India Theatre Forum announces SMART- Strategic Management in the Art of Theatre. The programme has been designed to help theatre makers create a practical roadmap that will help optimise strengths and overcome constraints. That roadmap is called a Strategic Plan. It can help make the theatre group or organisation more sustainable, effective, financially viable and capable of giving shape to big creative dreams. SMART will equip theatre makers to build their own roadmap - a practical, achievable plan that is connected to reality, but not constrained by it.

This programme builds on the experience and knowledge within the theatre community, while also drawing upon knowledge from outside to add strength and value to theatre-making work in the Indian context.



The SMART team is made up of some of the important theatre people working in the country today. This group saw the necessity of a strategic management programme specifically tailored to serve theatre in India, and put their efforts to conceiving and designing the programme and training themselves to run it. The programme in totality will be managed by India Theatre Forum (ITF) in collaboration with the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA).

Sanjna Kapoor who is one of the facilitators says, "I believe urban theatre today has nurtured a younger generation who look towards a life in theatre. Given half a chance they would do nothing else. But does the ecosystem permit this? There are many lacunas in our theatre world that prevent the possibility of taking theatre up as a profession... SMART is a small, but necessary and timely step in filling this lacuna."

Sudhanva Deshpande of Jana Natya Manch who will also be facilitating this programme says: "It is a truism that the world has changed unimaginably in the last couple of decades or so. While there are new challenges for our theatre practice, there are also new opportunities. How are we to confront the challenges, and take advantage of opportunities? SMART is about saying, no, it's not good enough to simply survive; we must thrive.

The SMART team:

Course Consultant
Prof. Milena Dragicevic Sesic, UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Management & Professor of Cultural Policy,Cultural Management, Cultural and Media Studies at the University of the Arts, Belgrade, Serbia

Course Director
Sameera Iyengar, Co-Founder, Junoon, Mumbai

Facilitators
Arundhati Ghosh, Executive Director, India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore
Sameera Iyengar, Co-Founder& Director, Junoon, Mumbai
Sanjna Kapoor, Co-Founder& Director, Junoon, Mumbai
Sudhanva Deshpande, Jana Natya Manch and Studio Safdar, New Delhi
Sunil Shanbag, Theatre Director, Arpana, Mumbai
Swati Apte, Director, Junoon, Mumbai

Course Evaluator
Ashoke Chatterjee, former Executive Director, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

Project Development Team
Arundhati Ghosh, Sameera Iyengar, Sanjna Kapoor, Sudhanva Deshpande, Swati Apte

Project Coordinator
Ashish Mehta
Project Team
Darshana Dave, Menaka Rodriguez, TC Jnanashekhar, C Suresh Kumar from IFA
Ayaz Ansari, Dinesh Roundhal, Jayesh Mody, Shruthi Vishwanath from Junoon

ITF Support Team
Akshara KV, Choiti Ghosh, Joyoti Roy, Moloyashree Hashmi, Pralayan, Pravin KP, Sharvari Sastry, Vikram Iyengar
There are three phases to the programme:

Phase 1:

A 10-day residential workshop in January 2015. During this workshop, the participants will be guided through the various steps involved in the creation of a Strategic Plan for their theatre group/organisation.

Phase 2:

6 months of working with your own organisation/group in your own location. With the skills and ideas you acquire in the workshop during Phase 1, you will return to your own organisation to evolve and implement your Strategic Plan with your colleagues. During this period, you will work with a guide who will act as sounding board, supporter and mentor.

Phase 3:

A 2-day residential workshop in August 2015. You will present your Strategic Plan to other participants and facilitators of SMART. At the end of this final phase, participants will receive course-completion certificates.

The entire course covers a 6.5 month period, with two intensive residential periods at the beginning and end.

Who can apply to SMART?

Theatre groups and organisations. Each organisation is expected to send 2 members who are decision-makers in their organisations. Unlike many arts management programmes which are aimed at training arts managers and giving them career opportunities, SMART is unique in that it aims to enrich the field of theatre and make it more self-sustaining. SMART is for those already working in the field who have the power to make a difference within their organisations. It is critical that each organisation sends two senior members, because each will learn - and contribute - more, and the organisation as a whole will benefit the most.

Can individuals apply to SMART?

Yes, they can - because we know that some theatre groups are basically only one person, who gathers together people on a need-to basis. They can apply, but it would be brilliant if they are able to bring one more person they've worked with in the past, or plan to work with in the future.

Application process:

Step 1:

Applicants will have to fill up an online application form. Available at www.theatreforum.in

Application deadline: 30 September 2014

Step 2:

Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed on skype or phone in October 2014.

Step 3:

Selected applicants will register by paying the course fee.
Last date for fees and registration: 15 November 2014

Critical Information:
Dates of 10-day residential workshop: 17-26 January 2015
Where: Fireflies, Bangalore

Dates of 2-day residential workshop: August 2015; exact dates to be fixed

Course Fees:

Rs 15,000 per group of two participants; Rs 10,000 for individuals. This includes boarding, lodging and food for both the residential workshops. Does not include cost of travel to and from venue, nor does it include local conveyance.

Note: This is a highly subsidised programme, and participants are paying only about a tenth of the costs incurred. However, for some groups, even this is a bit high. 50% fees reduction in special cases can be offered.

To avail of the fees reduction, write to indiatheatreforum@gmail.com, stating:
- Name of the individuals applying
- Name and vision of group (max. 500 words)
- Why fees reduction is required - why is it difficult for you to raise the money from among the group's admirers and friends (max. 500 words)