Interview
 
Sanjoy Roy Interview
The Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) has completed 10 years. The awards have become a household name in theatre in India. There are different sentiments about these popular awards but they have their heart in the right place. META's popularity also stems from the fact that there are no parallel awards like this on a national scale and that it has encouraged all kinds of groups and all kinds of plays to participate. We take this celebratory opportunity to speak to Sanjoy Roy whose company Teamwork has been involved with the awards and the ensuing festival since its inception. META 2015 will take place in Delhi from 21st-26th March. Click here to find out more about the festival.


 By Deepa Punjani

Deepa Punjani (DP): 10 years of META. How do you feel?

Sanjoy Roy (SR): It's amazing how time flies! When you are involved in a project it's always challenging to see into the distant future ...the nagging questions remain....will it work ... will a basic instinct play itself out ... does the process hold the test of time???, etc etc ... 10 years later...much of this has come to pass .... The most exhilarating part has been to see the incredible upsurge of talent - CS Deepan's SPINAL CHORD, Manav Kaul's slew of productions, Atul and Rajat's HAMLET, PIYA BEHRUPIYA, Amaal's NATI BINODINI, Sandeep's production on transgenders - SANTAAP, and the many plays from across the country ... educating, entertaining and enthralling us with their breadth, scope and sheer energy!

DP: How did your company come to be associated with the festival?

SR: Ravi (Dubey) approached us straight off, post his conversation with the Mahindra Group to set down the process and create the secretariat to run the awards. We have all been involved in theatre for many years and it's been a rewarding partnership. We shared a relationship with the Mahindra group and met with Jay Shah who had been entrusted the support of the arts as part of his portfolio of responsibilities.

DP: I recall Ravi Dubey mentioning that when META started, it was a small, in-house kind of an affair. Obviously the festival has come a long way since. You have been receiving entries close to 300 from around the country, and sometimes more. How has the festival developed over the years?

SR: Word of mouth and awareness generated through the press has been one of the many vehicles. The fairly transparent process and the fact that everyone knows that the awards are decided without any external influences, pressures, political reasons, has allowed it to attain a stature way beyond our shores. Most importantly it's the only theatre award of its kind .... It's done with a great deal of respect for the artists, performers and production companies.

DP: A Selection Committee of five people sifts through all the entries over five days on video and shortlists 10 plays, and two standby plays. The Selection Committee also categorises the awards. Then the shortlisted plays are staged and the jury takes the final decision of awarding the plays. Is this not an extremely challenging prospect? How do you handle the criticism?

SR: The process has been created by us with great thought. We based it on other award processes that we run and have always found that while it may not be perfect, it is practical. For theatre, the biggest issue is capturing the energy and essence of a live production on camera. There are also instances that occasionally a production may look stunning on TV but does not translate on stage or a production that is powerful and outstanding gets omitted as the recording isn't great and does not capture the essence of the play. Over the years we have added a number of categories as suggestions have flowed in from the jury and selection committees. From 8 awards we increased it to 13 including the Life Time Achievement award. The upshot is that across the country, groups have always accepted the decision of the jury and have accepted it as being a fair and credible process.

DP: META has become synonymous with "Excellence in Theatre". If META has another decade, how do you think that will work out? Do you have plans to do things differently?

SR: Theatre is an evolving art form. There will be new content...new writing and evolving technologies. We must look at innovation and reward new thoughts. Productions with social messages are increasingly powerful and an award to reflect this may be included. A greater focus on a digital presence ... publishing the best scripts online as well as in print ... bringing in international festival directors and venue programmers to engage with Indian theatre, creating an academy of theatre professionals who meet during the festival to discuss, debate, network and share experiences (and may be vote for the awards) ..... The ideas are many but the resources are always a deciding factor of what's possible.

DP: There's a coffee table book that has been published about META's 10 years. The book release was at the Jaipur Literature Festival this year, presided by Shabana Azmi and Girish Karnad. Whose idea was the book?

SR: Jay, Ravi and I had spoken about the book 5 years ago. We did begin work on it but it needed the impetus of our 10th anniversary celebrations to actually realise it. The secretariat drew up a list of possible contributors, we put down a focus theme for each and the Verve magazine team did a great job of coordinating, collating and designing the book which indeed is a reflection of a decade of theatre. Sudhir Horo has done a fabulous cover design.

DP: Over the years, META has built a solid collection of plays. It would be nice to see the collection preserved and archived. Any plans for this?

SR: We have preserved and catalogued all the productions. One thought was to have excerpts available of all productions, listed by the name of play, genre and theatre company online and make this a gateway for Indian theatre, be it for visiting enthusiasts, research scholars, international or local companies looking to collaborate, etc. It is a huge wealth of unbelievable proportions and we have a responsibility of documenting and caring for this treasure trove of information.

DP: META makes no distinction inviting entries except for some basic rules such as the play should have been staged in the previous year. Do you think it might be helpful to revisit these rules to make the theatre festival more demanding and focused?

SR: Rules must always be revisited and those that seem tired or irrelevant need to change to reflect the changing times. We continue to do so from time to time.

DP: You are a busy many Sanjoy and you have a great team of efficient co-workers. Your company has been focused on a number of festivals- both national and international that promote the performing arts, literature and culture. Was that a conscious decision? How do you survive it all?

SR: Hahahhaah ..... 23 annual festivals across all art forms, 30 cities, 13 countries ...yup it's an ambitious route we seem to have set up for ourselves. Much of this has happened accidentally rather than by design. My personal vision is to demonstrate that the arts can create tangible wealth and can provide opportunities for the legions of people who have talent. The amazing thing is that over 25 years, Teamwork has always been able to attract the brightest and best people with a passion for the arts. My colleagues are the ones who deliver the goods in spite of all odds be it floods, terror attacks, legal issues, government intransigence, police apathy and worse. Would I ever look at doing anything else or trade this space for another ..... Unlikely!!

Deepa Punjani is the Editor of this website.






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