Aadyam, the theatre initiative by Aditya Birla Group, will soon be holding its first-ever online theatre fest, Aadyam: The Digital Edition. The theatre group recently pledged to Save Our Stage by taking the Stage to Screen. Beginning October, the theatre fest will be back with its three old favourites –Bandish 20-20,000 Hz (Hindi), I Don’t Like It, As You Like It (English) and The Hound of the Baskervilles (English). These will be streamed via insider.in. Aadyam’s Artistic Director Shernaz Patel tells us more:
How challenging has been the switchover exercise – from a physical to an online setting?
We had to abandon our plans for this year’s season. With all the hard work that had already begun, it was tough to accept at first. It all seemed unreal. Like a bad dream. But then, like the rest, we bravely adapted and accepted digital as our new, albeit interim, home.
Challenges are many. We will be shooting our plays in an auditorium, with a multi-camera set up. The stage and the screen are vastly different mediums. When you go to watch a play in the auditorium, you decide how you want to view each moment. You might, for example, want to look at a character who is not speaking, to gauge their reaction. But when it is being recorded, you can only see what the camera chooses to show you. Therefore, a very crucial partnership is that of the theatre director and the film unit, as they will need to work in tandem to be truthful to the piece of theatre and to the theatre directors’ vision. The authenticity of the play needs to remain intact, but at the same time, it needs to be shot well.
How are you planning to keep the audience engaged because it is easy to go offline?
I feel if the content is interesting and the audience has paid for a ticket, they will watch the full show. Having said that, there will be a host of interactions for audience engagement – from pre-show and interval contests to post-show Q&As, polls and quizzes. A feature that allows people to react during the play with claps and emojis will also be put in place. The audience will also have an opportunity to discuss the play with the director and cast.
What has Aadyam done for the large number of artistes who are in a deplorable state due to Covid-19?
Planning a season is the first step towards helping theatre artistes get work during this pandemic. Aadyam commissions plays to the theatre companies for a fee that not only covers the cost of rehearsals and mounting the play, but also a decent remuneration to the artistes and the design/production team. It is a tough time for everyone and we hope to keep theatre going digitally till the time we can go back to auditoriums and host live performances.
What about the future? Will you have more digital shows or switch to live theatre?
Nothing can replace live theatre! We can adapt to circumstances and bring theatre to the people, but live theatre is Aadyam’s credo. We are, however, planning to create a hybrid model of running both live performances and their digital version as it will help us reach audiences across the country.
What does Aadyam’s new community platform Theatre Ink entail?
It features all things related to theatre, in a blogging format like interviews, insights, articles, advice, tips, news, behind the scenes snippets etc, catering to the industry as well as the audiences.
Tickets:
Single viewer: Rs 399
Family viewing: Rs 599