Upbeat at Prithvi

The Capital has not seen such enthusiasm for theatre in a long time. The place to be is at the Habitat Centre till the Prithvi International...

The Capital has not seen such enthusiasm for theatre in a long time. The place to be is at the Habitat Centre till the Prithvi International Theatre Festival ’98 is on. And that is till November 25. Not since it hosted an international film festival has the city given such a reception to another international event.

Already two extra shows have been accommodated apart from the scheduled 11 to be performed by groups from France, England, Italy, Polland, Germany and Hungary. France’s Nada Theatre and Britain’s Project Underdogs have been the special draws. And while Sanjana Kapoor with Papa Kapoor and brother Kunal in tow left for Mumbai after the inauguration on November 7, the festival continues to enthrall audience in the city.

A surprising but much-welcomed concept attached with the festival has been the platform performances. The concept involves giving a platform, in this case literally, to amateur and small theatre groups to perform in an open arena under halogen lights, sans any technical frills. The actors are in direct contact with their audience and in the process given the much-needed exposure. Going by the audience, it has been quite a success, a fact acknowledged by Zuleikha Allana whose group Performers At Work present Steven Berkoff’s Decadance on November 25. “You don’t have to pay anything and you are given an opportunity to perform in front of others. What more do you want?” she says.

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The organisers, Habitat World, had their hands full trying to cope with the rush of demand for tickets. The problem of availability of tickets persisted with rows and rows of seats being reserved for corporate guests or rather hosts. Not surprising, considering the number of sponsors that have been roped in. A lot of tickets disappeared just a day after the Habitat World advertised about the sale in newspapers.

For theatre lovers it was going to be a treat for which they had waited for a long time. But that was not to be. Theatre director Rati Bartholemew says, “We were all looking forward to it. But I wish to ask that at whom was the festival targeted ? If theatre people cannot see these plays then what is the point in inviting all these groups from abroad?”

The small, cramped space of the venue, Habitat Centre, and high ticket rates which have made the festival quite beyond the reach of the average theatregoer, has come in for a lot of flak. As Shamshul Islam says: “The festival has turned out to be of the elite, for the elite and by the elite. It’s more of a corporate sector’s PR exercise”.