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A post-graduate in Science, Viji Iyengar was trained in BharataNatyam under the Senior Gurus of Sri Raja Rajeswari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir, Mumbai since the tender age of seven. She has given several solo as well as group performances and lecture demonstrations in India and abroad. She has choreographed a documentary film “Arupadai Veedu” based on dance and music for the Films Division of India in 1995. With a keen interest in choreography and with the aim to do something different, she took to imparting training in dance to the physically challenged. Her differently abled students have captivated audiences in various parts of the U.S.A. Her other interests include Fashion designing and Painting with specialization in Tanjore paintings. Presently the Vice President of the Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai, she is also the Convenor of the Women’s Wing of the Sabha. She has been one of the key organizing members of the Theatre Festival since its inception in 2003. The following conversation with Viji concerns the 3rd Annual multi-lingual theatre festival of the Sri Shamukahananda sabha, which will begin on May 29, 2006.
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The well-known Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeet Sabha has revived itself to quite an extent. It is particularly known for the musical concerts and the dance programmes that it organizes. The space has also been widely used for annual general meetings, for corporate programs and for discourses on philosophy and spirituality. Strangely enough, it has been rarely exploited for theatre although I am now aware that a multi-lingual theatre festival was initiated around three years back. Can you comment on why theatre has not been able to carve a niche for itself at this venue?
I guess the very enormous size of the Auditorium itself is a deterrent to the present day theatre. Sri Shanmukhananda Sabha Auditorium has a capacity of 2875 seats. Very rarely do we have a full hall capacity for theatre these days unlike 25 to 30 years back. Theatre Productions today are not designed for such big auditoriums and large audiences. After having conducted three festivals for the Sabha, I find that the Theatre Groups have showed a marked preference for smaller auditoriums. There are of course other reasons too such as people’s preference for other media as against the theatre and so on.
Given that most of your members belong to the South-Indian communities in Mumbai, what do you hope to achieve with a multi-lingual theatre fest?
The Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha has always supported theatre. Given the cosmopolitan outlook of Mumbai, some of members who are interested in theatre do go to watch plays in various languages. Besides we feel that if we can offer programs that can cross the language barrier, the sabha’a membership profile could widen. Our intentions are to create awareness about the enormous body of theatre work that is being done in this country. We wish to invigorate audiences and entice them to the theatre. We're hoping that the theatre fest evolves into a meeting point for artists, theatre practitioners, musicians, poets, thinkers, academicians and media people.
What was the response like when you first introduced the multi-lingual theatre fest?
Despite being a maiden attempt, it was quite well received.
In the past three years have you felt a perceptible change in your audiences’ attitude to this annual theatre fest?
Definitely yes. There has been a perceptible and positive change in our audience attitude.
Whose idea was this festival?
For our Golden Jubilee Celebrations we decided to cover all the facets of the Performing Arts. The Management thought it fit to introduce a multilingual festival as part of the celebration. The response was such that the Management decided to include the Theatre Festival as an annual event of the Sabha Calendar.
On what basis are the plays selected for the festival? Who selects them?
Popular plays, productions of critically acclaimed plays have been one criterion. Besides creating an audience, we've been able to benchmark (to some extent) the standards of play productions. The advisory panel, which comprises theatre experts, helps us select the plays and the Management finalises them.
You also have a new auditorium now, which is not too far away from the main venue. I believe some plays of this year’s festival will be performed there. Do you see the auditorium supporting the theatre in time to come or will it be confined like its grand predecessor to the other performing arts?
Presently I can say that the new auditorium which has been named the M.S. Subbulakashmi auditorium will support theatre in times to come, but I can’t say whether it will be completely dedicated to the theatre or not.
In a similar vein, do you think this festival will end up as one of those many annual affairs or is your management sincerely inclined towards supporting theatre throughout the year?
As mentioned earlier, the Theatre Festival will continue to be a part of the Annual Events of the Sabha. That is all I can say for now.
What efforts is the management making to get other people besides its members to come for the festival?
The very fact that the Festival is open to all, free of charge, speaks of the Management’s intentions to get other people, besides its members to come for the Festival.
A children’s theatre festival in association with Prithvi Theatre will immediately follow the multi-lingual festival. In short, a long festive season is due at Shanmukhananda. As one of its key organizing members, how do you feel being caught up in all this action?
The long festive season at Shanmukhananda to me means a lot of commitment; a lot of coordination and above all gives me a lot of satisfaction.
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