With the hope to make Telugu theatre a sustainable career option

Groups incorporate new elements in Production-oriented workshops culminate in ticketed Telugu plays in Hyderabad

A manager by day and an actor by evening … Surabhi Santhosh’s transformation is effortless. The 36-year-old founder of Curtain Call Theatre (CCT), takes acting lessons for aspiring actors that will lead to a production to be staged at Rangbhoomi Spaces in Hyderabad.

At Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Gachibowli, B Studio artists are in rehearsals to stage the 15th show of New Bombay Tailors in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh on June 8.

Elsewhere, the Natarang Theatre team is gearing up for a production-oriented workshop, to present their second ticketed play in Hyderabad.

The stage is set for a change, as nascent Telugu theatre groups take steps to put up ticketed shows, with the hope to make theatre a sustainable career option.

With a history of mythological and historical plays, contemporary Telugu theatre faces its share of challenges. While the iconic Surabhi group’s s traditional theatre continues to produce classical padyanatakam (poetic drama) groups such as Bhoomika, Samahaara and Nishumbita keep the drama alive with social themes. The annual ‘Parishat Natakam’ — theatre competition for groups — also creates a buzz among Telugu theatre groups vying for a prize. “The goal of staging a ‘parishat natakam’ is to win the competition,” points out actor-director Shaik John Basheer, hinting that audience reception is of little interest. Basheer started B-Studio in 2020 to build a theatre community and ‘show artists that it is possible to make a living by doing Telugu theatre.’

The young brigade, however, with some support and sponsorship from the Department of Culture, Telangana State, forges ahead with production-oriented workshops that culminate in plays incorporated with different elements. Moving away from a conventional theatre performance, these productions adapt to the changing times to bring in new audiences and also motivate young theatre artists. Devised productions, scenes with music and dance, and classics adapted to suit nativity are facets enhancing the collective experience of watching a play.

For example, Bridge Theatre’s Ramji and Somdevi is a native take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; its protagonists are two tribal lovers who express love in the Telangana variant of Telugu. Kallu, a CCT production, tweaks a 50-year-old story by (late) Gollapudi Maruthi Rao to add songs, dance and a few extra characters. Says director Kranthi Kumar of Natarang whose play Bhootha Ganam was devised against the backdrop of Theyyam, “Having different elements that create an impression among the audience and visually attractive scenes are crowd pullers.”