Bangalore has a long theatre tradition. Theatre festivals, venues such as Ranga Shankara and Jagriti Theatre, new writing, well-established theatre groups such as Bangalore Little Theatre (BLT), and later Abhishek Majumdar’s Indian Ensemble, have made a Bangalore a theatre hub. But of late, at least in the last three years, more new theatre groups have emerged, many more plays are being staged and workshops are being held across the city.
Has there been a sudden spurt in theatre in the city? Are there more audiences for theatre now than before? Although most theatre practitioners agree that a lot more theatre has been happening for the last five years or so, some argue that theatre has always been thriving and there is nothing really ‘new’ about it.
Vijay Padaki, a veteran theatre personality, says: “There appear to be more plays being performed, at more places, by more performing groups.” He adds the reasons behind this involve a combination of factors, rather than a simple cause-effect explanation. “It could be the migration of young people to Bangalore and invariably they would like to retain their creative expression and maintaining the group identities. This is accomplished by all kinds of chosen activities – from trekking to cycling to karaoke nights to cooking. Drama comes naturally to such groupings!
He also contends that Ranga Shankara “has contributed in its own intangible but significant way to a love for the theatre in the city. In addition, the productions would explore alternate spaces for performance, rather than sticking to the same old auditoria – as few as they are, dreadfully equipped.”
Playwright and theatre director Deepika Arwind agrees that there has been an increase in audiences for theatre, she adds, though, that this hasn’t been quantifiable. “If I were to give an instinctive answer, I would say audiences have increased.” She observes that a noticeable trend is that there is an influx of people coming into theatre.
But as there is more theatre happening is there a cause for concern regarding quality? “It would be arrogant to focus only on quality. It is an exciting thing that a lot more theatre is happening,” says Deepika.
Vijay adds that quality needn’t always be privileged over quantity. “In the development of a well-internalised theatre culture in a society, quantity is a pre-requisite for the emergence of quality. A discerning audience emerges, that makes demands on the suppliers.”
Deepika says that initiatives like Toto Funds the Arts and theatre spaces like Ranga Shankara have cultivated an audience for theatre through many years of dedication and painstaking effort building.
She adds that we mustn’t only look at theatre. “It’s worth looking at the arts as well. There are many more classical dance and music shows, art installations, exhibitions.” She contends that in terms of generating an audience for theatre a lot more can be done. “Bangalore is a booming metropolis. It has scattered audiences and brought them together too.”
Shiva Pathak, one of the founders of Sandbox Collective, a performance arts collective, says: “There are more audiences for theatre. But have they become regular theatre-going audiences? I am not sure of that.”
Entertainment professional, Rubi Chakravarti says it is encouraging to see more and more theatre happening. “But I would like to see more professionalism in it, maybe have more mentors and corporates.”
As far as the future of theatre in Bangalore is concerned, Vijay says: “The theatre in Bangalore still survives largely on drips and transfusions. It is a string of sporadic productions, not a continuous living system. It has limited social investment in it. The very same new market environment that gave us quantity in theatre activity has the danger of turning it into a theatre of indulgence. Propped up by an indulging audience circle, indulgent sponsors, indulgent family and friends. The more inclusive institutional development – the phase transformation – can only come from a concerted effort by the theatre community itself.”
