Prospects of theatre grim,but the show at NSD must go on

However,a glimmer of hope came from Jawahar Sircar,Union Secretary for Culture: “Based on the recommendation of the Bhaskar Ghosh Committee,the ministry is substantially increasing the salary grant scheme for theatre directors and actors from Monday. The ceiling for the building grant scheme will also be raised the same day,and the production grant scheme is set to increase four-fold by April 1.”

The 30-year-old proposal to set up a National Theatre was also tossed up for discussion at the Kamani Auditorium packed with students and theatre buffs.

But can an event with Zohra Sehgal as its chief guest remain sombre for long? The doyen of theatre followed up her reminiscence of the grandeur of Prithviraj Kapoor with a rendition of Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon,and got a standing ovation.

It was also symbolic that the inaugural play at the festival,Awagha Rang Ekachi Zaala,revolved around a dying tradition and pitted the old against the new.

Directed by Ashok Samel,the play has the Kirtankaar’s family at its centre,in which the patriarch wants to stay true to the tradition,with his shaven-head,but the distressed jeans-clad youngest son wants to introduce fusion music to kirtans. In this setting arrives an American girl who wants to learn music in the gurukul parampara. To be held till January 19,the festival will showcase 63 plays,including several foreign productions.