Features

Thespo 16: Plug Into the Tamasha
15th to 21st December 2014




Shonita Joshi


In the cosiness of their college campus sat a bunch of students watching the play SAADIA, at the annual college-fest Malhar. It was the year 1999. Mesmerized by the professional level of the performance, they wondered why they were joined by only 20 other students to witness this magic. The dichotomy of the situation, where high quality entertainment was being provided only to a few, germinated a thought. Theatre was dying and it needed to be saved, by the youth and for the youth.

THESPO 16
THESPO 16

Named after a Greek poet 'Thespis', a revolutionary who introduced the first documented form of dialogue in theatre, 'Thespo' seemed like a name that suited the revolutionary idea. "Veterans, or in short 'the oldies' are termed Thespians. So we decided that the younger ones could be called Thespos. It seemed nice then," smiled Quasar Thakore Padamsee, the primary founder of Thespo.

From its humble beginnings in Mumbai's St. Xavier's College, the Thespo festival today is 15 years old. What sets Thespo apart is that it continues to prime itself on the two main criteria it was founded on - the first that it's the one of the largest platforms for the youth to showcase their talent in theatre. All performances and events are carried out by young theatre enthusiasts who are 25 years of age and below. And the second is that the prime focus of this festival is to showcase high-quality work.

"It's important to know what the youth needs, to feel their pulse; who better to do it than they themselves? That's why even the volunteers are all young. Thespo 16 has entered its fourth generation - organised, put together and curated by our young team. I feel proud to have passed on the torch," quips in Padamsee. This week long festival has now grown to cover 27 cities across India and for the first time has entered the international arena, with plays being sent from Sri Lanka.

True to their goal of maintaining high quality work and to ensure that there are no lapses in doing so, the festival directors watch every play that is sent in, in their respective cities, and pick the best ones to bring to Mumbai. Of the 183 plays this year, five have made it to the finals held in Mumbai. Irrespective of the selection, each play gets a personal feedback.

Manan Mehta, one of the three festival directors this year, spent a good part of a month touring the country to curate the plays. "It's not easy to get into Thespo. This is really professional. And you won't believe the kind of work that's going on in the country, even from towns unheard of. You'd be amazed at the scripts and direction that youngsters have come up with. And we encourage full length plays. We want theatre to grow."

And to put this all together, the efforts start 10 months prior, in March. It begins with brain-storming on what the goal for the year should be. The idea of having a key-term to define their purpose started with Thespo 14 - and in that year the term commonly agreed on was 'Outreach'; to spread the festival beyond the metropolises. It took another two months of cold calling to build connections and spread Thespo far and wide. Thespo 15 was the year to be engaging and enriching, to enhance the connections made thus far so as to collaborate further and enable cross-cultural learning along with hosting of performances.

This year, the festival's goal is to 'Connect' - to connect to and understand what's happening at the international front, to stay abreast with developments in theatre globally and to bring that knowledge to Mumbai; and above all, to connect the practitioners of theatre so that they can build a network of viable associations and possibly make it a profitable profession - the ultimate theatre dream.

With this in mind, in Thespo 16 are born two ambitious projects where international groups have collaborated with their Indian counterparts to showcase some thought-provoking work. The first is a short 40 minute piece on violence against women, born out of a cross-cultural discussion with a Canadian theatre group on what violence means for women in Canada and India. It's a comparison ranging from cyber-bullying to actual physical violence. Another special this year is the screening of reputed theatre director Ariane Mnouchknine's work in the film called L' Aventure du Theatre du Soleil. And the second, which will also serve as the 'closing ceremony' of the festival is a production called 'Fall 2-11', again a collaborative full-length play on what it means to 'fall'.

When the theme is set and the work is in full-swing, the focus is on organising several orientation workshops across different cities. Held in college campuses, clubs and even on the side of the road, the goal in these workshops is to raise awareness about the Thespo festival and how people can take part in it. It was at one such orientation five years ago, that Manan began his journey with Thespo and essentially with theatre. "I would see these posters put up at our soft-boards but I didn't think I had the time or the inclination to do anything with theatre. It took me two years before I went in for the orientation program and I've been associated with it since.I never thought I'd be working in theatre and I don't know what's next but Thespo has allowed me to meet so many people and to actually run a festival at a national level. I'll owe much of my learning to it."

TAMBOLA
TAMBOLA

An eclectic mix of renowned theatre personalities critique the performances to narrow down winners in eight categories - outstanding play, director, production-design, new-writing, actor and supporting actor (male and female). "You see, the emphasis is on outstanding. We don't have a specific number of plays. If there are just two good plays, then we'll do just those two. And the winners are not just the best in the five plays performed but are genuinely some of the most outstanding of all performances we've seen. This year we have Kumud Mishra, Joy Sengupta, Saumya Ancheri and Sandesh Kulkarni on the panel. And mind you, the judges have the right to withhold the award," states Padamsee.

But what's next for the participants post the connections and the awards night? Says Sayalee Phatak, an actor from GELI EKVEES VARSHA, the winning performance at Thespo 11: 'As young actors from Pune, we were always working under seniors, getting small roles in their plays and being part of their scripts. Thespo allowed us to run a production, to write our play and direct it and then have audiences see it. And there's no barrier - language, genre or even on using swear words. GELI EKVEES VARSHA was such a big hit then; we had several performances and were even invited to Italy for a festival where we won again. It's an actor's dream to be in Mumbai, and here we get to perform at Prithvi along with finding out what's happening across the country. It's a big platform and I can quite confidently say that it was a launching pad for most of the cast members and for our production group. Today we are over 25 but we're still known for what we did back then and have got work on the basis of it.'

To lend its participants a year-long support, Thespo has joined hands with Prithvi to have two nights each month. At Thespo @ Prithvi, the plays can continue to showcase their act, build an audience and get additional feedback.

So what if you're over 25 years? Well Thespo 16 has 15 workshops lined up this year ranging from learning set-designing to comic-timing, conducted by veterans ranging from Alyque Padamsee and Mahesh Dattani to Shernaz Patel and Jeffery Goldberg. And if that's not enough, there are four live musical acts that you can tune in to see.

It's clear that the energy at Thespo is 'electrifying' and the December air is abuzz with the activities lined up. So check out the schedule and make sure you've 'plugged-in to the Tamasha'.

Click here to find out more about Thespo 16

*Shonita Joshi is a freelance journalist with a wide array of interests. She has a major in Economics and Banking and has done her post-graduation in Journalism.


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