BHUBANESWAR: It has been a summer of sufferings for theatre groups across the State. The lockdown has brought the curtains down on auditoriums, leaving hundreds of artistes and backstage workers unemployed for around two months. At home and idle, they are worried about the future.Even if the lockdown is lifted, will people come to watch plays?” asks 36-year-old theatre actor Subhasis Das, who lives at Harisdaspur on the outskirts of the City.
Over the years, theatre’s appeal and identity have been defined as an enclosed place for scores of strangers to cram in and share a common artistic experience. The widely-accepted and swiftly-adapted strategy of physical distancing may lead to huge financial loss for the industry that’s already gasping for breath.
People associated with the industry are already living out of their scant savings. Relief supplies from senior artistes or borrowed sums from friends and relatives are among other means of survival. But how long will the ‘show’ last? Artistes like Subhasis had barely saved anything from their monthly income which ranged between `7,000 and `10,000 a month. Besides a few thousands, they had earned hopes of success with each round of applause at Rabindra Mandap or Bhanja Kala Mandap. The pandemic has dashed these hopes.
“In the past two months, I have not earned a single penny. I haven’t been able to pay the monthly rent of `3,500 to the landlord during this period,” said Das who had migrated from Nabarangpur to join a theatre group in the City. The sole-breadwinner supported his family of three by earning around `8,000 from five to six shows a month before the pandemic snatched away his livelihood.
For 54-year-old Narendra Senapati of Pipili, life’s challenges are galore. The make-up artist has exhausted all his savings in providing basic necessities to his five-member family in a nondescript village, some 3 km from the small town that is known world over for its applique craft. “Only a few artistes are Government employees but there are several others, especially the backstage workers, who solely depend on shows,” he adds.
Passion for theatre drove several artistes away from their native villages to settle down in rented rooms of the City. The migration seemed to have made things tougher for a few. “I don’t have a ration card as I shifted to the City. Now, that I have come back to the village with no work left there, I can’t even avail benefits of Government schemes. Being an artiste, I don’t own a BPL card too,” Senapati claims.
Even if theatres do turn the lights back on, the artistes may take time to overcome the trauma. Veterans in the industry say lockdown has had an immense impact on the artistic skills. “Right now, several actors are unable to rehearse or practise. This adds up to their agony and challenges, affecting their mind as well,” says Subodh Patnaik, popular theatre director and founder of Natya Chetana. Patnaik and few others have, meanwhile, prepared a list of affected theatre artistes and crew. As per their estimates, the lockdown has adversely impacted livelihood of 600 people associated with theatre in the State.
‘Release funds for artistes’
Before lockdown, Odisha Sahitya Akademi and Odisha Natya Sangha used to organise four day-monthly theatre festival ‘Natya Dhara’ at Bhanja Kala Mandap and staged plays at Rabindra Mandap on the second Sunday of each month. For staging play at Bhanja Kala Mandap, a group gets `17,000. If the play is staged at Rabindra Mandap, the sum increases by `3,000. Similarly, Culture department has different allocations for hosting various events throughout the year, including theatre festivals. In a year, 250 plays are staged at Rabindra Mandap and 200 at Bhanja Kala Mandap.
These shows were the only source of income for artistes, technicians, make-up artistes, stage-craft artistes and others. “The Culture department has dedicated funds for hosting performances. Now that the auditoriums are closed, these funds remain unused.
These (funds) can be used to host programmes adopting alternative ways to support the artistes and crew,” says Subodh Patnaik. Odisha Natya Sangha has also urged the State Government for providing financial assistance to theatre artistes and workers and chalk out a comprehensive plan for its revival post-lockdown. On April 23, the Culture department had issued a notice claiming that grants under various schemes for the financial year 2019-2020 (ending March) had been released.
Alternatives
The industry has now started looking for alternatives. Webinars and video-conferences are being conducted by groups to boost confidence of artistes. Some theatre groups, including folk artistes, are focussing on community performances as the auditoriums are shut. Local markets, streets and quarantine centres have become the new venues for performances with limited number of artistes. For instance, theatre director Dinesh Das of Dhenkanal district composed a five-minute skit for a ‘theatre march.’ Two members of his group, Alternative Rhythm Theatre, went door-to-door for performing the skit based on Covid-19 theme. “Dressed as Yamraj and coronavirus, the artistes strolled through eight villages in the district to spread awareness about Covid-19,” said Dinesh.