“Ilove sitting in the fourth row of the audience in Tata
theatre, I sitin the fifth row of the audience in Sophia, I sit in the J row
inAndrews, I know where I sit and the thing is I know where everybodyelse used
to sit as well, because whenever we’d meet on Sundays we werethe same people in
the hall sitting in the same seats we wereaccustomed to. That has changed a
lot,” says Divya Palat eminenttheatre personality who has plays such as ‘The
Graduate’ and ‘TheVerdict’ to her credit. “I love the fact that I can’t predict
who’ll bein my audience now.”
All
the world's a stage and all men and women merely players; yada yada
yada! Enough analogies already, let’s get down to business. Theatre is
an age old art form, which only seems to get bigger and better. The
Mumbai theatre scene dominated largely by Marathi and Gujarati theatre,
has witnessed the growth of Hindi and English theatre as well, in the
recent times. The rising interest in the craft as a hobby and finally a
wise professional choice is the current trend.
“Theatres like Prithvi encourage children to join summer workshops,” says Atul
Kumar
renowned actor and director with more than 20 years of stage
experience. Whether you are a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, an
adolescent or you have a toddler that has been part of a theatre
workshop you’d know that there is more to it than meets the eye. It is
about de-stressing and emancipation from your cerebral precincts. The
monetary change in the theatre scene may not be very visible but the
familiarity to theatre locations, theatre personalities and plays along
with the creation of more auditoriums is a step forward.
“Earlier
TV wasn’t a lucrative career option, look where it is today!” exclaims
Palat. It isn’t a covert truth that the majority never thought of
theatre as a vocation because it doesn’t bring in as much revenue as
other fields. We are all trying to fulfill our Bombay dream. What’s in
a name…especially when you have it? Shakespeare didn’t need to worry
about inflation, commerciality and…Bollywood! Yet there are those who
pursue the field solely for their passion, as Atul Kumar says, “Theatre
is not like Bollywood where you fight to become a ‘star,’ it’s just
about growing as an artist and experiencing fabulous things.”
Theatre
can become a profitable option with innovative ideas, it is important
to produce what people want and what they cannot get some place else,
it’s the only way to attract sponsors. “It takes time for the market to
believe in you. The generation is spoilt, they believe stardom comes
easy and instantly with a six figure salary. They need to understand
the effort that goes into it. You have to be ready to give it time and
after that, it’s a fabulous joy ride,” declares Palat. “Try out every
aspect of theatre production, once you find your passion the money will
come in, the contracts will come… few more years and theatre will
definitely be a lucrative career option.”
So if
you are looking at theatre as your line of work, then it would be
prudent to join a theatre group, watch a lot of plays and if theatre
really is your forte then The National School of Drama could be your
next stop.
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