Theatre ‘Scenes’ in Goa! Published on: March 23, 2014 More in: Panorama Goans are known for their love for the arts, be it music or fine arts which is prominent during carnival; those floats are a fine piece of art. Theatre too has been around for quite a while but yet it has not gathered much of an audience like the others. Apart from Kala Academy, we do not have many performances spaces, we do not have consistent theatre classes or any academy that has a drama course, apart from again the Kala Academy School of drama. But all this is now changing and theatre has found a place in the art loving state of Goa. Despite all constraints, theatre veteran Isabel Vaz believes that the wheels have begun churning and theatre will be the big thing soon enough. “More and more people are developing interest in theatre no doubt, of course, there have been times when we have had a very poor audience, but yet performing for a small audience also has been fun,” says the founder of the theatre troupe, Mustard Seed, Isabel Vaz who been practicing for 26 years. “Mustard Seed has a repertory of 55 productions, 35 of which are original plays. We believe that we should write about our society and its problems, our people, something what we as artistes and the audience will identify with,” she adds. The Department of Art and Culture, Government of Goa has made it mandatory for all schools to include theatre as part of their curriculum and Isabel Vaz is delighted about this decision, “it’s absolutely fantastic and I am very happy that the Department of Art and Culture of Goa has introduced this policy.” When asked if this decision will add to the existing amount of pressure that children face about delivering, she says, “it is about how you conduct it; classes on different theatre nuances like voice, body movement, etc, will strengthen their foundation and they will have more opportunities to perform.” Padmashree Joshalkar, the artistic director of Kala Academy’s School of Drama agrees with Vaz, “We can already see the change in those kids who have been exposed to the theatre curriculum in schools, they now watch more plays than films in the theatre.” A National School of Drama (NSD) alumnus herself, Padmashree Joshalkar has been happy with the increasing number of students enrolling in the School of Drama and is positive about theatre prospects in Goa, “In the past two years, there has been a considerable increase in applications for the drama school, most of them are from rural Goa and are keen learners. In fact many of them learn the art here and perform in the villages and now after the inclusion of drama in schools, they have begun teaching too.” Such opportunities are slowly making theatre a financially viable profession. But yet in terms of audience Padmashree Joshalkar believes we have a long way to go. “The response for our repertory productions is very poor. Only big stars drag in huge crowds, if there is no good audience, there won’t be good theatre. The audience is very important,” she points out. Things though, are not all that bad; the Utsav Rangbhoomi takes place all year round which is a theatre festival with plays being performed in Goan villages. Padmashree Joshalkar proudly says that many of the performers are from the School of Drama. When asked about the low interest in urban youth, she blames it on other distractions which keep them away from the arts, unlike rural students. But here is hoping that this changes soon enough, thanks to the Department of Art and Culture’s proactive decision. Isabel Vaz also believes that with the inclusion of the arts, all kinds of arts, in school curriculums, will give all children irrespective of their economic background access to the world of arts. “After all theatre is a liberating experience,” she says. Goa though has not been completely oblivious to theatre. Tiatr is known for its distinct style, and is very popular even after 100 years. What with colourful sets and the Fado, Tiatr still manages to grab eyeballs. There have been many initiatives taken by groups and individuals to expose Goans to theatre for example the annual Sadir Theatre Festival organised by Swati Bhise have brought landmark plays to Goa in Marathi, Hindi, and English. Karan Bhagat, a journalist by profession, is also someone who has been consistently involved in theatre be it in Delhi or London where he worked for a while. Karan Bhagat holds play reading sessions, ‘Exploring Great Scripts’ at the International Centre of Goa once a week, since July 2013. “Well there has not been a very good response but there have been 5-6 regulars who have been attending these sessions from day 1. The whole idea was to get likeminded people, together, to read and discuss a wide range of plays and playwrights,” he says, adding that not many people have the time to source scripts and read them and even reading alone ends up being very monotonous. He has reached the fag end of these sessions but despite poor response he hopes to start rehearsed readings of plays which will amount to something more than just reading. “These rehearsed readings will include things like discussions on the playwright’s intentions, dialogue delivery, character analysis and much more and may be if possible we could end up doing a production together,” says Bhagat. Right now Indian theatre is at its peak, it is booming with writers and original scripts and many opportunities abroad too. With corporates coming in to support theatre festivals and theatre related events, it has become possible to get people to watch and experience different forms of theatre, Indian and international. Goa should make best of this time and expose its people to the magic that is theatre. navhindtimes.in
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 12:00:43 +0000
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