Optimistically yours

ON STAGE

Has my column been sounding pessimistic? Do these columns seem like obituaries to the dying art of theatre in the country? Well, that's what some readers seem to suggest.

Very strange! Because I think just the opposite. You must have heard the familiar argument that theatre is a live art form that has survived threats for so many centuries, there is no way it can die. Well, I am a strong believer of that! No, seriously!

Only last fortnight, I was in Mysore to attend the Rangayana theatre festival and conference where more than 30 plays featured, and each had a full house. The atmosphere was of great warmth, with people having long discussions over endless cups of coffee. On my way back, in Bangalore, I met a theatre friend who has recently started her own theatre, Rang Shankara, and concluded a long theatre festival. I asked why I hadn't seen her in Mysore.

She said (with great feeling) that theatre was flowing out of her ears with the string of large and varied festivals one after the other in Bangalore, and that she needed some rest. Apparently all of them ran to full houses and, mind you, not all feature populist stuff. Much of it was highly experimental, yet well attended.

It's the same in Mumbai, what with the government-sponsored Nehru Centre festival and the more adventurous Prithvi festival, these cities are abuzz with talk of theatre. Then, in Kolkata, I landed once again in the middle of an established festival, with several others either over or about to take off. And in Delhi of course, the NSD mega-festival is about to start in three days' time.

Most of these festivals are at least national if not international. Somebody made a snide remark in Kolkata that organisers include one play from Bangladesh and get the sanction to term it an international festival.

Be that as it may, in such a scenario who can be pessimistic? At this point in time it seems that there is more theatre activity happening than ever before. The festivals mentioned above are just some of those in the metros. There is a huge array of them in different cities. It is from these festivals that I will take some pointers to see what might be the scene in 2010.

First, I think that these kinds of festivals will bring greater visibility to theatre and, therefore, expand its audience base. Secondly, it seems increasingly private and corporate players will get into the business of promoting theatre. So while there will be more money in theatre, it will be hard to fight the market forces.

In other words, it will be pushed towards entertainment rather than an artistic pursuit, which it presently strives to be. This can be a matter of worry, but if the market popularises theatre, then serious theatre workers might also be able to garner a fraction of the newly created theatre audience.

Coming back to the pointers these festivals provide, there will increasingly be greater cultural links and collaborations with Asian countries, rather than the West, as has been the trend in the last century. This shift, needless to say, will allow us to enrich our work within our own paradigm as we share a great deal with this region in terms of cultural traditions and philosophy.

Just as geographical boundaries will soften, so will those of different disciplines and forms of expression. I can foresee much more crossover work between dance, music, fine arts, literature and theatre. A great deal has already started by way of dance theatre or installations, but this will acquire greater maturity.

Theatre will also move towards an increasing use of technology and multimedia, which is exciting as a form of experimentation. This path, however, if not trod carefully, might marginalise the actor "" the most significant entity of a theatre performance.

What is also visible is a moving away from conventional play texts for performances. Several unconventional sources are already being tapped by theatre workers "" such as stories, novels, interviews, history etc which is evolved by performers rather than created by a playwright.

This exposes us to varied structures, methodologies and approaches and is, therefore, very exciting, but in the long run doing away with the play or the playwright from theatre will take away an important dimension of this form.

And thanks to some attention being given to the education policy, theatre might actually be introduced as part of the curriculum in schools. This will not only generate jobs for theatre workers but create a greater awareness of theatre in the coming generation. I also already see a revival of theatre at the university level in a big way. And oh, I forgot about the possibility of more drama schools and professional repertories in different states.

Now all this is not a wish list, it is where I sincerely think we are heading. If this is not optimism, what is!