Turning 20 is yet another milestone for a youth theatre initiative that has literally grown up before our eyes. Each December or thereabouts, Thespo takes over the theatre ecosystem with its almost patented festival sensibility — bright colours and bold fonts, flags and banners, and the distinctive whir of creative activity at Prithvi Theatre, its alma mater of sorts. This year is no exception, but being part of a landmark edition brings a frisson all of its own, adding that that spice to the proceedings and that unmistakable spring to the step of volunteers, audiences and participants alike. This is as it was when Thespo turned 18 or 16, and might be the case when it turns 21 — all important signposts for its young adult demographic, who hold on to their Thespo memories like they were trophies. Many who have gone on to pursue a career in the arts consider Thespo to have been an irrepressible launchpad.
Politics in theatre
Among this year’s showcase of full-length plays are works like Akshay Anand Kohli’s Gal Kufr Di (Hindi/Punjabi), an anguished slice of Sikh catharsis set against the backdrop of the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom. Or Suraj Gadgile’s Andhar (Marathi), a satire on superstition that is intended as a homage to Narendra Dabholkar, the untiring social justice warrior. In these plays, two assassinations — that of Indira Gandhi and Dabholkar (in 2013) — lead to two different kinds of exploration, and it remains to be seen how young minds navigate such lacerating territory. Even Sankalp Mahabaleshwarkar’s Sometime Somewhere and the ensemble piece Man Maana Square (Hindi/English), explore complex philosophical ideas and are works intended to provoke and elicit new thought on ages-old truisms. The former is performed entirely in gibberish — an otherwise unintelligible tongue carrying reserves of meaning — and both plays attempt to meaningfully harness the power of physical theatre.
On the periphery
Also interestingly populated are the festival sidelines this year. The Thespo Fringe often showcases raw and inchoate works in an attempt to provide a public platform to upcoming theatrewalas. This year, Abhishek Majumdar’s Rizwaan , in a new interpretation by Akshay Raheja, will be staged at the Prithvi House. It’s a story of a young man caught up in the throes of insurgency in the Kashmir valley, which was made into a film, and has been performed and read internationally.
Ariane Mnouchkine’s remarkable production, Tambours sur la digue ( ‘Drums on the Dike’ ), will also be screened. Created in the style of traditional puppet theatre of Japanese provenance (the Bunraku form), with actors standing in as marionettes, their ‘puppet managers’ in tow. The performance premiered in 1999 as part of Mnouchkine’s Théâtre du Soleil’s 35th anniversary season in Paris. The television recording to be screened was shot in 2003.
This year’s Thespo also marks the release of a book of original plays that premiered at the festival over the years, all written by playwrights younger than 25 at the time they were first performed. In this first-time-ever tome are four plays selected from a list of more than 50 by Ramu Ramanathan, with Irawati Karnik weighing in on the shortlist he drew up. They include Bhushan Patil’s Naav (Marathi), Ajay Krishnan’s Butter & Mashed Banana (English), Siddhesh Purkar’s Kabadi Uncut (Marathi) and Virajas Kulkarni and Shivraj Waichal’s Bhanwar (Hindi), all plays that crossed over into the cultural landscape at large.
Participative readings of each play are part of the festival’s itinerary. In an introductory note, I write about how Thespo has borne witness to an emergent culture that has propitiously coincided with the so-called age of the millennial. The plays are indicative of a zeitgeist with a remarkable latitude of its own — emanating from the frenzied environs of college theatre. Thespo, as an enabler, has had an impact on Indian playwriting, the effects of which we are only now beginning to discern. In that direction, this book certainly bestows much deserved posterity to some worthy works.
See thespo.org for more details on the festival.
