it is not important, but because it can prevent us from
 appreciating what we have, right now, in the present.

 After all, wasn't there someone who quipped that the theatre has no future,
 because it is always here and now, in the present!

 What we have is mind-boggling. A director recently speculated that there are
 some 40,000 theatre groups in the country. If there are about 50 people
 associated with each group ? and I suppose he was including here the backstage
 workers, ushers, lighting persons, the dhobi who irons the costumes, the tea
 boy, and so on ? we get a figure of 20,00,000 people who are associated with
 theatre in India. This figure, according to him, does not include those who do
 plays in schools and colleges, but I presume it includes rural troupes.

 Two million people, then. This figure is more than the total population of a
 country like Mauritius, or more than the total adult population of several
 European countries. If, on average, each of these 40,000 groups produce 2 plays
 per year, that makes 80,000 plays every year. If each play has a run of 5
 shows, you get 4,00,000 performances every year. In other words, at least 1,095
 performances every day.

 By any reckoning, this is extraordinary. Not simply in terms of numbers, but in
 terms of range.

 Take Bombay, for example.

 The city is home to four major language theatres: Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi,
 English. In the first two of these languages, you have a thriving commercial
 theatre as well as an amateur theatre. In Gujarati, according to another
 informal estimate, some 60 lakh people pay to watch commercial theatre every
 year in Bombay. For Marathi, my guess is that the figure would be higher.

 Alongside, Bombay also has theatre in Kannada, Sindhi, Bengali, Malayalam and
 Telugu. Then there are the large number of students who do theatre in colleges
 and schools. Bombay also has some active street theatre groups. Then there are
 the plays that get done in colonies and housing societies as part of various
 festivals, the Ganesh puja being the most important. Then there are workers ?
 yes, that species still survives, miraculously, in the face of overwhelming
 odds ? who do plays in their unions and bastis.

 The variety of performance spaces is also huge.

 You have the large auditoria, like Shivaji Mandir in Dadar or Dinanath
 Mangeshkar Natyagruha in Vile Parle, that mount the commercial plays. Sometimes
 two, or even three, a day. You have smaller, more experimental spaces like the
 NCPA at Nariman Point or Prithvi in Juhu. Prithvi made the lovely Horniman
 Circle Gardens in South Bombay its second performance space. Prithvi and others
 have also been mounting shows at the Bandra seaface for the past two years.
 Then there are auditoria like the Karnataka Sangh, which cater, though not
 exclusively, to certain language groups. The Marathi theatre group Awishkar has
 been performing in a school in Mahim for the past few years, reminding one of
 Chhabildas, which spawned a veritable movement of experimental theatre back in
 the seventies.

 Now, this is only one city. There are smaller cities, and villages.

 Consider Andhra Pradesh, not a state one generally associates with theatre.
 Here, the Praja Natya Mandali has over one thousand units across the state. In
 other words, a unit in not just every district or taluka, but virtually every
 village! Some of these units are all women, many are all dalit. When a friend
 went to their State Conference last year, she had to address a gathering of
 some 40,000 actors, singers and dancers!

 There is no doubt about it. Theatre is alive, and growing.

 Some would object to my optimism. They would point to the indifferent quality
 of a lot of the work being done, they would point to the lack of infrastructure
 that most cities provide (and this would include Bombay, in spite of its
 thriving theatre scene), to the lack of resources that individual groups have,
 to the lack of funding, lack of newspaper space, lack of critical discourse,
 lack of training institutions, and so on and so forth.

 All this, of course, is completely true.

 But there is another way of looking at it, isn't there. Theatre lacks nearly
 everything, and yet it obstinately survives and even thrives. Which means that
 those 2 million or more who do theatre love it with such passion that they
 refuse to let it die.

 More importantly, there are many million more who watch them. They are the
 lifeblood of our theatre. They endure all manner of hardships to sustain this
 fragile art ? ticket prices, uncomfortable seats, mosquito attacks, bad acting,
 and so on. They endure all this, and more, for that one moment of magic that
 only live performance can give them.

 In other words, we have in our country, many million fanatics and crackpots.
 They are the heroes of our theatre.

 This space, the weekly eSTQ, hopes to reach out to them.

 This is not a space only, or even primarily, for the theatre practitioner or
 scholar. This is a space, most of all, for the theatre lover.

 We invite your opinions, comments, thoughts, musings, outbursts, anything. You
 could write about the state of theatre in your city or state or language; you
 could look at larger trends; you could review a play that you have recently
 seen or a book you have read; you could talk about a playwright past or
 present, or an actor or director or critic or anyone connected with theatre;
 you could share your difficulties, practical or theoretical; you could
 interview someone; you could pretty much do anything at all in this space.

 And, it goes without saying, you are welcome to respond to a previous article
 that has appeared here. We do not need only well-argued essays. Hazy or random
 thoughts would just as well.

 If you wish to send in things in a language other than English, please do. We
 will have it translated to the best of our ability.

 The word limit is 800 words minimum, 1200 words maximum. And yes, you will be
 paid, if your piece is carried. Not a prince's ransom, but enough to get you
 tickets to next week's show. (Unless you want a five star dinner to go with
 it.) If you want to send in shorter comments on earlier pieces, do that.
 200-300 words. We'll carry that in the readers' response section, without
 monetary compensation, though.

 This is your space. Claim it.

 Sudhanva Deshpande is an actor, director and playwright with the Delhi-based
 group, Jana Natya Manch.He can be reached at deshsud at rediffmail.com..

 Please click on reply to comment

 Theatre Log

 WRITERS'S BLOC
 If you have a full-length or one-act play, monologue or anything that shows
 your talent as a playwright contact us on letsrage at hotmail.com. If your
 original play is in an Indian language please send in an English translation.
 Script Submission - 5 June 2005. In association with British Council, Mumbai
 and Royal Court Theatre, UK

 Delhi
 Moneeka Misra Tanvir passed away on 28 May, and with her, we lost an incredible
 life devoted to theatre. Through Naya Theatre she helped make some of the
 finest theatre many of us ever saw.
 Come together to remember Moneeka-di, to share her memories, to salute her.
 Saturday, 4 June 2005, 5.00 pm., Deputy Speaker's Hall, Constitution Club, Rafi
 Marg.

 Mumbai
 A Summertime Attraction
 At Prithvi Theatre, 4, 5, 18, 19 June. All shows 11 am. A play for everyone
 above 14 years. Neeraj Kabi [Actor, Director, Human resource trainer] Email:
 pravahtheatre at gmail.com

 Bangalore
 Pratidwandi by Mayaavan
 A play based on Sunil Gangopadhyay's novel. Adapted and directed by Abhishek
 Majumdar. In English on Friday, 3 June and Saturday, 4 June at 7.30 pm. In
 Bengali on Sunday, 5 June at 7.30 pm at Ranga Shankara, Bangalore. Call
 9886491601 or email maayaavan at yahoogroups.com for information.

 ACTor's new production Sleuth at Ranga Shankara, Bangalore 7-12 June 2005.

 Chennai
 The Madras Players and EVAM present Evam Indrajit by Badal Sircar at Sivagami
 Petachi Auditorium, Chennai, on 4, 5, 11, 12 June at 7.15 pm and on 5 and 12
 June at 2.00 pm. Tickets Rs 300, 200 and 100. Call 98402 22363 for bookings or
 96102 96102 for door delivery.

 Kolkata
 Panel discussion on Changes in Theatre at G D Birla Sabhaghar on 9 June.
 Participants include Arun Mukherjee, Bibhash Chakravorty, Dolly Basu, Kaushik
 Sen, Suranjana Das Gupta. Moderator S.V. Raman.

 Swapnasandhanee presents Bhalo Rakhshas-er Galpo Every Saturday in June, 6.30
 pm, Sujata Sadan. Story Joya Mitra. Adaptation Ujwal Chattopadhyay. Director
 Kaushik Sen.

 Sundaram presents Operation Bhomragarh on 5 June at Girish Mancha, Kolkata, 7
 June at Nazrul Mancha, Kamarahati, 10 June at Madhusudan Mancha, Kolkata, 12
 June at Kala Mandir, Kolkata. All shows 6.30 pm. Playwright and director Manoj
 Mitra.

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