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A passion for the stage

A steaming cup of tea with sizzling shingara

Sad ya Afreen Maluck
After the curtains come down to a successful play, have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes?To be honest, I was at a loss recently’, coming out from the Experimental Theatre Hall. The young enthusiasts I had taken along with me had many questions: How do the actors remember their lines in a three-hour drama with no cue cards? How could anyone but locals develop such a flawless dialect? Does it pay to be a stage actor?
The more J talked to experts, the more awed 1 became at how unchanged this industry has remained since the British era when theatre groups were formed by passionate groups of actors and playwrights. Back in those days, different theatre troupes flourished under the patronage of wealthy individuals. Ticket sales, even for the same play, depended on which group was staging it. And theatre troupes are still driven more by passion' than "lucrative contracts’.
Theatre actors like to call themselves 'professional amateurs". Most commonly, stalwarts who attract the talents around them •fdrm -groups. Even though they ■belong to groups and are the lifeblood of the team, founders and new entrants alike become members on an honorary basis.
Every production needs a rigorous six-to-nine months of preparation. The actors are informed well ahead about rehearsal-dates through a notice, put on the walls of the rented rehearsal rooms. Over a cup of tea and favourite snacks of shingara, the actors take part in rigorous rehearsals and script reading day in day out for three months in a row. As an actor smilingly pointed out. "It’s not
true that we are unpaid profes-aionak. we simply accept snacks in place of money’
Then the director, designers and the technicians step in to outline the stage settings. Allocating the characters to actors requires a lot of neutrality (and diplomacy) on part of the director, "like the old days, it is often subject to bias." says a theatre activist. Then begins the rehearsals for blocking.
Typically it takes about three months for the team to memorise the script. But sometimes it takes significantly longer. After the successful staging of Hath Hodai,
Shahiduzzaman Selim mentioned h&vlt tookthdf^hfn n^kfK’ Me months to master the Noakhali dialect before they could finally stage the play.
During the long months of rehearsals, beginners have a timebound traditional role to play. During the first two years, they are in charge of the kitchen, making sure the tea and shingaras keep flowing and keeping up the spirits of the team! Not unlike an internship, the beginners learn the many arts of acting through these informal interactions with the senior actors. During this entire period, neither intern nor actors are paid.
What struck me was how the theatre groups keep up with their passion despite the odds stacked against them.
Firstly, they are assured of no livelihood. The theatre groups thrive on proceeds from ticket sales of their stage performances and a limited number of sponsors. "A standard production can cost up to Tk 80,000 or more, while a modest one costs around Tk 60,000. The groups often have to stage the play for two to three years to recoup the production cost," says Nasiruddin Yousuf.
In contrast, in West Bengal the Ministry allots Rs 3,000 per head
for the theatre activists, which translates to Rs 60,000 per month to theatre groups with 20 actors each. Since there are several theatre houses, the groups can perform ’call shows' year round and also see acting as a livelihood.
Secondly, despite its popularity, there is an incredible shortage of theatre space. Before the Experimental Theatre Stage was inaugurated, there was only one theatre venue, The Mahila Samity Mancha; the Guide House auditorium was closed years ago. Since there are altogether 35-40 groups including the top ten groups in the city alone, each group is allowed to perform at most once a month at the auditorium. According to Liaquat Ali Lucky, the general secretary of People's Theatre Association (PTA), the City Corporation can rent the community centres in different localities to overcome this bottleneck.
Thirdly, there is an unexplained lack of recognition for the stage actors. Every year, we are bombarded with so many glamorous 'award giving ceremonies' to reward silver screen actors, models, singers, TV-productions, but rarely one for stage actors.
When you take away livelihood, opportunity to perform and recognition there doesn't seem to be much left for the actors except an undying passion for their art. How we can expect to develop and nurture talent under such conditions is a complete puzzle to many. As a critic pointed out sarcastically, “the most imminent danger to our theatre culture is, if the price of tea and shingara were to increase...” Sadly, he probably didn't realise there was more than passing humour than he intended.
The article is a repnnt from an earlier issue