Coronavirus impact | Theatre goes online in India with virtual plays

The theatre industry in India has been trying its best to keep up with changing times and audience tastes. The latest in this effort is the use of technology to keep its audience entertained as they remain holed up at home due to the lockdown.

Plays are now being performed online through the use of video calls where actors, directors and audience come together virtually to get a taste of live theatre.

Among the first plays that was performed live online took its inspiration from the current situation. Wait till you check out the name--- Lockdown Love, produced by Kommune, a performing arts company.

Starring actors like Shriya Pilgaonkar, Tanmay Danania, among others, the play is a series of online first dates with a twist at the end of each date.

“We put up the play in four days. The whole process right from the readings to being directed online to art direction to costumes all at our respective houses was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to seeing all the quarantine content that is being developed," said Pilgaonkar.

How did the idea of virtual interactive play emerge?

“One day during the morning call with my team I said that those who adopt technology in this situation will be the winner. To which my team asked --like what? And I said why don’t we do a play online," Roshan Abbas, a radio jockey, theatre actor, writer and director and founder of Kommune, told Moneycontrol.

While Abbas took care of the technical part, Sheena Khalid who is a theatre director and has also acted in Priyanka Chopra’s The Sky is Pink wore the director’s hat. For Khalid, while the medium was a challenge, it was a smooth ride due to the artistic freedom she had while directing the play.

The two of them selected the cast for the play but this time good acting was not the only criteria.

“Along with good acting, good internet was an important aspect that we looked at. In fact, I told one of the actors that I really like you as an actor but can’t cast you because your internet connection is bad,” said Abbas.

On April 12, the preview of the play went live and this is when there was another interesting addition to Lockdown Love.

“Around 130 people had watched the preview and one of them was our partner Paytm Insider. They suggested that what can engage audience more is when they interact. We had put up feedback forms in which many viewers mentioned that they would have loved it if they had a role to play in the play. So, we decided to give the power of choosing the end of the play to the audience. We have a virtual cupid that the audience controls thanks to Paytm Insider’s technology,” he said.

And in the first show of Lockdown Love, the audience brought the two central characters together in the end, he added.

The play which costs Rs 499 per viewer/per show saw 80 paid tickets for the first show.

If you are keen to catch up on the play then the English version will be live every Friday. Plus, Lockdown Love will also be performed in Hindi which will go live from April 28.

While the demand for an online theatre is interesting, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Indian audience is ready to shell out money to watch plays both online and offline.

If we go by BookMyShow data, Rs 88 crore worth of tickets were sold for theatre in 2018 and as many as 9.26 lakh tickets were sold in that year for plays.

“There is a definite audience for theatre. Ever since musical theatre has come over in the last four years suddenly the market has become much bigger whether it was for Aladdin or Mughl-e-Azam or the RBM theatre project which brings five to six plays every year. So, theatre is definitely growing in India. Plus, these plays are not cheap. The most expensive ticket for Mughl-e-Azam or Aladdin was Rs 8,000. So, people are willing to pay if there is quality,” said Abbas.

Abbas said when it comes to virtual theatre the script has to be clever.

“We are currently working on a murder mystery and I think for a murder mystery audience can play the detective. So, a certain amount of gamification and a certain amount of technology and a great narrative is 100 percent a good revenue stream,” he added.