As you read this, I am on my way to Delhi for the big daddy of all theatre festivals — the National School of Drama’s Bharat Rang Mahotsav. The festival is by no means the most lucrative, but it is definitely one of the most prestigious because of its showcasing of interesting international work, and local productions by the legends of Indian theatre (who usually are NSD alumnus as well). This year there seems to be a slight breaking of the mould.

Numerous “younger” troupes have been invited. While we are performing Khatijabai of Karmali Terrace, Ram Ganesh will feature his Creeper, Mohit Takalkar showing his Kashmir, Kashmir and Trishla Patel will present Khumbh Katha. This is a new exciting trend.
A play touring to another city is not a new phenomenon. It has been quite prevalent in regional (state) based theatres. In Assam, mobile theatres travel from village to village erecting huge circus-like tents for their mammoth productions like Titanic and Jurassic Park. Similarly in Andhra Pradesh, regional troupes perform to possibly over 10 lakh people across the year. Maharashtra, too, has had it’s incredibly vibrant culture of travelling plays; where groups travel from town to town overnight in a bus (so the producer saves on accommodation) and performing the next day. However within the English and Hindi theatre, travelling was less common; at least among Mumbai troupes.
This seems to be changing. A look at statistics of recent plays in Mumbai, reveals that over a quarter of the performances of a play are usually outside the city. Sometimes that figure can go up to even 50 per cent. Hamlet — The Clown Prince has spent more time on the road than in Mumbai. And not just around India, but even internationally. The latest version of Blue Mug did almost 50 shows across India, United States and Brazil, and yet only a handful of performances in the city of its birth.
The reasons for this are many-fold. From the producer’s perspective touring is an important way of keeping a show alive. Local audiences are finite as are the performance spaces. Putting tours together gives the plays a more active and longer life. It also makes sense financially. Usually there is a promoter/event manager who is handling the logistics of touring plays from the host city. The travelling troupe just has to turn up, perform and leave.
From the audience point of view, Mumbai plays have quite an exciting draw. It is probably the capital of English theatre in India. So if a club in Coimbatore, for example, wants a play for its members, Mumbai seems like the one-stop shopping destination. The other draw is that most plays from Mumbai will feature an actor or two from either television, film or TV commercials. Other cities don’t have access to these familiar faces and therefore the plays provide an interaction that the audience would not normally get.
For the performers, however, what is most exciting is how audiences of different cities react. While in Mumbai audiences hurry out of the theatre on their way to dinner reservations, in Bangalore audiences tend to hang around mulling over the play and strike up conversations with the performers. Jokes that make sense in one part of the country don’t always work in another. This keeps the challenge of performing live always exciting. This “touring theatre” trend has led to interesting developments in how a play is conceived. No longer is it just designed for a Mumbai audience.
A pan-Indian audience is kept in mind. Also the number of actors used or the complexity of the set are now kept at a minimum to ensure that a show can travel at a moments notice.
Plays are now becoming like films. Geography is no longer a restriction. Any play could be “Coming soon to a theatre near you”. How exciting!