Theatre initiative ‘Aadyam’ makes its debut on Mumbai stage

01 February 2015
Mithila Phadke
The Times of India

Acclaimed groups craft five new plays

An elderly couple grappling with a nervous breakdown and sudden fall from riches. An Englishman mysteriously collapsing on his estate, giant paw-prints near his body. A love triangle unfolding across old Bombay and Gujarat set to the tune of the Bhangwadi tradition, families battling it out in public, and a shrewd moneylender literally demanding his pound of flesh.

There's a common platform from where this motley gang, spanning eras and countries, plans to tell its stories. Some are new; others train an unexpected lens on the familiar. They are all part of Aadyam, an initiative by the Aditya Birla Group in association with the Times of India, which makes its debut on the Mumbai theatre scene this month. The nine-month-long festival brings together acclaimed groups like Arpana, Akvarious, Masque, Q Theatre Productions and Rage Theatre for five new productions, staged over 45 shows in Mumbai and Delhi.

The idea behind Aadyam is to reach out to wider audiences, and help shed the notion that theatre-going is an activity restricted only to a certain section of people. With an assortment of troupes crafting plays specially for the festival, Mumbai and Delhi's performing arts scene now has several new additions. For the premier show on Saturday Feb 27, Mumbaikars can troop into NCPA for Masque Theatre's adaptation of 'The Merchant of Venice' by William Shakespeare.

The appeal of the Bard's works is their keen insight into human behaviour and themes that are still relevant today, says Masque's Vickram Kapadia. If he had his way, and a never-ending stream of funds, the director insists he'd like nothing better than to travel the world, staging only Shakespeare's plays. "I've always been a Shakespearewallah," he says. "What could be better in life, yaar?"

'The Merchant of Venice' is a Shakespeare play that Mumbai audiences tend to be the most familiar with, Kapadia says. "So many of us have read it in school. I met some childhood friends recently and each one of them said, 'Oh, I know that play'." The team hopes it encourages viewers to delve further into Shakespeare's works.

Another play that finds inspiration in the Bard — specifically, 'All's Well That Ends Well' — is Sunil Shanbag's 'Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon'. Earlier a Gujarati production, it will be performed in Hindi during Aadyam. Also on the roster are Rage Theatre's 'The Sidhus of Sea View Towers', 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' by Akvarious, based on the famous Sherlock Holmes novel, and 'God of Carnage' by QTP.

Brian Tellis, from Oranjuice and the creative producer for Aadyam, adds that the goal is to c;reate a brand-new theatre experience for audiences. "It's a belief, a promise and a commitment to the institution of creative expression." Tellis is joined by artistic director Divya Bhatia, who has helped curate folk music and theatre festivals.

The team plans to eventually include other performing arts as well. "Aadyam is meant to evolve into a movement that nurtures and supports the arts, especially those that need to be sustained through patronage," said Tellis. "It is our belief that art allows us to bypass conditioned ways of thinking and allows new knowledge to come forward. While we are launching with theatre, we are looking at embracing the arts as a whole, and hopefully making it an integral part of our 'cultural currency'."

Mumbai and Delhi theatre buffs would do well to mark their calendars right away and gear up for an exciting year ahead.