City theatre group goes through a rough patch

Aparna Banerji

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Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 28

Amid an onslaught of digital media, theatre, which saw a dramatic revival in the city, had a rough year due to a paucity of funds. A group, which has had several firsts to its credit, from being the first theatre group to organise paid shows of theatre to being among the few state groups to bag central funds, Yuvaa saw a challenging year this time. It has seen 30 to 40 of its actors leave theatre and taking to digital media.

Additionally, Yuvaa was not able to manage enough funds (centrally or locally) to invite national theatre groups for its Yuvaa Rang Utsav this year.

Notably, the single largest feat, which can be credited to Yuvaa, is managing to get the Jalandhar audience to pay for plays which ran to packed houses – in a city which previously struggled to garner audience for even free shows. The utsav, which began in 2014, has seen critically acclaimed actors and artistes performing in the city. Actors such as Harsh Chhaaya, Ashwath Bhatt among a host of other national theatre actors have performed during the utsav. At the state level, acclaimed playwrights Kewal Dhaliwal and Dr Atamjit among others have brought their productions to the utsav.

Yuvaa was not able to bag its central grant this year due to procedural changes at the central level. On the other hand, lack of sponsorship at the local level also caused the group to source plays from its own repertoire for the sixth edition of the Yuvaa Rang Utsav, in which six plays were staged. It concluded last month.

Dr. Ankur Sharma, founder and creative director, YUVAA, said: “The digital invasion is real. As many as 30 to 40 persons, working with us, left theatre for digital or video mediums in the past few years. We can’t pay them on par with other jobs they may get on the digital medium. Besides, many have also moved to Bombay or just switched to visual mediums. Though we do run a YouTube channel. We don’t post our plays on it. We want the audience to come to the auditorium and watch theatre there. It is a beautiful, sensory medium and posting plays online would mean trading a wholesome experience for something more cut off.”

Sharma said: “The Union Ministry of Culture through the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Delhi, provide us grants. However, due to some changes in the procedure, we could not get the grants. Hence, we could not call any artistes from outside. Grants could not be sourced locally either. Unlike in other states where many corporates have special social responsibility grants, theatre or culture is not a special consideration with the corporate sector. This is an issue across the state . We have aims to expand the rang utsav as a national festival, with theatre and symposiums and workshops. However, the paucity of funds is a real challenge. We are trying to do our bit to generate awareness.”

In the days when Yuvaa was set up, the audience was sparse, microphones horrid and audience sat through cold (in winters) and sweat (in summers) to enjoy theatre. The group first started the experiment of charging for plays during the 2015 Yuvaa Rang Utsav with donation passes of Rs 50. It grew to Rs 100 and theatre hall was air-conditioned – the practice which still continues. While Yuvaa started with the staging of ‘Hamlet’ in 2008, the group received critical acclaim with ‘Court Martial’. Gulzaar’s ‘Kharaashein’ put them on the national map. Their acclaimed feminist play ‘Muzeum’ has even been staged at the Yale Cabaret. The group has also performed plays at the Punjab Natshala and the National School of Drama.