LIFESTYLE
One of the most successful theatre groups of the city will stage a series of plays to celebrate 25 years of its inception
Theatre artists Rajit Kapur, Shernaz Patel and Rahul daCunha talk about running their production house for 25 years.
Conceived in 1992 by theatre stalwarts Rajit Kapur, Shernaz Patel and Rahul daCunha, the trio’s company has many critically acclaimed plays to its credit, including AR Gurney’s Love Letters, Class of ’84 and I’m Not Bajirao, to name a few. And the fact that these productions have been running to packed auditoriums till date is testament to their quality and appeal. As the company prepares to celebrate its silver jubilee by staging some of its popular productions, we speak to the trio about what has kept them going strong for so many years. Kapur: On the whole, it has been fruitful and progressive with the usual ups and downs. Patel: It has been fantastic. I don’t know how time has passed. It’s like you wake up one day and realise that we have been together for 25 years. daCunha: Rage Productions may have completed 25 years, but we first worked together 32 years ago. It was my directorial debut in Mumbai and the play was called Nuts. Our production company didn’t exist back then, and we had worked on it independently. Then we worked separately for a long time, and in ’92, we decided, ‘it’s enough, let’s work together’. Kapur: Our basic aim was to do plays that we enjoyed. We also wanted to set a high standard for production value. And we have done both. Patel: There was no great philosophy behind what we wanted to do. As we changed and experienced [new things], our desires also evolved. Which are your favourite plays? Kapur: Love Letters, for its ability to enthrall audiences even today. Also, Flowers is a favourite. daCunha: I’m Not Bajirao, Class of ’84 and Pune Highway. Kapur: Yes, and they are healthy. It’s imperative to differ, so as to understand each other’s point of view. Our ultimate aim is to get the best out of each other. Patel: Even if we have lost our tempers, the point is to make the product better. We all know that and we respect each other for that. It’s like being in a family; you know you are not going anywhere. I can’t imagine doing theatre alone. Patel: In the commercial theatre space, it is helpful. The audiences feel, “So and so actor hai, chalo jaate hain” (This particular actor is acting in it, let’s go watch it). They come to watch the actor. So it definitely helps those who work in that way [work with famous personalities], but we’ve never done that. We don’t cast anybody just because they are popular. People come to see our plays, no matter if it has Rajit or me, or some other popular person in it. I think that’s the way it should be. You are going to watch a particular group, because you trust them, and there will be a certain quality in their work. Or, you follow a particular director or a playwright. Patel: The day we all are able to live off theatre. The overall quality of plays will improve immensely when you [an actor] don’t have to run away to do other things because you can’t survive on theatre. Many artistes along the way get diverted to other careers. Patel: It’s impossible to survive. If we hadn’t been doing other things, we would not have sustained either. And, we are a well-known company. Think about smaller groups that are starting out today with no government or corporate funding. Where will they get the money to put up their first play? That’s not the way it should be. Even if you start there, you have to keep growing. Look at Mumbai and then the number of theatres we have. I wish we had a dozen Prithvis [Prithvi theatre, Juhu]. It’s absurd that we have just one.
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Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point. January 15 7pm The trio’s plays, Love Letters has been running for 25 years, and Class of 84 is still attracting audiences to the theatre even after 13 years. da Cunha: I think there is much more original work these days. I don’t know about other languages, but in English theatre, there have been a lot of changes. More sponsors are coming forward. So, I would say it’s vibrant. It’s good to see that there are young people who are interested in theatre. I always had this fear 10 years ago that we were losing our young people, young writers, and young audiences to films. But now, they are interested to come out and watch plays. Now, we want to do more plays catering to younger people. Kapoor: In the course of the year, we will be revisiting some of our earlier productions — maybe as readings or with new teams. We intend to premiere a new play in June 2017.