The monsoon has hit Mumbai shores. But elsewhere in the world, summer is blooming. And with summer comes theatre festivals; particularly of the fringe kind. Normally Indian theatre folk travel to these festivals as audience members. But this year a lot of Indian actors are filling their travel bags with costumes and props.
Ordinarily this isn’t such a big deal. Indian plays tour America all the time, play at venues like the Waterman’s in London and even go as part of a government cultural exchange.
But these are FRINGE festivals; festivals that are been created and run by theatre lovers, without any major institutional support or large budgets. The groups have to fend for themselves and find a way to get to the country in question.
Last year Divya Palat’s A Personal War, about the 26/11 attacks, went to the Edinburgh Fringe, the biggest fringe festival in the world. They had to find a sponsor and figure out how to get there. And once there, had to walk the hilly streets each morning handing out flyers so that people come to the show. It was a gruelling schedule, but it worked. The beauty of a fringe festival is that “word of mouth” really works. And soon Personal War had full houses. The proceeds of the show were also donated to the Police Commissioners fund for better safety and combat equipment. In fact, the play left such an impact that they scored an invite to the New York Fringe for this year.
Now you might argue that Personal War is about a very current and delicate topic and therefore would be popular. But then how do you explain the invitation to new Pune-based group Natak Company and their Marathi play, Geli Ekvees Varsha. The play, about the frustrations of a young 21-year-old boy in urban India, has been invited to the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in Italy. Yes, I know what you are thinking — a Marathi play in Italy? — but it’s true!
CONTACTing the World, a festival for young theatre groups in Manchester, has invited Working Title’s devised piece Dirty Talk. The unique thing about the festival is that the participants in the plays all need to be under the age of 25. Similar to Thespo, just larger. A few years ago, Evam Youth Forum had also been invited to the same festival with Ajay Krishnan’s Hair. So this is not the beginning of a relationship as much as a continuation of one.
While the odd play has travelled in the past, this is perhaps the first time that three newly written pieces about the urban Indian experience are heading to foreign shores. There are two striking things about this phenomenon. First, the groups that are being invited are not well-established veterans, but the “young ‘uns” – eager to learn, and share their own kind of theatre. The second is that somehow corporate India is waking up and believing in them. Union Bank is paying for Personal War to travel, while Kingfisher & The British Council is supporting Dirty Talk. The nature of fringe festivals is that the group has to find a way to raise the funds to pay for visas, airfare, accommodation and food. And this is where these benefactors come in and contribute.
This is a fabulous turn of events. One that bodes well for the new generation of theatre practitioners, being exposed to varied techniques and international alignments — taking new India’s New Theatre to the world.