The renovated Minerva theatre which had been declared unfit for theatre by stage veterans; (below) Chapal Bhaduri in Ramanimohan. Telegraph pictures

The perfect theatre space may still elude Calcutta and the new ones may be replete with glitches galore, but the Indian Institute of Interior Design celebrated Interior’s Day with an interaction between architects and theatre veterans at Rotary Sadan on Thursday.

The topic was “time, space, identity: a focus on theatre-architecture”. However, the spotlight was trained on a team of stage actors, directors and technicians — Bibhas Chakraborty, Ashok Mukhopadhyay, Meghnad Bhattacharya, Dolly Basu, Goutam Haldar and Sudip Sanyal.

“Architecture is a multidisciplinary creative form, somewhat like theatre. But there are not enough interior designers in India. We also lack light designers and experts on acoustics. We had started the institute to raise public awareness and inspire upcoming practitioners,” said architect Dulal Mukherjee, co-founder of the Indian Institute of Interior Design regional centre. Last year, Mukherjee had steered the renovation of Minerva theatre which came under flak from several theatre veterans.

With a veiled reference to the faulty Minerva revamp, Bibhas Chakraborty said: “There is nothing as bad as the restoration of a past mistake. The authorities need to realise that it’s best to allow certain things to vanish with time.” The newlook Beadon Street stage address had been declared unfit for theatre by stage veterans, following which steps to rectify the mistakes were initiated by the government.

“Besides, theatre workers too have not utilised the existing facilities either, like the Circarena stage and the two movable discs and opera pit that are part of the Rabindra Sadan auditorium,” added Chakraborty.

Light designer Sudip Sanyal turned the spotlight on the way light could be used to demarcate or define space. “Lighting plays an equally important role in architecture by suggesting mood, defining shapes, creating illusions and adding that touch of drama,” said Sanyal.

Meghnad Bhattacharya urged architects to keep in mind the basic needs of theatre workers while building auditoriums. “The space on the either side of the stage and the position of greenrooms are some of these,” said Bhattacharya. But Dolly Basu warned that without dedicated acting even the best sets would seem useless.

The discussion was followed by the staging of excerpts from Chapal Bhaduri’s Ramanimohan and Purba Paschim’s Agnijal.