Daily Archives: September 23, 2014

My Hyderabad & me – Why classics are staged again and again

While there are a number of local playwrights and scripts, there are some plays that are staged quite often. Hyderabad Times finds out why.

The theatre scene in Hyderabad, no doubt, is burgeoning -right from English plays to regional ones, there seems to be no dearth of actors or directors in the city; in fact, new playwrights too are making a mark. But a casual glance at the plays being staged across the city will show that there are always a few that are staged quite often -like Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and The Chair; Anton Chekhov’s The Bear; or Vijay Tendulkar’s Marathi play adapted in Hindi, Hatt Teri Kismat. In fact, Dario Fo’s, The Open Couple staged by a Hyderabadi theatre group was even performed at a national theatre competition! But what is the main reason that so many theatre groups keep going back to classics again and again? “One main reason is that their works are very accessible. Plus, when they’re such established writers, you know that it’s good writing with a great storyline. And when the script is written well, 50% of the job for the director is done,” explains RK Shenoy from Dramanon.

Other theatre groups feel that staging plays of famous playwrights helps bring in the audience. “When we stage, say , a Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there are more number of people who come in to watch it as opposed to when we stage a totally new act,” feels Rammohan Holagundi of Nishumbita Theatre Group. And his belief was reinforced when they staged two Telugu plays on the same day. “One was Kukka, penned by Yendamuri Veerendranth, a famous novelist and the other was Khadga Shrusti, by Kandimalla Sambasivarao, a not-sowell-known author. For Kukka, the venue was packed. But since the audience didn’t know much about the second author, most of them left. That’s why we think it’s better if we stage plays of known, famous authors,” he says.

And of course, staging one play again and again also gives them the scope for developing and understanding the plays better. Says Saurabh Gharipurikar of Udaan Performing Arts, which stages Hindi adaptations of Marathi plays, “We usually choose to adapt Marathi plays because they have a strong social issues connect. We’ve staged Miya Biwi, the original play written by Yogesh Soman, about 28 times and Hatt Teri Kismat, a satire written by Vijay Tendulkar about 12 times. Since we’ve already performed quite a few times and are familiar with the lines and the story , it gives us more scope to explore the same and look at it from different angles. In short, we can develop the play better. And every time we stage a play , we get newer ideas.”

Thespian Shankar Melkote feels plays and adaptations too have changed with time. “Theatre isn’t a static form of art -it’s a rapid thing. So at one point, theatre of the absurd was popular genre of drama, not just in Hyderabad, but all over the world. And that was performed so many times by so many well-known groups. But later what became much popular was the comedy genre -from Noel Carl to Neil Simon. So I guess there’s no real reason a theatre group stages a certain famous play . When they decide to put up an act, they’re first looking at it from a resources point of view -how difficult it is, involving technicalities, sound, lighting, acting talent, will they be able to do justice etc. And only then do they take it forward. But usually , its comedy and farce that brings in the audience,” he says.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / by Apuurva Sridharan, TNN / September 23rd, 2014