Various new elements form part of the stage designs nowadays. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 13: Drama stages in the city are set to transform into a realm of abstract thoughts and imagery. From a maze of ropes and bamboo, grid of colourful drapes to a live hut with all its clutter where people reside, the stages in the city are going for a makeover.

Young hands in the field of art direction for theatre are experimenting in more ways than one to captivate the viewers’ attention.

The situation of theatre in Orissa may be far away from flourishing, but with a few directors producing experimental plots, the new generation of stage designers are finding opportunities to try out new elements on the stage.

Although the conventional styles such as setting up a simple room where the entire story takes place or hanging scenery in the background to illustrate the location of a scene still exists, a number of changes in the usage of props can be found in theatre today.

“Stagecraft is an integral part of the production, and for me each scene is like a painting, wherein the characters move. Accordingly, I try to use objects that build a synchronisation in between the actor’s movement and the scene in progress,” says artist Vijayant Dash who had created an innovative set with ladders, ropes and bamboo poles during director Surya Mohanty’s Katha Manchana drama festival.

“I try to be very abstract and use colours in the backdrop that go with the mood of the scene. This surely has an impact on the viewers who try to find a link between the craft and the play that further leads to their involvement in the drama,” he adds.

Set-designer Ganesh, who has been working for television and even film sets since many years, says it is the time for creativity to rule.

“A set for a stage, just like for television or cinema, depends completely on the plot. A couple of years ago, mostly regular social plots were staged all the time. They are still there but some innovative productions have come to the rescue of creativity,” he says. “In fact, the current period is most opportune for experimentation,” adds Ganesh.

Similarly, young drama director Subhranshu Parida, who also works on stagecraft, feels that realistic dramas allow more room for trying out novel elements on the stage.

“In a recent production, I had arranged a pile of woods as the cremation bed for a dead body, as the scene demanded. But in another drama, I left the stage blank and only used spotlights on the characters who were supposed to reflect on the past,” said Parida. “It depends if the plot is realistic or conventional,” he added.

However, there are a number of limitations in the existing auditoriums that deters the designers from creating better stages.

“The sound and light facilities are outdated. So we cannot add surprise elements that would thrill the audience as they do in national theatres or international Broadway productions,” says Vijayant. “If one wishes to create an effect through shadows of the characters, it has to be done manually at our auditoriums,” he says.

Budget constraints as well as limited realistic and experimental plots are still an issue to a great extent believe these stagecraft artistes.

According to veteran theatre personality Surya Mohanty, there is still a lot of experimentation to be done in drama productions of the city.

“Most of the sets are still amateurish since there is no proper training on stagecraft available here. Only rarely we come across innovative sets since we still lack interesting plots. To enhance the stage design to the professional level, we must observe the national scenario of theatre,” he says.