Crafting a niche

‘Stagecraft’ has now become a synonym for English Theatre in Nagpur. But to reach to these heights, a lot was required from the group. And it poured a lot to turn theatre into a movement that is now finding ready acceptance among common theatre-lovers of Nagpur.

ENGLISH drama is not new to people of Nagpur. However, the following that it commands today is exceptional. Theatre-lovers get to see more than six plays a year — written, produced, directed and acted — all by Nagpur-based artistes. 


In fact, with 250 enthusiastic people — young and old— attached with an English theatre group; hundreds of school children learning nuances of English theatre in regular workshops; and thousands of fans making the show of each play capacity-packed, English Theatre has neatly crafted its way into hearts of Nagpurians like never before. ‘Stagecraft Theatre’ can solely claim the credit of bringing English drama so near, and making it so dear to the city. 


Established formally in 2003, the theatre movement finds its roots way back in 70s and 80s. Theatre Guru Vikash Khurana, founder president of ‘Stagecraft’ reveals an interesting journey of English theatre activity in Nagpur. “English Theatre exists in Nagpur since decades. While I was a primary students of SFS Boys’ School, I remember playing Cinderella, Snow White and other female characters in school plays,” recalls Khurana. 


Inter-school drama contests, Tata School Trophy, Jaycees Drama Festival, and many other festivals used to see English plays being staged by school teams. However, the activity was restricted only to convent school auditoriums. It was Vikash Khurana, who brought it out from the school’s cocoon and made it big. 
“After I returned to Nagpur from Mumbai after completing my graduation in commerce and having a small but very effective stint with Satyadev Dubey’s theatre group; I was eager to start some theatre activity in Nagpur.” Khurana recalls days of 1980s, “we used to stage one play annually at SFS Auditorium. The show used to be for select audience and we continued doing it for many years,” Khurana recalls. 

Vikash Khurana

After trying names like ‘Theatre Group’, ‘Theatre Unit’, ‘Players’, etc (in fact, a new name for every production), Khurana, finally, settled down with ‘Stagecraft Theatre’ in 2003. “New auditorium at St Charles Seminary opened with ‘Stagecraft’s first production ‘My Fair Lady’,” informed Khurana, his beaming smile implying that there has been no looking back. 


One after another, ‘Stagecraft’ kept producing fantastic plays. In 2006, a simplified form of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ became an instant hit making the group a talk of the town. 


“We realised that people preferred entertainment; but only entertainment is not enough. Quality, message, and value for money are all necessary. Nagpur took a little time to welcome English drama, but, when it did open its arms, it did so wholeheartedly,” says Khurana. 


Today, ‘Stagecraft’ is a full-time institution. It produces plays round the year promoting young actors with each production. It also holds workshops for youngsters. “We only demand time and inclination from acting enthusiasts. Training of English and acting is our responsibility”, says the Guru, who is all ready to educate young artistes. 


The recent ‘Summer Fiesta’ of ‘Stagecraft’ was a grand success where theatre groups of Marathi languages too joined hands. “English is our first love. But, we want entire theatre activity in Nagpur to grow. We never restricted ourselves to any particular language. We are ready to produce plays in all languages. The only emphasize being quality,” says Khurana. So while Stagecraft is entertaining people with various productions from old classics to new drama catering to all genre of the art, in process, also educating the audience, theatre lovers of Nagpur have lot to look forward to. 

Sindhi theatre going global…

With the Orange City being its most active hub in Central India, Sindhi theatre that has produced actors, writers and directors of international repute, presents a promising scenario


SINDHI Theatre activity in Nagpur can truly be termed as a silent movement. For it is going and growing, uninterruptedly, since the first Sindhi play was staged in the city way back in 1958. With many amateur artists, writers and technicians from the Orange City making their name on national and international Sindhi theatre, Sindhi plays by Nagpur-based groups are recognised for their entertainment value in Sindhi community all over India.
Nagpur annually produces three to four amateur plays and hosts jam-packed shows of two-three plays from commercial groups. This could be achieved only due with sincere effort by dedicated people, who have worked without much pomp and display. Tulsi Setia, the coordinator of entire Sindhi theatre activity in Nagpur, has been working with same passion since last two decades.

“Sindhi Theatre has a rich tradition of over 125 years. In Nagpur, stalwarts like Daryanumal Jani started theatre activity in 1950s while veterans like Dwarkadas Kalyani, Sunder Butani, and Ashok Senani continued activity during 70s and 80s. In 1994, a group of young theatre artists started ‘Sindhudi Natya Santha’ and picked richly from modern theatre practices,” Setia, himself an award-winning actor, recalls.
“We started with a one-act play event ‘Ekanki Shaam’, and gradually adopted full length plays. In 1995, we celebrated 100 years of Sindhi Theatre by hosting a national-level Sindhi Theatre Festival in Nagpur. In 2004, a similar festival saw around 100 artists from across the sub-continent gather in city. Festival takes place every year, and plays from Nagpur are much in-demand,” Setia adds proudly.

In fact, Nagpur has produced some great Sindhi dramas considered as milestone. Celebrated Sindhi writer Kishore Lalwani is a proud Nagpurian and who enjoys writing scripts for Nagpur’s artists. “During my four-year stay in Mumbai, I was associated with commercial Sindhi theatre groups, which are very few in number. We used to present Sindhi versions of popular Marathi plays,” says Lalwani who’s ‘Diwan Gordhandas Goplani’, adopted from Bharat Jadhav’s hilarious ‘Shrimant Damodarpant’ broke all records of Sindhi theatre. Presently, he writes specialised Sindhi scripts on various subjects.

“Sindhis are basically creative people. Mostly our movies and television portray a Sindhi character in a comic way. However, we have many serious themes with us, too,” Lalwani says while explaining that Sindhi theatre in Nagpur is not only about comedies, but also about serious dramas highlighting socially relevant issues of the community and some about its history.

Nagpur’s theatre is fortunate to have a team of young enthusiasts with good understanding of Sindhi language. “It is because we strictly speak Sindhi in our homes,” says Tulsi Setia. ‘Sindhudi Youth Wing’ and ‘Sindhudi Saheli Manch’, the youth and women wings of the ‘Sindhudi Natya Santha’ are also active in theatre.

“For this year, I have scripted a women-centric drama. Shobha Bhagia and her ‘Saheli Manch’ team are planning to present it this season,” adds Lalwani.

“Entertainment is not the only reason for running theatre activity. We do it to make youngsters aware of our language, culture and traditions,” Setia reveals the motive behind the painstaking effort. “We neither charge tickets for the plays nor demand government aid. We raise money through donations only,” he says.
All other states of India have Sahitya Akademis that sponsor a major amount if someone publishes literature in Sindhi language. Unfortunately, there is no such provision in Maharashtra. “If our plays get published, they might reach a global platform,” Setia says.

However, with regular shows being held in Dubai, Canada and United States, Sindhi theatre is already going global, with a significant contribution of Nagpurians into it.

Once upon a time

Two or three local Tamil theatre groups, their internal competition, and regular stage activity used to instill the spirit of performing art in the Tamil community in Nagpur some fifty years ago. Now, the activity is restricted only to professional groups coming from Chennai to the city, that too once in a blue moon.

It was the black and white era. Nagpur was many years younger, spacious and serene. The city was all about Mahal, Itwari, Sitabuldi and Dhantoli. Ramdaspeth and West Nagpur used to be the outskirts. The South Indian community – from all four states – though very less in number, was active in many fields.

K Jagadeesan, former secretary of South India Association – the oldest organisation of Tamil-speaking Nagpurians, recalling the glorious days, goes into a nostalgic trance. “Ladies Club, Education Society, Bhajan Mandals, Sports Clubs and much more was going on in the mid-fifties. Theatre activity was also at its peak. There used to be two-three amateur theatre groups which used to do Tamil plays. There were even friendly competitions during those days,” he says, describing how Vyjayanthimala, the legendary Bharat Natyam dancer performed to raise funds for the new building of Saraswati Vidyalaya. “Bharat Ratna Dr MS Subbalaxmi was a frequent visitor to the Orange City in those days,” he adds, making one realise how healthy the fine art scene was some sixty years back.

“Some teachers of the same Saraswati Vidyalaya started theatre activity again during the seventies. Those days, plays used to be staged at Mor Hindi Bhavan or VTI Hall, in Maharajbagh premises,” Jagadeesan, who was a student of Nagpur University in those days, shares. “Some students started the Nagpur University Tamil Students’ Association (NATSA) and continued theatre activity. ‘Ganesan Kalai Mandaram’, a fine art group, also worked for Tamil theatre during 1980s. Recently, some SECR employees tried to do some theatre but all this stopped one after the other,” he laments.

Even if the number of South Indians in the city significantly increased all these years, the spirit of fine art was lost somewhere due to over exposure to television and electronic entertainment. “One gets to see Tamil, Telugu channels, movies right in the drawing room nowadays. So, the senior generation is least interested in reforming theatre. And juniors do not even know the language correctly. How could they do theatre then?,” Jagadeesan raises genuine issue. However, all is not lost for Tamil Theatre in Nagpur.

“Under South India Association banner, we call drama groups from Chennai to perform in Nagpur. Fortunately, we have good contacts in Tamil Nadu, and the artists too, are keen to perform in Nagpur as the city is a gateway to Central India for them,” says Jagadeesan, during whose five years’ tenure with the Association, Tamil plays by renowned T V Varadrajan Group were an annual feature.
Moreover, free Tamil learning classes is another activity run by the association. 

“We expect youngsters who cannot even read and write their mother tongue to attend this weekly activity. But, whom we get as students are -- transporters who find it difficult to communicate in Tamil Nadu; or girls, who are engaged to a Chennai-based guy,” Jagadeesan rues. However, art and theatre are integral parts of the Tamil way of life. “Our efforts are on. If they bear desired fruits, you may get to see a Tamil play by Nagpurians someday once again,” Jagadeesan expresses, with a little promise and more concern.

Time to wake up, Tamil youths!