Young,Edgy,Experimental

Though the last META party was dominated by Mumbai youths,it could easily have belonged to another young and edgy group from a different Indian city. Indian theatre often had to deal with lack of space and sponsorship. But,in the last few years,some groups in Mumbai,Bangalore,Pune,Kolkata and Delhi seem to have overcome these hurdles. “Suddenly,several young groups are not only doing regular productions,but also travelling with them,” says Toral Shah,one of the key members of QTP Productions,Mumbai,that is famous for encouraging young talent.

Akarsh took over the reins of Akvarious Productions,set up by his father,actor Akash Khurana,in 2000. The group enjoyed success at Thespo,an annual national theatre group youth festival. Still,it became more active only in 2007,with four new plays. It doubled its production the following year,roping in several artists such as The Interview’s writer Siddharth Kumar,Tahira Nath and Prerna Chawla. Interestingly,the stepping-up of Akvarious activities coincided with the formation of several theatre groups by youngsters — mostly with support from QTP.

According to Shah,the surge in youth theatre is the result of the conscious efforts made during the last decade to promote young talent. “There are more platforms now for young thespians to present their work. That was not the case when we started Thespo in 1999 to guide,groom and give a break to under-25 theatre enthusiasts,” she says. The last decade has also seen a growth of Indian content,thanks to several workshops and Writers’ Bloc. “Though we still do Neil Simon plays,a good number of original Indian plays are available now.”

Bangalore-based Ram Ganesh Kamatham described the rise of young thespians as “a matter of responding to changes that are happening around us”. In Bangalore,the volume of work has increased,thanks to Rangashankara,set up by Arundhati Nag,and the just-opened Jagriti Theatre,by Arundhati and Jagdish Raja. Both the spaces encourage experimental works. This has helped Bangalore theatre artists make the transition “from purely amateur works to almost-professional creations”. Unlike Bangalore,Kolkata always had a rich tradition of experimental and English theatre. Though the number of young artists in Kolkata has not really gone up,several youngsters have found reasons to stick to it,though they give into the compulsion to do television and film assignments once in a while.

When it comes to theatre-loving youngsters spending hours rehearsing a play,Pune takes the cake. The city,which has always been on the cultural forefront of Maharashtra,has often patronised its theatre enthusiasts. This has become even more established now with Aasakta,which bagged two META awards for its Tichee 17 Prakarne. Led by Mohit Takalkar,the group comes up with amazing plays. Emergence of talents such as Nipun Dharmadhikari (24),Radhika Apte (25),Aalok Rajwade (22) and Mandar Kulkarni (26) also helped. “In recent years,Pune has seen many more youngsters joining theatre groups as well as forming their own,” says 29-year-old Ashish Mehta of Aasakta,that bagged two META awards.

In Delhi,young artists have always played key roles. That energy is still seen in the likes of 21-year-old Shilpi Marwaha,who,after 3,000 street plays and more than 20 stage plays in four years,has promised herself that she will never quit theatre. In Delhi,where Asmita Theatre Group is one of the art world’s loudest voices on socioeconomic issues,Marwaha has become a familiar face. Under its activist director Arvind Gaur,Asmita performs up to four street plays a day and Marwaha,despite her age,is the group’s street play-in-charge and the editor of the Asmita Theatre Review. “In the past four years,there has been an increase in the number of zealous youngsters who are coming in to Asmita,” she adds.

Known for his impressive scripts,Neel Chaudhuri,artistic director of Delhi-based Tadpole Repertory,endorses the fact that theatre has become a viable career option. “At present,theatre is heavily reliant on government grants and commercial sponsorship. While with other professions,one might be able to save,a theatre person cannot,” says Chaudhuri,who admits that the average age of his group members is 26 years.

Despite the heartening story of youngsters’ success,it still remains to be seen how this momentum in Indian theatre will sustain itself. “Most of the active young theatre persons are either over 30 or just there. They may not be in a position to take the risk they did when younger. It will be a challenge to ignore the demand of taking up a more secure profession,” says Shah.

(With inputs from Dipanita Nath and Kartikeya Ramanathan)