How various theatre initiatives are breaking barriers between actors and audiences

All the world was a stage for William Shakespeare. And for Oscar Wilde, theatre was the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being could share the sense of being a human with another. But all that is only possible if there is an audience.

Theatre practitioners in Mumbai are a zealous lot, who keep coming up with various initiatives to bring in newer audiences and to provide existing patrons with exciting content. Whether it’s experimenting with form by indulging in black box theatre or using alternative spaces to stage theatre performances, the idea is to keep bringing the audience back and engage those who may have never seen a play in their lives. Says actor Shernaz Patel, “The more direct interaction you have with the audience, it’s more likely for them to interact with the performing arts. You have to break pre-conceived notions that it’s just for the high-brow or the intelligentsia. And once you bring in somebody new, they are hooked for life.”

Here are some recent steps taken by the theatre community to reach out to people...

AN ENRICHING EXPERIENCE

This weekend the fourth edition of Aadyam will kick off with director Atul Kumar’s comedy noir Detective Nau-Do-Gyarah. As part of a specially curated workshop called Front Row, viewers can go backstage, interact with the actors, know more about the costumes and props, check out the lighting and explore the play’s world. Artistic Director Shernaz Patel tells us, “We felt there is a wall between the actors and the audience and we wanted to break it. The idea was to do a workshop which would give them an insight into how the play was created.” Since the production is a physical comedy, the audience will get an understanding of how such a piece is created. “They will participate in some acting exercises with emphasis on physical comedy,” she adds. As Detective Nau-Do-Gyarah is set in Bombay of the 1950s, patrons will get a glimpse of the city was like in those days. “This will give them a larger idea of the world they will enter when they watch the play. All these aspects enrich their experience,” she says. The workshops are being designed, keeping each play in mind.

BEING INCLUSIVE

While the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) has always supported regional theatre by time and again hosting Marathi and Gujarati plays, they have now expanded their horizons by including plays in other regional languages as well.

NCPA Presentations aims to showcase the best of Indian theatre, irrespective of the language. Tasneem Vahanvaty, head of theatre programming at NCPA says that it was due to their work in regional space that they realised that the audiences have changed and more importantly, it was about showcasing the best of Indian plays across the country in Mumbai.

Since February, they have staged plays in Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi and English and will now present Nona, a Malayalam production next month. “The idea is to bring productions which are pieces of excellence coming out of Indian stage, irrespective of the language its performed in. The other thing we are doing with regional theatre is taking the effort to subtitle it. This is so that we not only bring in newer audiences, but also give something exciting to our existing patrons,” she says. Tasneem adds that this is a time when as a society, we need to be reaching out and building more communities than walls. “Culture is supposed to be that one combining force in that sense. This is our effort to bring in as many voices in theatre and also give an occasion for different audiences to come and watch all kinds of content,” she adds.

MONSOON READINGS

Just a week ago, more than 40 people turned up to hear a Sanskrit and Marathi reading of Kalidas’ play Meghdoot, something that surprised even the curators, Dr Omkar Bhatkar and Vipul Mahagaonkar. Organised by the newly-formed St Andrews Centre of Philosophy and Performing Arts, it was a part of Monsoon Readings. Here, actors will do dramatised readings of plays that have the rains as a theme.

“The idea is to bring people together, have a cup of chai and listen to a good piece of literature, that too, free of cost,” says Omkar, who founded the centre along with Fr Magi Murzello. Last month, the centre ran a one-month course on theatre writing, which saw professionals such as Mahesh Dattani, Ramu Ramanathan and Tanuja Chandra among others interact with the participants. In the weeks to come, they plan to organise a number of courses and readings designed around theatre as well as philosophy.