The city is hosting yet another theatre festival this weekend. Don't get excited just yet. Most plays at most fests are old productions
The city is hosting yet another theatre festival this weekend. Don't get excited just yet. Most plays at most fests are old productions
This weekend, theatre producer Manoj Shah treats the city's theatre lovers to six of his production houses' most popular plays at Oncha Mailo Program, a three-day festival that kickstarts today.
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Not one play from the bouquet is a fresh production. He is not the only one.
Mumbai Theatre is in a euphoric state. A quick look at the monthly schedules of noted theatre groups across the city reveals how the theatre community is in a perpetual state of celebration.
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It's more than creating an avenue to reach out to wider theatre audiences. It's actually a simple case of smart marketing and fundamentals of publicity.
In addition to established annual festivals that the city has witnessed for decades, including the Prithvi Theatre Fest, the Nehru Centre drama festival, QTP's Thespo that provides an opportunity to participants under 25, there have been a spate of two and three- day fests organised by individual theatre groups like Shah's. "We have been travelling abroad with our shows.
When we got back, we realised Mumbai audiences were keen on catching a show. That's how the plan to stage six of our most popular plays along with platform performances by some of the best actors from Gujarati stage was born."
What Shah won't elaborate on is how packing a bunch of plays from a single production house helps draw focus to itself in the media and audiences, far better than a single staging would.
That cash-heavy sponsors can be drawn into the project is just another perk. "Festivals are a bit of a marketing tool," admits Quasar Thakore Padamsee of Q Theatre Productions.
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"It's a big deal for any group to put up a fest and requires a lot of effort.
They are a great branding exercise. If I have four shows in a row, and I speak about them individually, there's a chance they'll be overlooked in the clutter of the city's theatre scene.
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If I package it as a theatre festival, and call it that, throw in a few workshops and have a fancy brochure, it gets easy to lure sponsors and grab media attention," says the candid actor-director-writer.
The 21st century urban reality is that theatre groups are competing not just against rival groups, but films, television, the IPL and World Cup screenings, even special nights at lounges.
Says a theatre veteran, requesting anonymity, "Even at Prithvi, despite a full house, you land up losing money.
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A festival offers the opportunity to bag a corporate sponsorship, earn some extra money through workshops, and of course boost sales through media coverage."
Interestingly, it's largely the experimental and smaller theatre groups that adopt the festival format to promote their plays.
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Commercial Marathi and Gujarati theatre groups that run up to 1,000 shows within a span of a few months, rarely feel the need to resort to festival antics.
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