Theatre Arts Workshop Explained

Theatre Arts Workshop
Established:1966
Type:Theatre Organization

The Theatre Arts Workshop (TAW) is a non-profit making, registered cultural organization established in 1966, in Lucknow, India.

As well as the plays of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries, TAW produces new work from living artists and develops creative links with theatre-makers.

TAW will celebrate its 50 anniversary in March 2016.

Foundation and history

In December 1963, ten members organized a theatre play and put through a programme – An Evening with Young Actors – which included Edna St. Vincent Millay's Aria da Capo, scenes from Twelfth Night and Macbeth, The Valiant and a dramatized reading of Hamlet, Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Raj Bisaria produced and directed all the plays, and decided to register a theatre group with a managing body and using local talent. A bilingual group theatre (English and Hindi), the central concern the development of a genuine interest in theatre-craft and creating within its scope, a theatre-consciousness, an ability to appreciate the drama of ideas and technique.[1]

Bisaria financed the project, selected members for the committee, picked out a group of four English actors and helpers, and established what has since then been called Theatre Arts Workshop.[2]

Thus in 1966, Theatre Arts Workshop (TAW) was founded by Raj Bisaria, as a president and artistic director, with the aim of creating interest in dramatic arts among the young, and help them to develop an insight into acting, direction and allied arts. The name ‘Theatre Arts Workshop’ is for theatre and allied performing arts; its members are to be exposed to workshop methods of representation. TAW was to be a training organization and then a performing group, with its motto ‘training before performance’. Its philosophy is "your right is to work only, but never the fruit thereof. Let not the fruit of action be your object, nor let your attachment be to inaction." – Sri Krishna to sorrowing Arjuna (The Bhagvadgita, chapter II - 47)

A token grant has been given by the Government of India – sufficient to meet the expenditure for one production.

Theatre

William Shakespeare's Othello was the first play performed by the group, on 12 February 1966. It was adapted to be played by four actors, all British, and directed by Raj Bisaria, in the English language.[3]

TAW has mounted over eighty major theatre productions till now. They have included performances both in English and Hindustani, and have included a range of plays from the US and England, major European plays and Indian plays drawn from various regional languages and Hindi. The productions have been interspersed with workshops, talks, arts shows and exchange programmes.[4] TAW mounted on stage the plays by European, American and Indian playwrights; its repertory including a selection from William Shakespeare, G.B. Shaw, Sartre, Ionesco, Christopher Fry, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Noël Coward, Ronald Duncan, Rattigan, Harold Pinter, Peter Shaffer, Jean Anouilh, Maxwell Anderson, Mohan Rakesh, Badal Sircar, Adya Rangacharya, Dharamvir Bharati, Shesh and Mohit Chatterjee and productions of Ann Jellicoe, Edward Albee and Orton, which proved too radical in the context of existing provincial attitudes which TAW is trying to change.[5]

English theatre

The TAW started its venture in English language with Shakespeare's Othello in 1966, Christopher Fry's poetic play A Phoenix too Frequent and Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist play The Lesson in 1967.[6]

In 1967 Raj Bisaria decided to produce and direct Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialist In Camera, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Aria Da Capo and Ronald Duncan’s translation of 12th century classic Abelard and Heloise in a three-bill presentation, in November, 1967. These were crucial productions as TAW’s audience wavered between shocked admiration and shocked disgust.[7]

Hindi and Urdu theatre

Raj Bisaria invited Delhi groups to produce, under TAW’s auspices, plays in Hindi with a view to making local groups conscious of the potentialities and challenges of Hindi theatre.[8]

TAW’s first Hindi play was Baqi Itihas, a translation of Badal Sircar’s Bengali play on a thrust stage. It was a non-realistic presentation, using giant slides and specially designed music, the first production of the kind in the country.

Baqi Itihas was followed by a wide range of plays in translation from English, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, in addition to those originally in Hindi; Andha Yug, Suno Janmejaya, Aadhe-Adhure, The Cave Dwellers, Antigone, Garbo, Candida, The Father, Sleuth, Barefoot in Athens The Caretaker,[9] [10] The Public Eye etc.[5]

Arts

Apart from the theatre TAW also introduced other allied performing arts for the very first time, like Irshad Panjatan’s Indian mime in 1967, and modern dance by America’s Murray Louise Dance Company in 1968, Indian classical dance by Sonal Mansingh in 1970, Om Shivpuri’s Hindi theatre group Dishanter in 1973, Richard Schechners’ environmental theatre presentation of Mother Courage and Her Children from New York in 1976, and painting exhibition of R.S. Bisht's miniatures in 1973 and the Annapolis Brass Quintet in 1981.[11]

Workshop

With its motto training before performance, TAW has been conducting comprehensive theatre workshops since 1966, for young theatre aspirants. Its training primarily focuses on psychological and realistic acting, with special attention on voice and body. As of 2015 over 100 acting and theatre workshops have been organised by TAW.

Major productions

Notable actors in productions

Notes and References

  1. News: Kala. S.C.. An Evening With Young Actors. The Illustrated Weekly Of India. January 5, 1964.
  2. News: Theatre Arts Workshop, Lucknow. The National Herald, Lucknow. April 6, 1969.
  3. News: The way of a pioneer. The Overseas Hindustan Times, New Delhi. May 30, 1970.
  4. News: Sagar. Anand. Raj Bisaria Learns To Give More Than He Gets. The Pioneer, Lucknow. March 26, 1978.
  5. News: Thakore. Dolly. Raj Bisaria: founder of the Hindi Theatre Movement. Mid-Day, Mumbai. June 3, 1984.
  6. News: Narain. Prof. S.K.. TAW : Bisaria's Fresh Effort. National Herald, Sunday Magazine. May 9, 1971.
  7. News: Memorable Stage Performance. The National Herald. May 6, 1967.
  8. News: Nairan. Prof. S.K.. TAW-The Protagonist Of Theatre Art. The Pioneer, Sunday Magazine, Lucknow. September 23, 1984.
  9. News: Tragedy Of Alienation. Hindustan Times. 20 August 2014.
  10. News: Chandra. Vidita. When Play Time Gets Serious. Times of India. 21 August 2014.
  11. News: A Sonal - Irshad smash hit. The Pioneer, Lucknow. September 27, 1970.
  12. Nagar. Mr. Sharad. Lession in Lucknow Box. Enact. 6 June 1967.
  13. News: A Rare Treat For Theatre-Goers. National Herald. May 6, 1967.
  14. Amateurs Steal the Show. Enlite. 10 June 1967.
  15. News: Three Course Menu. Enlite. Jan 6, 1968.
  16. News: 'The Knack' at Ravindralaya. The Pioneer. March 31, 1968.
  17. News: TAW's Hat Trick - Realism, Evasion and Absurd. The Pioneer. October 14, 1968.
  18. News: Better and Better. The Pioneer. October 21, 1968.
  19. News: Drama of Art and Laughter. The Pioneer. December 13, 1968.
  20. News: Tennessee Williams' Play At Ravindralaya. The Pioneer. May 14, 1969.
  21. News: Shepherd. Keith. Lone Steps Across The Boards. The National Herald. 5 September 1971.
  22. News: Shepherd. Keith. A tete-a-tete with Bisaria. The National Herald, Lucknow. 12 September 1971.
  23. News: Acharya. Lena. A Decade Of TAW. The National Herald. February 2015.
  24. News: TAW's Critics Silenced. The Pioneer. July 10, 1973.
  25. News: Shashi. 'Suno Janamejaya ' - A Critical Review. The Pioneer, Lucknow. 13 May 1977.
  26. News: Saxena. Rajeev. Raj Bisaria's 'Fine Madness'. The Sunday Observer. 15 April 1990.
  27. News: 'Adhe Adhure' - Technically Superb Play. The Hindu, Madras. 14 August 1983.
  28. News: Probe Into Life. The Hindu, Madras. 17 August 1983.
  29. News: 'Suniti' : A Slick Production. The Times Of India, Lucknow. 29 August 1984.
  30. News: Mixed response to TAW plays. The Times Of India, Lucknow. November 1984.
  31. News: Pandey. Nishi. Raj's back with a 'Raaz. Hindustan Times, Lucknow. 23 January 2000.
  32. News: Manjul. Tarannum. A Man's Search For Identity. Hindustan Times, Lucknow. 12 November 2000.
  33. News: TAW Plays It And How. Hindustan Times, Lucknow. 15 February 2011.
  34. News: Pahwa. Meenakshi. TREAT FOR THEATRE LOVERS. Hindustan Times, Luckonw. 19 February 2012.
  35. News: Sadda Haq. Hindustan Times. March 20, 2012.
  36. News: Daftur. Swati. Universal Truths. 17 February 2015. The Hindu. February 2015.
  37. News: Philosophy Revisited!. Hindustan Times. 12 April 2013.
  38. Web site: Lucknow Tribune . 2013-04-05 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140531143745/http://www.thelucknowtribune.org.cp-33.webhostbox.net/news.php?cat=465 . 2014-05-31 . Carry on TAW!
  39. News: The Times of India: Latest News India, World & Business News, Cricket & Sports, Bollywood. https://archive.today/20130624173918/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-02-15/others/37100786_1_theatre-lovers-athens-difficult-task . dead . 2013-06-24 . .
  40. Web site: Bajeli. Diwan Singh. Finer Side of Life. The Hindu. 6 Feb 2014.
  41. News: Pati Patni Aur Wo. Hindustan, Lucknow. 22 December 2014.
  42. News: Singh. Piyusha Chaterjee. Bisaria's Raaz. Hindustan Times - HT City. 3 March 2016.

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