World Theatre Day - Theatre is a Living Art.

 

Theatre is a source of entertainment and inspiration and has the ability to unify the many diverse cultures and peoples that exist throughout the world.(Dame Judi Dench)

March 27th is the World Theatre Day. It was created in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute, and is celebrated annually by ITI Centers and the international theatre community.

Today there are very few avid theatre lovers in India. Many auditoriums are being closed or converted into shopping malls. Once the regular dramas/plays are now gradually shifting to seasonal shows. Theatre art is slowly dying. Moreover the younger generation prefers movies than watching theatre.

In Bangalore city there are few theatres like Ranga Shankara are surviving because of the sacrifices of great theatre artists like Grish Karnad, Arundhati Nag etc. In spite of huge financial loses these artists are struggling to convey the message that theatre is a part of every society. Theater is a living art & there is no substitute for experiencing a live performance.

Theater is not just a service industry, it is also a business. Many theatre artists are paid very less & sometimes work for nothing. This is one of the prime reasons that many renowned theatre artistes quit theatre & prefer to act in television serials & movies.

Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa has said in Bengali, ‘Natok e lok sikha hoy’ which implies that one can educate all the people in every stage whether the person is learned or not, everybody gets a message through theatre because theatre is a media where people look at the life as they are, it is like a mirror for the society.

Sir Berles Betts a famous German playwright used to do theatre as a social objective. In German he used to say ‘ver chom cho’ means viewing from a distance. It has a social purpose. Now in a theatre the audience is carried away by the emotions. The object is very important. Yes it’s true, through theatre lok sikha hoy. People can be educated.

Agreed today’s movies are full of entertainment, but lack in values. People should start going to theatres & watch meaningful & educative plays based on social, literature & related useful search in life values.

Theatre is not about theories, in all ages theatre has helped to discover and understand ourselves and our relationship with our surrounding environment. The younger generation should start realizing that theatre can be educative, fun & also entertaining. At least on weekends they should see the popular plays & encourage theatre works.

The government should promote plays that educate people & theatre in education by holding workshops in schools and colleges and staging performances in educational institutions.

Because the experience is real and vital, the theatre literally creates the world in which we live, at least during the actual experience. Theatre, then, has the potential to significantly change lives, and help create the world outside the theatre.(Debra Bruch)

The last time, around two years back, I went to theatre to watch renowned dramatist Grish Kranad’s masterpiece Kannada play Nagamandala. ( English title “Play with a Cobra” ) This play is about the split personality, a young girl Rani, her husband Appanna & the snake.

Dear friends do you remember when was the last time you saw a live theatre production, and what was it? Did you like it?

Please share suitable suggestions to save theatre today.

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