Covid-hit, Assam’s mobile theatre cries for a healing touch

Before the CAA-protests and the pandemic forced them to stop operations, mobile theatre groups drew large crowds across Assam.

The Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a body blow to many in the cinema and theatre industry. Among them is Assam’s Bhramyaman (roving or mobile) theatre, which has become a part of the state’s cultural heritage.

Shut for almost two years, mobile theatre groups have not been able to operate mainly due to the coronavirus outbreak and partly because of the anti Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (anti-CAA) protests in the state.

Now, theatre operators say that if the government does not provide them a bailout package and ease Covid restrictions on the entertainment sector, it will be extremely difficult for them to start operations and save the sector that generates employment for thousands of people.

Bankim Rai Medhi, producer of Brindaban Theatre, said each group has incurred losses of up to Rs 50-60 lakh in the past two years. And damaged equipment will further add to the cost. There are around 35 theatre groups in the state at present.

For now, the government has allowed the theatre groups to begin rehearsals with Covid precautions, but is yet to take a call on allowing them to hit the road, saying it will take a decision in due time after looking at the situation.

A catch-22 situation

Producers are, however, in two minds. Amid the uncertainty, they say they need permission and proper guidelines before they can think of resuming operations. A few of them, though, have started rehearsals with the hope that things will get better on the Covid front.

“How can we begin rehearsals without proper norms and permission? Plays do not get ready overnight; we need a couple of months. And what if there is a lockdown again?” said Tapan Lahkar, producer of Kohinoor Theatre, one of the oldest and biggest groups in the state.

“The night curfew is still in place (the plays are staged at night) and there is speculation about a possible third wave. It is a catch-22 situation. We are not going ahead,” said Lahkar, son of the late Ratan Lahkar, one of the pioneers of Assam’s theatre movement.

Krishna Roy, another prominent theatre personality who initially worked with Ratan Lahkar and later founded the equally famous Abahan Theatre, is, however, optimistic.

“We have begun rehearsals. We hope SoPs (standard operating procedures) will be released soon. If the night curfew is lifted and the situation is under control, we can start operations. We have to save theatre,” Roy said.

The going, however, will not be easy, say experts.

How it works

The Bhramyaman theatre ecosystem operates almost all round the year, with a break from mid-April, when the Bohag Bihu festival and the Assamese New Year are celebrated, to around June.

It begins again from June-end or July, when the groups begin preparations for the next cycle of shows with new content, plays and ideas.

About two-three months go into brainstorming, practice, preparations, and readying new sets and props. And by August-end or September, they are ready to hit the road again.

The theatre groups are not confined to one place, as the name Bhramyaman (mobile) suggests. They move from one city, town and village to another location, wherever they are invited by local organising committees, with the entire physical set-up, a financier of theatre groups explained.

A theatre group involves about 150 people, including directors, actors, artists, production staff, technicians, labourers, stage construction staff, cooks, transport staff, etc., who live and move together, much like the old circus entourages, for about nine months.

The theatre owners take an advance from the local organising committees, and, later when the shows begin, a share from the daily proceedings, depending on the contract and popularity of the group or actors.

“The advance they take from committees is their working capital, which is used to start operations, meeting running costs during rehearsals, food, salary, stay, etc. But this year, many organisers are apprehensive of booking shows because of the uncertainty over Covid,” said Kishore Kumar Kalita, who has co-authored two books on Assam’s mobile theatre.

Poster for a travelling production by Kohinoor, one of the oldest and best known mobile theatres in Assam. Bhramyaman or mobile theatre groups move from one city, town and village to another.

In dire straits

According to Kalita, the government has to intervene to save mobile theatres. “They need urgent financial assistance from the government or else they won’t be able to get over this phase. They have incurred huge losses over the past two years. Plus, their equipment and paraphernalia have been lying unused and may need replacement and repair. All this entails huge costs,” Kalita said.

Besides lights, sound systems, electrical equipment and transport, the set-up of a mobile theatre includes tents, bamboo, foldable wooden stage, materials for decoration and props, cloth, seating arrangements, etc., which has been lying unused for the past two years without proper upkeep because of Covid restrictions and lockdowns.

With each of the 35 travelling theatre groups incurring losses of up to Rs50-60 lakh, the industry is in dire straits.

Brindaban Theatre's Rai Medhi said: “The All Assam Mobile Theatre Producers’ Association had petitioned the government for financial help or loan but nothing has happened so far. We will approach again. Without monetary help, it will not be possible for us to resume shows and save the genre.”

The government has promised to release Rs 10 lakh per group by September but that will not be enough, producers argue, adding they need Rs 40-50 lakh at least to get going again.

Medhi said the government had asked them to approach banks for loans and promised to consider relief on the interest, but no one is willing to lend money.

“But banks aren’t willing to invest because of the nature of the business. Besides, we won’t be able to complete document-related formalities. We are helpless and caught between a rock and hard place,” Medhi said.

We are preparing to resume even with 50% audience... We have to think of the people, who are shifting to other professions. If we can’t start this year, we will lose all these people.

- Abahan Theatre owner Prastuti Parashar

To make ends meet and with no signs of immediate revival, many people connected with the mobile theatre world have moved to other professions in the past two years.

The government provided a one-time financial assistance of Rs 50,000 to artistes and other theatre-related people, but it was not enough to sustain them for so long, Kalita said.

Many of them turned to small-time businesses and are selling vegetables on the road while others have moved out of Assam in search of livelihood. Some artistes and musicians are trying their luck in the already-crowded world of television and digital content, which is also struggling amid the slowdown.

Jayanta Sarma, an actor, is one such person. “Of course, theatre is my life. But then we need money to look after our families. Most of us are trying hard to earn our livelihood. If theatre starts again, I will be the happiest person.”

Sarma said many like him are in a dilemma over the decision of some camps to begin rehearsals after the government’s go-ahead.

“We need full permission. What if this doesn’t work out and there is another lockdown? The government has to bail us out or else theatre will be finished,” Sarma, who is presently working at a supermarket launched by popular Assamese singer and actor Zubeen Garg, said. Majority of the workers at the supermart, he said, are associated with the theatre world.

File photo of a poster for a theatre performance (Images arranged by Nilutpal Thakur)

The origins

Assam’s theatre movement traces its origins to Vaishnavite saint Srimanta Sankardeva. The modern mobile theatre took shape in 1963, when the late Achyut Lahkar, who is considered the father of the genre, launched Nataraj Theatre in 1963 in eastern Assam’s Pathsala town, about 100 km from capital city Guwahati. A dramatist, actor, director and producer, he was inspired by the mobile theatre model of Natyacharya Brajanath Sarma.

Pathsala, which went on to become the home of Assam’s mobile theatre, produced another cult personality, Ratan Lahkar, who founded Kohinoor Theatre with Krishna Roy, who later started Abahan.

The plays, which are generally based on local folklore and Hindu mythological tales, evolved over the years to include modern themes and Shakespeare’s classics such as Othello, Cleopatra, Hamlet as well as adaptations of Hollywood films such as Titanic, Anaconda and Jurassic Park.

The popularity of the mobile theatres, which have shot to international fame due to their technological innovation and special effects to keep pace with modern times and themes, has attracted many an artist from the cine world too.

Hoping against hope

Those who are resuming rehearsals are, however, optimistic that good days will return soon and they will be able to revive the theatre movement that has withstood the onslaught of time, and modern forms of entertainment such as television, cinema and digital content.

A few days ago, film and theatre actor and the present owner of Abahan Theatre, Prastuti Parashar, launched a song for the group’s new play at a media interaction, hoping that the government would soon show the green light to revive the mass communication medium.

“We are preparing to resume even with 50% audience. We plan to take this risk because we do not want this cultural heritage and legacy to die. We have to think of the people, who are shifting to other professions. If we can’t start this year, we will lose all these people and our heritage,” she said at the launch.

Abahan and Bhagyadevi theatres have started rehearsals while Udayan and Nayantara are expected to follow suit. Majority of the groups, however, including Hengul and Kohinoor, have decided to wait and watch.

Krishna Roy of Abahan echoed Parashar. "It is true that all of us have suffered tremendous losses but then for how long can we sit idle? We need Rs 30-40 lakh at least to begin again. The CM (chief minister) has promised Rs 10 lakh this month. The committees are also helping us.”

Roy said they have to be ready in case the government gives them permission and that’s why they have started rehearsals with a great deal of optimism in mind. “Mobile theatre is a part and parcel of the lives of Assamese people. The show has to go on.”

Amid unpredictability and hope, only time will tell if this famed art form of Assam that withstood the test of time will survive the Covid onslaught.