Theatre in Hyderabad’s monsoon calendar appears promising. There is reduction among the many artistes who’re treading with warning as they gear as much as carry out stay. Amid the thrill, concern of a 3rd wave persists. It has been greater than a yr of pandemic-induced emotional and monetary misery for the town’s theatre artistes and crew with no exhibits. Just a few manufacturing homes shifted on-line, showcasing performs, drama studying, solo acts, monologues, poetry recitations and streaming recorded performs.
There is a way of deja vu amongst artistes Babli Yadav and Ratika Sant Keswani of Sutradhar because the duo get able to current two solo acts Dushalla and Weekend at Nishumbita’s new cultural house on July 31 and August 1. The performances had been deliberate for World Theatre Day in March however needed to be cancelled a day earlier than the occasion as a member examined COVID-19 optimistic. “It was love’s labour lost but now we are looking forward and hoping this one will be without hiccups,” says director Vinay Varma.
“Nothing beats the magic of performing live,” says 75-year-old Aveti Rammohan of Surabhi theatre. He and his workforce of 52 actors staged Mayabazaar, Bala Nagamma, Bhakta Prahalada and Srinivasa Kalyanam at Ravindra Bharathi within the second week of July. Performing with new mandates of sporting a masks (throughout rehearsals) , social distancing and frequent sanitisation of the auditorium, the septuagenarian says, “It has been a year and a half since we put on make-up for a live performance. We were pleasantly surprised at the 300-strong audience.”
Show goes on
KissaGo Theatre’s Generations a Hindi-English play staged on July 24 on the newly-launched Rangabhomi Spaces. It has been a dream-turned-nightmare for founder Jay Jha who appealed for crowdfunding to avoid wasting the place. “We had taken huge loans to create Rangbhoomi and when there were no shows due to the second wave, we were in trouble.”
With growing monetary troubles, Jay desires to make the perfect out of a nasty scenario. “We thought about the third wave but did not know how much longer to wait. We want to follow protocols and carry on in the present situation,” The cultural house is taking part in host to stay occasions together with stand-up by Rajashekar Mamidanna, Rohit Swain and Vivek Murlidharan.
Phoenix Arena, the favored cultural house in Hitec metropolis, is resonating with the sounds of a theatre workshop. Samahaara founder, Rathna Shekar Reddy, says two theatre workshops are on at Phoenix and their centre in Banjara Hills. The group intends to carry out its three workshop productions, three Telugu performs within the first week of August. Rathna Shekhar says the onus is on the individuals to observe security protocols. The workshops have began after the lockdown pause. “We take all precautions but cannot ensure they follow safety protocols after the workshop.”
The theatre director recollects how they needed to consistently remind the viewers to observe COVID-19 protocols in March once they staged a play at Phoneix Arena. “People were reluctant to follow the COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. Some kept their masks in their pockets and when we insisted, they felt offended.”
The teams are additionally making certain the crew and artistes are vaccinated.
Nishumbita theatre group has a busy August with two productions — Telugu play Agnatha Yashasvi based mostly on the lifetime of scientist Dr Yellapragada Subba Row,(translated by Rammohan Holagundi from the English play The Famous Unknown —script by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao) and one other manufacturing on Golkonda. “We have gone through so much in this one-and-a-half years, but life goes on,” says Rammohan. “There is pain but the junoon of theatre will never leave us and we have to move forward.”
While some theatre artistes gear as much as current stay performances, others akin to Storyboard Productions wish to wait and watch. The group made the perfect use of the digital house and staged seven digital exhibits — two performs, poetry recitations, storytelling and dramatic play readings. Says Sandeep Tadi of the group, “This year taught us of other avenues and since we are into different aspects of live performance, we made good use of the virtual medium. We hope to make a web series too.”
Rathna Shekhar hopes if there’s a third wave, it won’t be as unhealthy because the second wave. “We will see how things unfold and keep an eye on the numbers. If we have to stop, then we will do so.”
While hoping for the perfect, Vinay retains his fingers crossed. “It is a mercurial virus that is constantly mutating. Instead of a rash planning, we have to wait and watch and do one thing at a time,” he says.
