By theatre, for theatre

Darshan Jariwala. Pic/Facebook, Nadira Babbar and Anupam Kher

Every evening, on your screen, a new face arrives, teacup in hand and narrates a story. Animated and intimate, the speakers delve into their journeys in theatre over the years. Chai-Wai and Rangmanch by Coconut Theatre, has now conducted over 55 such sessions and aims to clock in 99. The list has been varied; across cities and forms including several award-winning playwrights, directors, actors and technicians.

The sessions begin at 6 pm on weekdays and there are two on weekends; 5 pm and 6 pm. Each lasts a minimum of 30 minutes and performers are encouraged to talk about their craft in detail. "Each of them talks about the niche within their field. For instance, a choreographer will discuss the importance of dance in theatre and Anupam Kher will talk about acting," explains Rashmin Majithia, MD, Coconut Theatre. Some of the names so far have included stalwarts like KK Raina, Makarand Deshpande, Jayati Bhatia, Nina Kulkarni, Nadira Babbar, Suchitra Pillai, Himani Shivpuri and many more.

KK Raina, Nina Kulkarni and Rashmin Majithia

This weekend, Darshan Jariwala, Rohini Hattangadi, Neelam Mansingh, Chandrakant Kulkarni and Raman Kumar will take the virtual stage, among others. "The objective is to provide students of theatre an avenue of learning," shares Majithia though viewers of all kinds have been watching these sessions. Starting June 15, international artistes will be invited to talk too, some all the way from Broadway.

The result is a repository of information, almost like a catalogue of Indian theatre. The aim, Majithia tell us, was also to bring the entire theatre community together on a single platform in these times, in the absence of unifying government bodies and associations. "And the best way to do it was through learning for upcoming artistes. Most speakers have decades of experience in the field," he says.

The idea was to motivate them and keep the art form alive while venues remain shut. "It-s our attempt at reviving theatre since performances aren-t coming back anytime soon," he sums up.

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