Sukhita Aiyar lives and breathes theatre. She speaks on the art, the profession and the scope of this wonderful medium.
India has an amazingly rich and varied tradition in theatre. What’s even more interesting today is that artistes and practitioners are combining traditional Indian methods with Western ideology/pedagogy, to arrive at a medium or language that is uniquely Indian — quite representative of today’s youth.
The resources are there. However, awareness and community support are what’s lacking for our theatre scene to flourish.
It is natural then that theatre as a profession, in comparison to other industries/professions, is neither popular nor a common trend. What is heartening though is that more young people are willing to explore this as an option, and are resourceful and creative enough to be able to live off it. There are several young men and women that I know who straddle many worlds — English language and Kannada theatre, film, advertising, teaching, etc., all at once — it’s hectic, can be erratic, yet rewarding, and they are able to make ends meet. From within the community, more spaces are being created to facilitate this, through greater exposure to the craft by creating access to professionals in the field — assembling a repertory, so that there is work that is sustainable, and finally, monetarily, so that these artists can immerse themselves in the craft from nine to five. Atul Kumar and The Company Theatre is another name that springs to mind.
And why not? Theatre itself is such. I think theatre chose me! Everyone’s participated in a school play; that’s where my tryst with theatre began. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had the support, both personally and professionally, to be able to pursue it continuously, first part-time and now fully. There are no qualifications as such — more, a willingness to learn; developing the ability to observe and then translate; finding a resonance with a vision, a script, a character... all of which can occur over time spent in practice. As with any performing art, it’s all about combining passion with practice.
Such lessons are not simply learned but gained through an absolute love for the art and with some serious driving force. Plays like most of Peter Shaffer’s (Amadeus, Equus, and The Gift Of The Gorgon), Vijay Tendulkar, Mark Cullen and closer to home, Gautam Raja have inspired a great deal. Actors like Atul Kumar blew me away in Rajat Kapoor’s Hamlet, as did Arghya Lahiri’s lighting of Girish Karnad’s Flowers directed by Roysten Abel.
Recently, the opening sequence of Sachin Gurjale’s The Memorandum was fantastic.
Both theatre and film, in spite of being so closely related, are two separate media and hence beyond comparison.
However, in terms of awareness among the audience, theatre is found lacking. If asked to choose between theatre and film, currently, a very small percentage would choose the former.
There is a lack of awareness about theatre, and about how enervating and fulfiling a live exchange can be. I’ve had conversations with “first-timers” whose initial impression was that theatre is intimidating!
I think theatre and film coexist quite happily. Their focus and objectives are different, the results, therefore are not comparable. As long as theatre is regarded amateur, and there is minimal or next to no government/ community support, there will always be room for stand-alone productions here.
Recognising what this art can do, both in the short and long term, for any community, and then sustaining it is the way forward.
As told to Vishwadha Chander
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