Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 26 : Since the days of Greek theatres to the present ones, this tradition of story-telling has come a long way as one of the most popular performing arts. With the onset of satellite television, a section of people thought it would pose a threat to the tradition of theatre.
But people, across the globe, have kept the theatre alive as they constantly engage themselves in the advancement of this old form of art. Theatre demands passion, perseverance as well as time from the performers as well as the viewers. It's a one-take performance, there's no retake! And here lies the beauty of it... this live performance before the audience excites the practitioners of this art.
World Theatre Day is generally celebrated on March 27 to make people aware of this art, to spread the word about this art, and to encourage common people to engage in this pursuit of art. As a profession, doing theatre is not a lucrative one. But it's treated as a school of learning. Hence, even after gaining name and fame, many actors in the Hindi industry perform on the stage parallelly with their run on the silver screen. Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Vinay Pathak, Jim Sarbh, Ranvir Shorey, Rasika Dugal, Neena Gupta, Divya Dutta, and many more still practice this art with equal zeal and passion.
History
The day has been celebrated since 1962 at the International Theatre Institute (ITI). The first ITI conference took place in Finland, Helsinki, and the next session was held in Vienna. The first message was delivered by French playwright Jean Cocteau on World Theatre Day.
Performances
Not only actors from the Hindi industry, but actors from each regional language also try to keep the tradition of theatres alive amid many hindrances. Apart from monetary and infrastructural assistance, theatre needs support from common people who will invest money to watch performances as they do for movies.
Here's looking at some of the memorable performances on stage...
Einstein
Written by Gabriel Emmanuel and performed by Naseeruddin Shah himself, the show presents Einstein in a more realistic light as a man who is tormented by guilt and disappointment for inadvertently creating a bomb that caused devastation in Second World War. It's a one-man show. Shah has infused his nuances to make the character appealing to the modern audience.
What's Done is Done
Directed by Rajat Kapoor, this play is a modern take on Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'. Vinay Pathak, Jim Sarbh, Tilottoma Shome, and Ranvir Shorey played pivotal characters in the play. Apart from many modern renditions, this play draws a parallel between the three witches and Lady Macbeth.
Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai
Ahead of 'World Theatre Day', Anupam Kher stormed the stage one more time with his autobiographical play 'Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai." Anupam wrote in his Instagram, "this play deals with my failures, disasters, setbacks and my ups and downs with humour has the most positive impact on my life..."
Teri Amrita
'Teri Amrita' is a Punjabi play (translated by Amrik Gill and directed by veteran actor and thespian Om Puri). Originally written by Javed Siddiqui titled 'Tumhari Amrita', the play is an adaptation of American playwright A R Gurney's 'Love Letters' (1988).'Tumhari Amrita', directed by Feroz Abbas Khan originally featured veteran stars Shabana Azmi and Farooq Shaikh. It has been staged at various venues across India, Europe, the Middle East, US and Pakistan. 'Teri Amrita' was also performed at the Alhamra Art Centre, Lahore by Om Puri and Divya Dutta in 2014.
Spread love, warmth and the message of renewal through this powerful medium of art, Theatre!
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