NSD graduates initiative for promoting theatre

NSD will fund the project in which gruaduates from the renowned institute share their experiences and ideas on modern theatre with 20 local participants, Palash Protim Mech, an artiste of NSD Reparatory Company, told PTI over phone from New Delhi.

"The theatre workshop will be held from June 24 to July 24 at Gargaon in Sibsagar district. The 20 local candidates would be selected based on an audition of theatre artists from the region who have experience of folk drama and art," he said.

Mech, a 2009 batch graduate from NSD, said the workshop is intended as an exchange of ideas and techniques between people engaged in two streams of theatre. "It is not a one way dissemination of ideas. Rather, will be a great opportunity for our folk generation of theatre aspirants as NSD is sending experts of this field to teach and train them in contemporary approaches of theatre ... At the same time, we also seek to learn from them," Mech, who himself hails from Sibsagar, said.

Some local groups based in Sibsagar like Nazira Natya Samiti and a local NGO `Prabah` have extended help for the initiative. "The aim of the workshop is to make the region aware and express through theatre. We get lots of theatrical elements by birth as our culture is rich and we celebrate them too ... In the workshop we will also invite some folk musicians and folk theatre experts," Mech added.

A group of experts from NSD will train local artists yoga and movement, modern and classical theatre history, acting theory and practical methods, theatre design, light design, sound design, Mech said. "As part of event, a full-length play will be performed by the participants," he said.

The idea of the workshop is to spread the idea of taking up theatre as a profession by youngsters in the state and help them to adapt to the needs and challenges of modern day theatre, he added.