Performing arts should be taught in schools, roots Tea Arts
Spreading knowledge through performing arts, particularly theatre is the motto of Tea Arts. Tea Arts, comprising theatre artists from engineering colleges has ensured that Bangalore remains a theatre hub in the country. Says Vignesh Subramanyam, a key member, “Tea Arts was started three years ago. We perform all genres and our last play was Gun-Jjha, a comedy drama. We also performed Illam and Amma, which concentrated on serious issues.” Gun-Jha is about young scientists who experience an irresistible urge to change, be it oneself, mankind, science, economy, history or even the entire universe. The ordeal that they go through is the essence of Gun-Jha. Tea Arts has four core members but the entire team comprises more than 40 members.
Vignesh, a final-year BE student from MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, along with Jerome Rahul, Manoj K and Ranjini Prabhu are the key members. “The basic motto is education through theatre and not just maths and science. There is a lot of talent in the city and Bangalore is one of the important cities in terms of theatre as performing arts. We want to reach out to the talent pool through theatre,” points out Vignesh. The group is self-financed and get most of their funds through their plays.
Tea Arts also organised the Bangalore Theatre League (BTL), an event for young theatre groups to showcase their ideas. “BTL was one of the events where amateur theatre artists were provided with an opportunity to go professional,” he adds. Tea Arts has taken part in all the intercollegiate fests that happened in the city. They plan to start a production house and direct more plays in the future. “Performing arts should be introduced as a subject in all institutions and Tea Arts aims at teaching through theatre,” signs off Vignesh.
— sangeetha.bk@newindianexpress.com