Backing the backers!

It’s a new beginning for Thespo — one of the country’s largest youth theatre festivals has entered into its second decade. And with it, there is a flurry of activities and events that promise to usher in a change on the contemporary theatre stage — the focus being on bringing the spotlight on the forgotten group of theatre persons — the managers, designers, the light-men and all the people backstage who can make or break a play.

Quasar Thakore Padamsee who took over the reigns of Thespo after the initial years when it was run by theatre stalwarts like Pearl Padamsee, Gerson Da Cunha and Abraham Alkazi explains the organizations shift in focus this year, “There is a whole lot of people out there who believe that theatre is only about acting. This is our attempt to tell them that there is so much more to it. We have a backbone that consists of the crew that supports a production. This year’s emphasis will be to train aspiring theatricians in these aspects.”

This new decade will also see international collaborations with theatre groups from UK and Australia apart from linking up with IIT Kanpur and BITS Pilani who have active theatre groups within their organizations. Quasar confirms, “We have received queries from British and Australian theatre groups who want to participate in our project. Bringing them here will add to the interactive opportunities and make our own productions stronger.”

After having theatre groups from across urban India, especially strong theatre hubs like Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune to be a part of Thespo, this cultural bus is now ready to make a trip to several small towns and villages across the country to “support lesser-known theatre groups. In fact to initiate the process, the group has also recently started a Facebook community where within two weeks, more than 300 theatre groups have registered and pledged their support. Quasar explains, “Thespo after 10 years is more than just a festival; it should have a new identity — hence our effort to put ourselves on a platform that becomes a forum to discuss theatre in India and internationally.”