Vijayawada: Despite pandemic, artistes see light at end of tunnel

Vijayawada: World Theatre Day will be celebrated by the theatre artistes and theatre lovers all over the world on Saturday. The International Theatre Institute, affiliated to UNESCO, declared March 27 as World Theatre Day in 1962. This day is celebrated for those who can see the value and importance of the art form 'theatre', and acts as a wake-up call for governments, politicians and institutions individuals that have not yet recognised its value for the people.

This year International Theatre Institute gave the opportunity to Helen Mirren, actress of stage, screen and television of the United Kingdom. She mentioned in her message that throughout the world the artistes' community faced a lot of problems during recent pandemic and with great courage theatre survived. She also mentioned that in the coming days theatre would have beautiful days and theatre workers would cherish it.

In connection with World Theatre Day, 'The Hans India' interacted with some eminent theatre personalities to know their opinion on future theatre.

"Carona pandemic has affected theatre activity all over the world. Actors, directors, designers and all the backstage workers are severely affected. Though some companies, who can afford, generated some revenue through their online presence, the majority of the theatre community and largely performing community suffered very badly. All the live performances have been stopped due to the restrictions on public gatherings. This created an opportunity for the performing community to introspect about their art.

Apart from some online shows that happened, there were talks on Zoom/Google, where some theatre personalities have shared their experiences on stage and off stage. This gave an opportunity to understand about what is happening in other States of India. When it comes to both Telugu speaking States, the livelihood of the workers who are dependent on theatre has been totally crippled. Though there are instances of theatre lovers-- both practitioners and spectators-- have come together to raise some resources to help these workers, there are lot to be done to repair the damage. For the actors, who are mostly amateurs, their loss is mainly opportunities to perform. And those who are professionals, very few in number, they were severely affected. Let us hope that things will improve and theatre will happen with much more vigour so that the theatre professionals can withstand any such eventualities in future," opined G Udaya Bhanu, a senior theatre activist.

"Life is a stage and we are actors. I faced many sorrows, happiness, tears, laughs, fears and courage in my life. I never scared of any uneventful happenings and pandemics because I know it happens and goes. I am a creator and I create a beautiful environment even on difficult days. I never stop my journey though I face obstacles. I am habituated to repair, innovate and reconstruct my collapsed construction. I don't have fear and I go forward with a hope of bright tomorrow to reach my goal without any deviation from my regular path … who am I? I am an artiste and I create a beautiful stage to entertain and educate my audience in the coming days. " "Though it is difficult, I would like to see the entire universe as a stage by removing all boundaries to perform on it for all world theatre lovers" said SK Misro, a legend on stage, screen and television.

"Life is a running race... We have to compete with the fellow competitors. But only one passes the finishing line to win. Again, the winner has to join with all the fellow competitors to travel further in the life journey. This joining is 'relation'. Such relations will happen and grow with live arts. As long as people are aspiring for these good happenings the stage will glow with new subjects. A number of pandemics are coming on the way the theatre will face with unity and courage. Hoping a beautiful journey in the coming days," said YS Krishneswara Rao, a stage writer, director and actor.

"It is true that theatre artistes, backstage theatre workers have faced hard days during the recent Covid-19. We know that society had faced many such hard days in past and we know all these difficulties are temporary and will not remain forever… that is hope. With this hope we will reach our goals. This pandemic helped me to give a new and healthy shape to the theatre. I am confident that the coming productions will have better than previous ones because most of the artistes, technicians have gained knowledge with the help of the internet. Let us see a beautiful tomorrow in theatre," said Akurati Bhaskarchand Da, eminent stage writer and director. "Theatre workers have faced many problems during the recent pandemic days. Now the artistes have slowly started their journey by wiping their tears.

The theatre is regaining its energy to showcase its talent duly giving live performances. The goal of an artiste is to give a healthy and educative show to theatre lovers.

I hope, in the coming days, theatre will flourish duly emerging with the available technology to attract the spectators.

I strongly believe that the live show will give more satisfaction to the artiste and create more impact on the audience," said Dr PVN Krishna, theatre artiste, director and writer.