Is drama left out of the celebration?
THE CITY'S artscape changes when winter comes. The feeling of well being created by the nip in the air is bolstered by the strains of music and the rhythmic sound of dance. But like a poor relation who can only watch the festivities from the wings is the theatre person. He/she may occasionally be called in to take a few turns on the stage where all eyes are focussed but that is about all.
Why is it that one of the three performing arts is given such churlish treatment when the entire world it seems is celebrating the arts? Is it not surprising that such a situation persists when Iyal Isai Natakam is a cohesive whole? What are the factors that have resulted in such a situation and how can it be changed? Can it be changed at all?
KAUSALYA SANTHANAM talks to a few leading names in Tamil theatre and records their views not only on the status of Tamil theatre during the festival but also its position overall in the perception of the people, the sabha organisers and State authorities:
R. S. Manohar: I just can't understand why drama does not form part of the festival in a substantial measure. Every year the Tamil Isai Sangam gives me an opportunity to stage a play during the festival but this year it has been called off because of a problem with dates. It is puzzling why even award winning plays of various drama festivals are not given a slot.
The sabhas give meagre amounts as payment and this is not sufficient for one to put up good sets. So the same sets are repeatedly used to provide plays on similar themes.
Another question that needs to be answered is `Has the standard of plays come down?' For a play to appeal to the audience, the story should be good. Even some of my plays or Sivaji Ganesan's plays have flopped because the story line was not strong.
Too much vulgarity is being projected today and that is unacceptable. In the past, drama adhered to a certain grammar — it contained all the nine rasas. When you return home after viewing a play, some scenes should be etched in your mind and it should generate discussion and appreciation. That seldom happens now. Exhibitions were also organised previously by the government in various places in the State and five to six plays at least were staged as part of these to entertain the public. Now only family themes are offered and these don't attract repeat audiences. Puranas still go down well with the viewers.
Both sabhas and performers have to be blamed for the present state of drama.
Devotion to the art and the level of dedication have come down. Star value alone is not enough to make a play a success. Do dance and music concerts always draw a substantial audience?
`Cho' Ramaswamy: The audiences for the theatre have come down. Earlier we used to have plays running to full houses. There were a dozen troupes in the city each with a character and personality of its own. If Balachander's Ragini Recreations had very good stagecraft and presented westernised plays with indigenous themes, Manohar's `National Theatres' had grand sets and epic themes. Major Sunderrajan, V. S. Raghavan, Komal Swaminathan — each of which offered fare that was unique and distinct and made for vibrancy. It is not possible to have variety of that sort in cinema. Every day there were ten different plays being staged in the city. I remember how our troupe Viveka Fine Arts put up 32 performances in the month of February one year and they were all houseful shows. We even had four shows in one day. Each production of our troupe crossed 100 performances and Muhammad Bin Tughlaq crossed 400.
TV has eroded the response to the theatre. The same fare is offered and costs much less. Who will brave the traffic and spend Rs. 50 per person (for a family, the outing can cost as much as Rs. 500) when you can watch plays or serials at home in comfort? We now perform once a month but there are constraints. The baby of the team is 58! To your question why others don't others follow in our footsteps, nobody is that irresponsible (laughs). As for the revival of drama, some sabhas hold festivals but I don't know how good the response is. Any way, I don't foresee a grand revival of the theatre.
``Crazy" Mohan: Music concerts are held only during the December season while drama is staged throughout the year. Even during the season, quite a few sabhas host plays. Just as Sudha Raghunathan or Nithyasree are stars who attract crowds so too in the field of theatre — some artistes manage to attract audiences and some don't. Serious theatre and the classics may not appeal to everyone today in Tamil Nadu. But during the course of evolution, this may change. Our country's advantage and disadvantage is that there are varied tastes in food and attire and so too in theatre. What may appeal to playgoers in Bengal or Maharashtra may not appeal to those in Chennai. Vague comments are made from time to time that there is a decline of drama in Chennai. But the wheel moves.
Do we have serious films like ``Pasa Malar" today? I feel it is in good taste to like humorous plays, it is a healthy trend. TV serials are very serious and deal with every kind of tragedy and conflict within a family. So viewers come to the theatre to see something different and novel like ``Jurassic Baby" or ``Crazy Ghosts."
I have been writing plays since 1976. The dialogue is all-important here for you can't rely on close ups of beautiful stars for appeal. I learnt my craft only by writing for plays. There is no progress or decline in the field of drama — only nostalgia makes it seem so.
When Nagesh arrived on the scene, people were nostalgic for N. S. Krishnan and when the new crop of comedians came, they were nostalgic for Nagesh... The golden era is always 50 years in the past.
Na. Muthuswamy: If we think of drama as mere entertainment then people prefer what they feel offers them better entertainment and that is television. If sabha plays tell stories, then television serials do that as well. So why would viewers want to take the trouble to travel all the way to various venues to see plays? The erosion of the viewership for the theatre with the advent of television is in the natural order of things. When Sankaradas Swamigal offered fresh themes on stage, the audience for traditional Theru-k-koothu came down. They later turned to the novelty of silent films and then to the talkies. Music too does not draw large audiences during the season. The listeners feel that much of it is repetitive.
In the past, music formed a part of life. Everyone was acquainted with it and women in the family participated in the songs during weddings (nalangu and oonjal). Nadaswara vidwans would strive to keep pace with the songs the women knew. Today that participatory element is gone and everyone is a mere spectator. Steps should be taken to bring about appreciation for music and the theatre. When I was a boy, every elementary school had a music teacher. Now there are hardly any. We have a situation where one is only a listener. Quite a large percentage do not know the finer nuances of music, they see it only as entertainment. I feel in the future new needs will bring about more roles for theatre — in education, in the corporate sector to develop role play, in social interaction and so on.
S. V. Shekher: Even when I first began staging plays in 1974, new plays were inaugurated only in January and never in November. But I put up a festival of plays during the December festival. I held the second festival in the Kalaivanar Arangam in 2001. I continued this practice for ten years. Some sabhas honour drama artistes regularly during the festival. In Chennai, the regular sabha is in fact only oriented to the music festival. Technology-wise drama has not grown here. The same microphone that is used for concerts is used for plays as well even though actors have to move around the stage. I got two microphones from the U.S. and gave them to the Narada Gana Sabha but you should know how to use them for they are very sensitive. The Kalaivanar Arangam has only recently obtained an amplifier system. Many auditoriums also switch off the air conditioning during a drama performance making it difficult for the actors as well as the audience. To transport huge sets by bullock cart is no longer practical or financially feasible. So I don't give importance to the sets in my plays. My plays are dialogue oriented and all that I need are a few curtains. Bengali or Marathi cinema is not so popular which perhaps explains why these States have such a vibrant theatre. In Tamil Nadu, theatre is considered a gateway to cinema and lures some good artistes away. I have been lucky to be successful — there are more talented theatre artistes here.
Prasanna Ramaswamy: Alternative theatre does not find a place in the sabha fare. In the past 25 years that I have been attending the winter festival, drama per se has not figured much during the season. The divide between serious theatre and popular theatre is very clear. The aesthetics, politics and the philosophy are completely different and the festival's organising profile does not include the former. It depends on the kind of literature they read. They do not want anything political or anti-establishment. True art, however, cannot afford to be apolitical. The organisers and the audience are comfortable if it does not connect with or criticise the life we lead. But the question is whether the organisers want theatre to be included in the festival. Audiences are also happy if the tone and tenor of any popular play though political excludes them from the critiquing. But I see a flash of inclusivity in S.Ve Shekher's plays.
As for State encouragement for theatre, the Sangeet Natak Academy was created to support folk performing art forms. Its 50th anniversary is being celebrated in all the metros. But no city has rehearsal space as yet, the struggle starts from there. Bhopal may be an exception.
Gnanam Balasubramaniam (Bombay Gnanam): Sabhas should encourage theatre performances during the festival season. But then drama is staged throughout the year and they may feel this is the time that not only senior musicians but also junior and up and coming ones can showcase their talent. Sabhas may also feel it is more profitable to organise cutcheris. Three cutcheris can be held in three to four hours whereas, from putting up the sets to completing the performance, we occupy the stage at least for six to seven hours. It is really very difficult to stage all-women plays as housewives have so many demands on their time and to get them together for rehearsals is quite a feat. But I persevere.
Koothapiran: The Kartik Fine Arts holds monthly performances of plays and a drama festival in summer. They also give away awards and honour the artistes.
The Mylapore Fine Arts Club, the Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Bharat Kalachar and Brahma Gana Sabha too hold festivals and acknowledge the contribution of performers and other theatre personalities. The Krishna Gana Sabha conducts the Chitirai Vizha and the Nungambakkam Cultural Academy, during the music festival, hosts plays and felicitates artistes. Apart from these, some sabhas such as the R. R. Sabha, the Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha and the Mylapore Arts Academy regularly host plays. Special mention must be made of the Kartik Fine Arts Club for inaugurating new productions. The routine excuse given by sabhas for not holding plays during the festival is ``they do not draw crowds." But now audiences have started returning to the theatre.
The quality may differ. But the very fact that plays continue to be staged and that troupes are striving to produce them is appreciable. Family themes are popular because audiences want to see themselves and their lives reflected in the plays. But even in this viewers seek a novel approach.
Kathadi Ramamurthy: Raadhu of Nataka Academy has been organising a theatre festival during the music season for the past few years. Last year the festival was held at the P. S. Senior Secondary High School. But there are financial constraints in conducting an event of this type. The audience appears to prefer music at this time of the year and it is difficult to change well-entrenched customs. Sabhas which hold drama festivals at other times are reluctant to do so in winter as well. Steps should be taken to attract youngsters to drama. I helped direct a 25-minute play ``Thuppariyum Sambu" for the P.S. Senior Secondary School recently and another for the Nandalala Siruvar Sangam. The children acted very well. I'm wondering whether to do more in this direction for it is rewarding.
Augusto: During the festival season, sabhas mushroom just as shops spring up everywhere during a Thiruvizha and then disappear.
The sabhas tie up with sponsors and wherever there is space for the parking of cars, concerts are held. You need more space to put up a stage. The response to plays has improved of late. Mega serials are so predictable that it is possible to pick up the thread later. So people do not mind skipping an episode to watch a play. Marquee value however dictates the success of plays. Only some artistes are sure draws in comedy. Sponsors are hard to come by unless a TV or film star is part of the cast. Sets are expensive to put up. But many of us persist because theatre is a passion and we also learn so much from producing or participating in it.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Music & Dance
