It has been fours years of theatre and dramatic synergies at Bangalore’s Jagriti Theatre and founders Arundhati and Jagdish Raja celebrated the moment with their rapturously noisy team by cutting a cake. It however seems like yesterday when a spanking new creative space threw its doors open to theatre lovers in Bengaluru.
**
Even today, when you walk into Jagriti on an impulse, there is more than just theatre to enjoy here. There is sunshine falling through the glass insets and filling up the lobby. The Yusuf Arakkal mural. And over 34 years of theatre history that birthed this space. The journey of the Rajas began with a play called Table Manners in 1977 with Bangalore Little Theatre(BLT). Their first full-fledged production was One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and also the first ever play to be staged at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall.
In January 2011, when the Rajas finally realised their dream of a dedicated space for performance arts, theatre professionals from all over the country including Sanjana Kapoor flocked to extend their goodwill.
**
Says Arundhati, “Yes, the goodwill has been consistent though to be honest, the first two years were really tough because now the focus was not on performance alone but to keep a performance space running. To organise programming, get audience, performers. We had a big space to fill.”
The biggest challenge she says was to offer competitive rentals. Ranga Shankara was already well-established but we were not able to offer a rental structure comparable to theirs. Over the years, we have worked things out and now it is easier on us and the groups who don’t have to pay the entire rental fee upfront. We have sorted a percentage sharing that works well for everyone.”
**
The monetary questions were inevitable but the couple wanted to create a vibrant space that was open to all performing artists. “That was the idea. So we have music and dance and stand-up comedy and theatre over the weekend. And a season of special performances even though people identify more with festivals than with seasons though the idea is growing. Slowly.”
Of all the lessons the Rajas learnt from running a self-sufficient performance space, the one they could have done without was how to counter fundamentalism when a controversial play Ali.J could not be performed. Says Arundhati,” The play was performed in Ranga Shankara with police support but we did not have the same backing. Even though such episodes make you more committed to the idea of keeping theatre unfettered, when you are surrounded by brick and mortar and a lot of glass, you have to take a call. That episode did not deter us though. What does still test us is the when houses run empty. Because really, who can figure that one out..just what kind of content draws an audience?”
**
She recalls the times when classic plays would be staged at a packed Chowdiah Memorial Hall. “Those days are gone, ” says she and adds, “We can keep trying though to draw people who have never tasted theatre. The theatre going audience has changed and so we need to change too. The younger theatre groups from Mumbai have supported us a lot by bringing their perspectives, by travelling all the way here with their fresh work. We also have a May carnival for children which is in its third year now.”
**
Does she think audiences and performers are tiring of formal performance spaces considering how many of them now frequent intimate, smaller venues? She responds,”It is nice that there are more places to perform in and devised performances in informal spaces are catching on all over the world but theatre is a demanding discipline. It is important that those who perform continue to create consistently and keep working with more than just one kind of a venue in mind.”
**
Jagriti in retrospect is a manifestation of the marriage of minds between the Rajas who have been together for over 42 years. She shares, “We don’t consciously think of just how long it has been. We have just been there, together but what does make me think at times is just why marriages fail so often today. We work with so many young people and gosh, there are so many broken relationships.” For the Rajas though, be it marriage or the passion they invest in keeping Jagriti going, life is not about half measures. Nothing they do is ever half-hearted and that is why when they sold their three acre farm to builder, instead of asking for a big chunk of real estate, the two asked for a theatre space be built within the emerging complex. The intention was to never make just profit. But to create a legacy. Jagriti is on its way to becoming just that.
with