At Bengaluru’s St. Joseph’s College of Commerce (SJCC), a group of students are busy rehearsing a mime that portrays the story of Ashoka, the Emperor. After a power-packed rendition filled with swift agile movements and intense emotions, they take a break. These students form the core of Hashmi Theatre, SJCC’s students theatre forum.
“The methods we follow here really get you out of your shell and help you be more expressive,” says Angel, a final year student who has been part of Hashmi Theatre Forum from her first year.
Vidya, another student artist, notes that while she has always been into theatre, Hashmi Theatre becomes different due to its focus on societal issues.
T.H. Lavakumar, a theatre artist himself and a Kannada faculty at the college, is the soul of the group. According to him, Hashmi Theatre Forum is probably one of the few college theatre groups in Bengaluru dedicated to educational theatre.
T.H. Lavakumar
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The beginning
It was in 2005 that Lavakumar came to SJCC to conduct a play titled Uriya Uyyale. A retelling of Droupadi’s story, the play was performed by Devdasis.
Following this he was invited to train the students at SJCC. In 2006 he started Hashmi Theatre Forum at the college which initially performed in Kannada, and in the following years in English and Hindi.
The group has so far produced 13 plays in Kannada, 17 in English and 47 street plays. “The number of shows would have crossed 1,000,” Lavakumar estimates.
Performance by Hashmi Theatre Forum
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Theatre for change
Some of the high points of Hashmi’s Theatre Forum include performing at Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Tumkur and doing street theatre during the COVID-19 pandemic in around 100 low-income settlement areas including Padarayanapura where riots broke out in 2020.
“When the Bharat Jodo Yatra reached Tumkur, we walked with them for around two kilometres,” Lavakumar recollects. Students kept calling out to Gandhi who finally noticed them and gave them a go-ahead to perform.
“But actors had by then scattered. So, we started the play and improvised it as more actors kept coming in. It came out very different from how it was rehearsed, but it came out well. Street changes the dynamics of performance, and this was a fantastic experience on street theatre for students,” Lavakumar notes.
The group also utilised their skills and talent to raise awareness on community health during the pandemic. They have also performed partnering with Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha, the Government Labour Union and so on.
“This is a model. Institutions must encourage such social interventions so that they will enrich the students’ experience. It transforms them. It’s theatre for change. We don’t care much about competitions. Self-transformation and transformation of society – that’s the philosophy,” says Lavakumar.
Revisiting classics
Nevertheless, the group has not shied away from participating in festivals and performing classics. The group recently performed Shakespear’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the college fest where the theme was ‘revisiting classics.’
“Doing Shakespeare always thrills. We do a lot of street plays, but I personally want them to get a grand experience which they get by doing classics. When you do social-oriented performances, you speak and behave as you normally do. But when it comes to classics your personality enlarges. It’s larger than life. It is like doing Yakshagana. Doing street plays is important, so is reconnecting with the classics,” Lavakumar notes.
The other performances of the forum include The Mad Woman of Challiot, Gunamukha by P. Lankesh, Bhasa’s Karnabhara and Agni Mattu Male by Gireesh Karnad among others.
A waning streak
According to Lavakumar, the theatre culture in colleges of Bengaluru has been waning, especially post-pandemic.
“Lots of colleges have stopped theatre, especially after COVID. Many colleges now don’t appoint people to do theatre. Even if they do, for them to understand youngsters, who are not professionals, takes so much time and effort. College theatre isn’t easy,” he notes.
Meanwhile, Hashmi Theatre Forum is in preparation for something truly experimental in the coming days – a silent street play.
Published – September 27, 2024 09:00 am IST