Theatre for all

Wrapping up a show in another city, on yet another evening, Ninasam Tirugata repertory loads the set properties into their grand old bus. Their usual audience seems to be in awe of their discipline and aesthetics at the task. Their precise, rhythmic movements will actually make you believe that they are still on the stage. For 30 years now, Ninasam Tirugata has been taking  theatre productions to different districts of Karnataka, functioning much like Yakshagana troupes.

Chandramma R, from Chitradurga, has been part of the ininerant repertory for last three years. She can recall instances of people questioning her about her caste when the team performed in a new place.  Even when she asked for a glass of water, she was blatantly pointed to a tap outside the house. But thanks to repeated interactions with the artists over the years, people’s perceptions have changed and how. They now offer flowers and suggestions to the troupe after every performance.

Dedicated to making theatre accessible to all, Neelakanteshwara Natya Sangha or Ninasam, was set up in 1949 by eminent writer and dramatist KV Subbanna. Ever since then, it has grown consistently from an amateur theatre group experiment to an established grassroots cultural centre, disseminating theatre and culture from Heggodu, the world-famous village near Sagara.

Tirugata theatre repertory was started in 1985 as one of the wings of the institute. A group of 20 students of Ninasam Theatre Institute (NTI) rehearse the
season’s plays and travel all over the State from July-March. This troupe takes up
Indian and Western classics along with modern works and presents them in stylised ways, that are unmatched for the most part.

Passion for performing arts Madhusudhan VD, Manager, Ninasam Tirugata, while giving an account of the repertory’s work, says that it has staged 85 productions so far, with over 3,400 shows before an estimated audience of 20 lakh. It is indeed an upheaval task for any administration to maintain the kind of consistency that Ninasam has shown.

Some towns or villages in certain talukas don’t have the luxury of a concrete structure to play host to such plays. But leave it to the theatre group to improvise. In 2015, the troupe performed on the roadside in Kennalu near Pandavapura, Mandya
district. On many occasions, playgrounds or empty areas are cleaned up for just one evening to become the stage for the plays. What more, the team doesn’t hesitate to clean the areas themselves, if the need arises.

Akshara KV, theatre director and playwright, and the current treasurer of Ninasam, insists that the presence of an audience is all that they need to stage their wonderfully-crafted plays and the facilities available in any given place come second. He believes that the understanding of the larger theatre movement comes naturally in this process.
The productions, with stories that may question the authority at times, have interestingly, never created a rift with the government. “The trouble with issuing of grants has only ever been a matter of bureaucracy and not an ideological one. Many times, they are not even interested in the content,” says Akshara, adding that even corporate funding in the country only goes by name and fame and has not understood the real intent of any work of art.

The team has even been extensively trained in resource management. Akshara brings attention to how the repertory ensures that income is equal to expenditure. “If the infrastructure in every corner of the state does not improve, there cannot be real progress beyond a point,” he opines. Speaking on how Ninasam could work as a model for others working in the medium, he says that plenty have been intrigued enough to visit Heggodu and see what they can employ in their attempts. Closest to and inspired from the model is the theatre school in the small village of Sanehalli, Hosadurga that works to highlight vachana concepts.

As one talks to the team of 2014-15, a sense of passion seems to emanate, even though they are on the road for six months. Trying to keep themselves motivated and to not let internal conflict bring the team spirit down, the actors engage themselves in various activities. “Picking up folk forms from different egions such as Doddata from Uttar Kannada, meeting writers, or our very own ibrary system give us something new to focus on,” says Laxman Piragar, one of the senior performers.

In fact, towards the end of Tirugata period, spending four months in preparation and six months travelling, the characters turn more real as the actors have a deeper understanding of the stories. “This journey is of the actor, the characters and the stories,” explains Mounesh Badiger, an alumnus of Ninasam and an ex-member of Tirugata. “Time and space keep changing before one can even register it. And it’s practised like a ritual, creating an inner process in the actors,” he says,
indicating that it will bear result at a later stage.

After-effects

A world of its own, Ninasam can be quite the cause for disillusionment post the
experience, when the students set out to create a space for themselves in the field. “Nothing can match the Ninasam experience. But for any creative work, such
struggle and inner conflict is essential,” Mounesh points out. He speaks of how in other fields of study, there is a tangible guarantee of sorts, like job assurance. This lack of assurance is perhaps what sets this respect apart.

But nearly everyone with a Tirugata background continues to work at the ground level. “43 among the alumni currently work as theatre instructors. Many of the students are now government-appointed school teachers who are still active on the field, exploring theatre” says Laxman Piragar. “You don’t see that in other institutes, most of them disappear into the industry,” he adds.

But while year after year, as fresh talent is brought to the stage, few are of the
opinion that the quality of productions is compromised. In recent times, when the number of travelling troupes has increased, Tirugata does not remain so out of the ordinary. Iqbal Ahmed, a theatre practitioner best known for children’s theatre in the state and one of Ninasam’s oldest students, feels that the productions lack experimentation, while being occupied with accessibility. Saying that there is no “risk being taken in experimenting with the form” he indicates that risk is essential for the form to take shape in the future.

So, what’s in store for the wandering troupe in the years to come? “To continue what we are doing and to consolidate this work itself is the goal, opines Akshara. “This experience is necessary to understand the different sentiments that exist among the audience,” say the freshers in the team, sure that gauging varied sentiments will help them grow as performers. And as another Tirugata performance comes to an end, it’s a new beginning for the artists.