Flourishing after 20 years and 'always making money', Producer-Director-Actor, Lillette Dubey offers a treat of six plays at her company Prime Time Theatre's 20th anniversary festival. The festival will take place at the NCPA (Dec 14-19 2010) and at Prithvi Theatre (Jan 8-16 2011) in Mumbai. Lillette Dubey recounts the creative highs that the company has scaled hitherto, and reveals new ambitions of staging their first Hindi play, Mohan Rakesh's AADHE ADHURE. Girish Karnad's grand historical on Tipu Sultan and Zohra Sehgal's biography will follow.
Deepa Ranade
Hearty congratulations on turning 20! Have you achieved the goals that you set for yourself when you launched your own company?
Prime Time Theatre was launched in Delhi in 1991. I had a partner then - Sita Raina from Kolkata. I had been working with Barry John in Delhi for 15 years before we took off. We set up our own company with a definite aim - to work as a professional theatre company. We wanted to work with original writing - to find a voice for Indian English Theatre. Occasionally we did adapt plays like BREATHE IN AND BREATHE OUT. But 85 per cent of our work is based on original Indian writing.
We are not producing plays just for the heck of it. We are very selective. So we have done only 24 plays over the last two decades. It's not a question of quantity for us. It has to be quality work. We want to maximize the potential a play offers. We look for range, variety and are not wary of picking up fresh scripts on varied subjects.
We wanted to travel a lot - out of Mumbai and India - we have achieved that goal. Also we wanted to be a profit making company. All our plays have made money and we are amongst the best paymasters. Though personally I believe that an actor can never be compensated enough for what s/he pitches into a stage performance!
What does your anniversary festival offer?
Taking into consideration the venue and actor constraints, we are staging six plays with commitment from 25 actors for the Mumbai festival and then for the one in London, we will provide a platform for Indian writing barring LOVE ON THE BRINK, which is an adaptation. We want to showcase a range of themes as well as genres - something fun to absurd theatre that we haven't done as yet. From a historical like SAMMY to pure narrative like WOMANLY VOICES in terms of presentation and form where five actors play 26 characters, and then DANCE LIKE A MAN which is the oldest and the easiest to do.
Prime Time was started with an intention and there are some things we have been able to achieve. This festival is a celebration of that.
Is it for the complete creative control that you take upon yourself the onus of being producer-director-actor?
I produce my plays because I know what I want and I am ready to take the risk. Whether it is ZEN KATHA or JAYA - I would rather take all the risk and be independent. We have full control that way.
What is most challenging - acting, directing or producing a play?
Theatre is where my heart is. It is enriching, fulfilling and a creatively satisfying medium for me as an actor as well as a director because I get to do a range of work, and it offers an immense suspension of belief. I find the director's job the easiest but I have to make sure that the viewer is drawn into the theatre. That he is engaged. As a producer, I enjoy the freedom to showcase whatever I want.
As an English theatre company, how do you manage to stay afloat?
My company demands what we are worth - you have to have the confidence, a sense of self worth for that. We have been buoyant for all the 20 years we have been in business. Even a play like ZEN KATHA which was one of the most esoteric plays our company has done, may not have worked in Mumbai, but it made its money when we travelled to Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai.
We have made money since our first play. I am running a company, so our plays have to make money. I am not going to compromise. I am not going to produce commercial plays but I will hold my own. When I started out at the age of 17, I had to model in order to pay for my auto fare to the rehearsals, but that's not the scene any longer. My job as a producer is to do creatively fulfilling theatre and ensure that there are bums on the seats; it's all about finding the right balance.
Which has been your most creatively challenging play?
JAYA. It was a huge production. I had never done a two hour twenty minute live singing piece with so many actors, choreography, 40 feet high sets spread over 5000 sq feet. It took six months to put it together. It was the first original Indian musical in English. Before that we had all derivatives of Western musicals. It was a milestone.
Your most critically acclaimed play...
Many people love WOMANLY VOICES for its direction. The narrative was very visual; like a film. Then DANCE LIKE A MAN was appreciated by New York Times, which said 'experiencing acting quality of this kind is transforming'. ON A MUGGY NIGHT was the first play from South East Asia about homosexuality. BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT won great reviews for script, direction and performances.
Your most rewarding play?
WOMANLY VOICES. The play inspired a young college girl to set up an NGO - Arpan - for dealing with child sexual abuse. She has made a huge success of it.
Your big blockbuster play?
JAYA was very successful but we closed it down after 40 shows as the writer died tragically. If it had been allowed its natural run it had huge scope. DANCE LIKE A MAN is my biggest hit. It is one of our most popular plays - people have watched it 6-7-9 times over, and it is even my children's favourite. We have just completed 376 shows of it. It has made the most money for me.
Who have been your creative influences?
I am a big fan of Manipuri director Ratan Thiyyam. Barry John was my mentor for 15 years, and what I learnt from him was to let the actors discover themselves and not to force the director's vision on them. Peter Brooks inspires me. He says a play should work on its own. Stripped of the frills, what is left behind should be powerful enough to hold the viewer in thrall. His MAHABHARATA was so inspiring. He seeks the truth through his work.
What are the big plans afoot for Prime Time Theatre?
JAYA is going to be revived in the coming two years. We will stage our first Hindi play AADHE ADHURE in March. It stars Darshan Jariwalla and myself. We will also stage Girish Karnad's new play DREAMS OF TIPU SULTAN. Possibly in an open air theatre. I have bought the rights of Zohra Sehgal's life story which will be the history and evolution of Indian theatre and dance. It will almost be a solo show by me with some singers and dancers. Then there is a play with Ramu Ramanathan. (Laughs). Lots of things... Plotting and planning, boiling and simmering....
What is your motivation for Acting in Films? Doesn't Theatre give it all to you?
Theatre is the core of my life. I do films because of theatre. I would find films very limiting and would soon be bored of them. But as a parallel activity, I pursue film acting for fun, exposure and working with fabulous actors. At times, the film is lovely like the last one I wrapped up- The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel directed by John Madden (of Shakespeare in Love fame). I acted along side great actors like Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. It has a superb script too.
With your sister Lushin, and daughters Neha and Ira being actors - you are a complete performing family.
We are first generation actors really . We come from a highly professional family. My mother is a gynecologist and my father was aphysicist engineer. My brother is an IITian. But I took to art spontaneously. I did my Masters in Literature and Mass Communication and I got married and pursued theatre. My sister Lushin also had a leaning towards Acting. She went abroad and came back to India to launch children's theatre. She graduated to doing her own plays for adults. UNTITLED, her solo show is her best so far.
My daughters Neha and Ira have been on the stage since childhood. But Neha didn't find it creatively satisfying. So she trained to be a psychoanalyst. But she is a good actor and she will be seen in one or two plays in the festival. She makes a wonderful Kasturi in SAMMY. She will do 30 DAYS IN SEPTEMBER as well. Ira says her heart is in Acting and she is keen on it.
Hearty congratulations on turning 20! Have you achieved the goals that you set for yourself when you launched your own company?
Your most critically acclaimed play...
