My earliest exposure to “international theatre” was thanks to the British Council. I come from a generation that remembers the Council bringing productions to India with regularity — exporting their strong brand of theatre. Exposing it to audiences in India. Without leaving the confines of my city, I saw the Royal Shakespeare Company’s The Comedy of Errors and The Merry Wives of Windsor, National Theatre Scotland’s Medea, Pip Utton in Adolf, the wonderful Hannah and Hanna and of course Steven Berkoff’s Shakespeare’s Villains. I used to marvel at the cultural policy of the British, to send their plays to other lands. It was fantastic! Why didn’t we ever do that with our plays?
So, imagine my surprise when our group, Q Theatre Productions, got a call from Muscat, Oman. The Indian embassy there, under the stewardship of ambassador Anil Wadhwa, has begun to do exactly that. Take Indian shows to Muscat. Oman does not have too much of a performing arts scene. Like its other gulf neighbours, it relies on shows from out of town for entertainment. Into this void came Dr Satish Nambiar’s mad idea — host a festival of Indian plays each year. Showcase some of India’s theatre talent to the people of the desert state. So each year for the last three years, six plays are invited to perform at the Indian embassy auditorium as part of the mis-named “Original Theatre Festival”.
This year the lineup included Rage’s Chaos Theory, Aranya’s Shakkar Ke Paanch Daane, Sohaila Kapur’s Mahim Junction, AKvarious’ Jake’s Women, Dinyar Contractor’s Teri Bhi Chup, Meri Bhi Chup, and our own The President is Coming.
Heading to the festival, we had a romantic notion that since we are being invited internationally, everything will be smooth. But this is a hard-fought festival. What we didn’t realise and appreciate is that the festival is run by a group of theatre lovers; not event managers. It is as much a struggle as any of the festivals here are if not more, because there are a different set of rules and permissions to abide by.
Things easily available in India, are impossible to get, for example a simple red plastic chair. We found white, beige and all other pastel colours, but not red. That kind of put us in a spot since our design had to be red, white and blue. Oman, however, has a very strict colour code, for example buildings can be white, off white or khaki, but no other colour. That’s probably why colorful chairs were so hard to find.
In true Indian theatre style everything was last minute. The tickets and visas came just two hours before we boarded the plane. The set was still going up while the audience walked in, etc. But the show did go on. The audience was responsive, the commitment was genuine and the overall experience was quite thrilling. We were well looked after and even managed a little bus tour of the city.
In the final analysis, this is a great initiative. It is not always smooth, not without tension and heart burn. This year a few of the shows have been postponed to later in June. But as the great Howard Taubman said once, “It is the destiny of the theatre nearly everywhere and in every period to struggle even when it is flourishing.”
Let’s hope other Indian embassies take inspiration from Muscat, and Indian theatre can be showcased across the globe.