Play'ing to a type

Maximum City has always been the place of maximum theatre. Thanks to its strong Gujarati and Marathi communities and traditions, there have always been as many plays in Bombay running simultaneously as all the other metros combined.

However, due to the homogenisation of languages, the last decade and a half have seen an incredible rise in the number of city productions in Hindi and English as well. About 20 years ago, theatre work was relatively simply divided into commercial or non-commercial. The former derived their inspiration from the audience, while the latter from artistic impulse. Commercial theatre ran for years in large prosceniums, while non-commercial plays would peak at a run of a dozen performances in the smaller venues like Chabbildas or Prithvi.

About 10 years ago, the success of productions like Class of ’84, Vagina Monologues, and Dance Like a Man, suddenly opened up another “genre” – Serious Successful. This was theatre that had staying power. The plays had a high volume of shows (and continue to), did very well in the smaller venues, and were also able to fill the larger auditoria as well. Best of all, these productions emerged out of ideas, rather ticking off audiences tastes. They introduced audiences to new ideas, themes and stagings. The work had serious artistic merit and relatively serious content, and in their own way pushed boundaries.

Similarly, another new category was formed, which could best be described as “non-formal” theatre. These were usually staged in smaller venues for as few as 30 people, and were most of the time non-ticketed presentations. Bars, coffee shops, drawing rooms all opened up to housing these performances. These were usually conceived by artists who just wanted to perform, rather than stay at home.

In the last few years, Bombay has seen another massive shift. Theatre work is getting even more diversified. Along with the existing four categories comes the genre of the “spectacle”. Live theatre that is on a scale hitherto unimagined. Beauty and the Beast, Mughal-e- Azam, Retelling of the Epic, are all massive pieces of work where audiences are willing to shell out almost West End ticket prices to see these showy productions.

This has also led to large scale international work touring, like Peter Brook’s Battlefield or Stomp. These productions sit in the largest city venues, and charge astronomical ticket rates. They are the best theatre reflection India’s economic boom. As was the case a decade ago, a push at one extreme leads to a counter pull at the other.

The birth of several tiny, fringe-like performance spaces has ensured that there is also more work happening on the much smaller scale. These are 30-80 seater rooms often don’t have very many facilities. The work created is often gritty, and intimate. In fact, Sunil Shanbag has created a new company, and a new performance space dedicated only to this kind of work. Thanks to online bookings, these are all ticketed performances, and can also be very experimental in nature.

The safety of these small havens, allows for greater experimentation, particularly in content, and I do believe, that in the years to come we will see some very interesting new plays being premiered. Maximum City is still far away from an economic eco system for theatre, whereby artists can survive by just working in the medium. But with newer avenues opening up, and new kinds of plays and experiences being generated, the creator is busier than ever and the audience member is almost spoilt for choice. It’s a great time to be a theatre lover in Bombay.

Quasar Thakore Padamsee is a Bombay based theatre-holic. He works primarily as a theatre-director for arts management company QTP, who also manage the youth theatre movement Thespo.