 | Guest Column Surya Mohanty |
The dire straits of theatre have emerged as a grave cause of concern among those who have seen better days of the stage in the state. But the stagnancy in ideas and limited exposure to the world outside have proved to be a great threat to the future of Oriya theatre.
I remember my days at the National School of Drama, of which I am still an integral part. There, the format of education has been specially designed so as to create polished dramatists, specialised in their particular aspect of the stage. It's time we adopt such measures and understand that the right kind of education is necessary to save theatre from being extinct completely. We lack in a vision, I feel.
On visiting theatres in states like Punjab, Delhi, Calcutta and Andhra Pradesh, we find how intensely the play depicts a subject that is treated with a contemporary effect when performed on stage. But in many places, like Orissa, theatre is limited to individual identities. There are themes that have been left unexplored and not even touched while we are still busy with the age-old clichéd topics. The lack of humour in our gloomy plays could prove fatal for the drama fraternity if we do not create or find out playwrights who have creative courage in their heart. We desperately need visionaries who have guts to experiment. For this we need to read, see and analyse a lot. Be it the directorial facet or stage designing, we must overcome the routine style.
The naturalistic or realistic aspect is hardly visible in the plays performed in our auditoriums. It appears we have forgotten that we stage the drama for an audience. Our viewers are limited, but we need to prepare them for contemporary theatre. Without enough workshop orientation, self learning through books and observation of plays and performances outside the state by our playwrights and dramatists, this purpose cannot be achieved.
We cannot be just philosophers or just performers for our own sake. The viewers have to be kept in mind since theatre was always and will be always for the audience. I firmly believe that theatre-lovers, who are hurriedly crafting performances without finesse and are staging them as amateur theatre, are actually harming the professionalism of the art. They surely have a deep devotion for the art, but impactful theatre should look for trained people. Our productions should have or at least we could strive for three qualities - artistic excellence, aesthetic pleasure and professional values. We may have amateur productions, but the ethics of professional theatre must be employed.
Theatre is always regional due to its spoken word. But we must reach all corners of the state and not limit ourselves to festivals in the capital. Because, the enthusiasm often dies down once the few-day long festivals are over. There obviously should be more frequent stage plays. In fact, by this time, the state government should encourage theatre. I do not say help, but the government's encouragement and support is necessary. They must bring in corporates and public sector units to sponsor dramas since no form of art can survive without patronage. There should be a cultural policy in our state and theatre being the highest form of expression must definitely be a part of the policy.
Another fact to lament when it comes to the growth of theatre is the absence of enough translations and adaptations of plays from across the world. While plays from other states are hardly found translated in Oriya, one is shocked to discover that even Shakespeare's plays, that always find relevance in the contemporary scenario, are yet to be translated here.
To catch up after lagging behind so far, we need to pull in our youth as theatre viewers. For this, we would need to stage plays in colleges and engage them in activities relate to theatre production. And its not only urban youth that could help revive theatre. If the human emotions are same across all people, contemporary plays also suit people from all pockets of the state. Hence, we must come up with plays that touch the heart of viewers, be it staged for an urban or rural audience. Until our expressions during performances can leave the audience moved, it is quite unlikely that there will be a good turnout.
Sadly, the dramatic societies in colleges and universities of Orissa have also become quite limited to song-and-dance. Theatre is also a part of literature, be it English or Oriya and here, the role of the teachers is important who could try to motivate youngsters to perform plays, say twice or more every month. That would help create more playwrights who understand the present audience.
There is a lot to experiment and explore. But we must open our eyes to the world outside.
Designing the stage using a strong aesthetic sense and using technology in the sound and light effects still seems to be a long dream as does an innovative and interesting, captivating script. Among this network of issues, we can still hope to dream and work towards making things better for the stage.
(The author is a noted theatre personality)
