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The Arts

NY theater fest is a hit

Amrapali Singh

The organizers of the "first-ever" festival of Indian theater in North America which started on July 14, wanted to draw the attention of the mainstream American audience towards the thriving Indian theater back home. And they have succeeded up till now, in the festival's second week. The festival runs through August 2 at the prestigious TriBeCa Performing Arts Center in Manhattan and is sponsored by the Indo-American Arts Council of New York.

The festival will include 18 performances spread over three weeks, in English, of two plays written by two of India's celebrated playwrights, Vijay Tendulkar and Mahesh Dattani. The all-Indian cast includes television and stage actors Suchitra Pillai and Joy Sengupta. A third play, by Girish Karnad, was scratched due to "scheduling difficulties".

Reviews appreciating the Indian theatrical traditions and the two plays have already appeared twice in the arts section of The New York Times which gives glowing tributes to the artists, the playwrights and the directors.

As far as the audience appreciation goes, it has been satisfactory, according to Aroon Shivdasani, director of the Indo-American Arts Council. Shivdasani says many members of the audience are local Americans who till now were ignorant about Indian theater.

"I wanted to educate the American audience, and the large Indian-American crowd, about Indian art through its visual, fine and performing arts," says Shivdasani. Her organization earlier had screenings and discussions of films like Deepa Mehta's Earth, Shabana Azmi's Godmother and Perspectives of Gandhi in Manhattan.

"Indian theater has been here but has remained a one-night stand," says Shivdasani, founder of the small, multicultural Bear Theater Company in Toronto. "It's one night in Queens, one night in New Jersey, then it's out," she said. Ergo a festival of longer duration.

The festival will also host chat sessions with the two playwrights in conjunction with the Asia Society, followed by post-show discussions with directors and cast members. Shashi Tharoor, columnist and India's man in the UN, will moderate the discussions.

Mahesh Dattani'sDance Like a Man which runs first illustrate the conflict between the artist and society in India today, as well as the conflict between generations. Directed by Lillette Dubey, the play follows the life of two aging Bharatanatyam dancers whose careers are ending, and their daughter, whose career is taking off.

Vijay Tendulkar's Once Upon a Fleeting Bird is an English adaptation from Marathi of a contemporary love story set in a middle class Maharashtrian home in Bombay. Akash Khurana has directed the play.

The screenings and performances are often accompanied by a discussion about broader perspective about Indian culture, Shivdasani says.

The Indo-American Arts Council was started two years ago to introduce mainstream American audience to Indian artists. And it's slowly getting there.

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