How the pandemic taught theatre artistes to reinvent themselves to keep their craft alive

Mona

The theatre is a spiritual and social X-ray of its time.

— Stella Adler,

American actor and drama teacher

In the shadow of the pandemic, the theatre scene in Chandigarh suffered quite a setback. But December saw two theatre festivals. Impact Arts organised Shaguffe, a five-day National Theatre Festival in early December and five-day-long Gursharan Singh Naat Utsav recently. Another theatre festival by Parampara Arts is scheduled from December 26 at Tagore Theatre.

Rrising to the occasion

Everyone had to reinvent their creative spaces. We had a few shows of Black Box in February. Then, we filmed and screened it — Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry, Theatre Person

“After the corona kaal, audiences’ hunger for theatre was so huge that the auditorium went full for the plays despite the cold,” says Shabdeesh, one of the founder members of Suchetak Rangmanch, Mohali, which organised Gursharan Singh Naat Utsav. Sadly, as the world, gripped in pandemic, tried to make sense of its times, theatre like everything else went under the lockdown. However, human spirit cannot be chained. While the beginning of 2021saw select performances, post March almost everything went under the lockdown. Post August, as restrictions were lifted, art lovers headed towards theatres.

The group, Theatre For Theatre, usually has a busy calendar with as many as five festivals a year, but this year it organised only one given the situation. “Our Winter Theatre Festival only runs a month but given the conditions, we could only run it for a week in 2021,” says Sudesh Sharma, founder, Theatre For Theatre.

While they ensured their online presence, 2021 saw only one new production from the group - Shaheed Udham Singh Azaad. Written by Charan Singh Sindhra, it was directed by Sharma. “It’s only now that the theatre scene was getting vibrant, but then the fear of Omicron looms large,” adds Sharma.

Renowned theatre person Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry reckons 2021 to be a year of reinvention. “Everyone had to reinvent regarding their creative spaces. We had a few shows of Black Box in February. Then, we filmed and screened it. While theatre is about touch, smell, sweat, feeling the energy of the audience – the play was put together, and the tools of production were the same, digitised mediums became the means to take it to the audience,” says Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry.

Chakresh Kumar marks the year as different but special. “We started with workshops on acting, covering various aspects like design, diction and production,” says Kumar, director, Alankar Theatre. Their plays Azaadi and Bharat Durdasha were staged across the tricity.

A different stage was found at Kisan Morcha as artistes took to performing among the farmers. Sahib Singh calls it a learning experience. “I earned an experience that shall remain unparalleled. The true test of your craft is when you need to engage people who are not in an ideal state of mind to watch performances. Having left their homes, they were there for months; some sitting, others standing, consumed by their cause — to involve them in your act and keep your focus sharp was the litmus test.”

He’s had multiple shows of Samma Wali Dang and Rangkarmi Ka Bachcha. Suchetk Rangmanch also had multiple shows of Je Hun Vi Na Bole and Chipan to Pahlan on Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary at the protest sites.

Within the city, Tagore Theatre reclaimed some of its lost sheen with plays and musical shows. “It was only in August that the cultural scene started to warm up. However, only a couple of plays were staged at Tagore this year,” says Munish Sharma from Tagore Theatre.

If 2021 didn’t match up to number of plays, there were musical shows that kept the audience entertained. Going by the busy December calendar, it seems 2021 is all set for a rocking send off!