On Originality and Copyright In Theatre

Deepa Punjani

Towards A More Helpful Dialogue

Discussions on originality, creativity and inspiration, without a legal framework, fall in the realm of the subjective. These can be discussed ad nauseum and such discussions tend to veer precariously towards the moral. They are more self-fulfilling than productive.

D-9-2-11 was caught in the crossfire of morality v/s legality. And it won't be for the first or the last time. There are enough examples in the history of our theatre, including very successful productions that have been mounted, with or without copyright, blurring the lines of what may be one's individual definition of creativity and originality. They are inspired by the big productions of the West or even from our own regional theatre. Gujarati theatre routinely "borrows" from Marathi theatre and vice-versa, and sometimes the same directors identically direct both the Gujarati and the Marathi versions. Our English theatre has had reproductions of Broadway and West End shows.

Emerging dialogues on this topic need to be hence, first rooted in ground reality. Meaningful discussions are possible when there is first a consensus on the legality and the modality that underlines topics like these. Anything else, is just talk and distraction.

*"Whose Play Is It Anyway?":Seminars and Workshops exploring the concept of original and inspired work, and copyrights in the theatre community will take place on 27th and 28th April 2019 at Harkat Studio, Aram Nagar, Versova.

*Deepa Punjani has been writing on theatre and performance for close to two decades. She represents the Indian National Section of Theatre Critics, which is part of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) that has over 50 participating countries.

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