By Rajoshree Das
Drama as an art form is highly underrated in Shillong. The stage presence of Khasi stories, both traditional and contemporary, is inconsequential. The montage, the live characters, the real, the dream and the love for theatre are all missing. Yet there is hope and a few individuals, educational institutes and young enthusiasts are keeping it alive.
Lapdiang Syiem, a National School of Drama alumnus, is trying to develop the contemporary theatre in Shillong in her own way. She engages students and holds workshops in colleges to encourage more youths to participate in the art form.
So far, Syiem held workshops at St Anthony’s College and St Mary’s College. At St Anthony’s, she had a year-long workshop for students of the Department of English where she observed the desire of students to learn.
St Anthony’s has been organising drama since 1990. The Mass Communications Department has done many noteworthy theatre shows and street dramas in the late 2000, like Bail the Society in 2009 and Flight Number Ecstasy in 2011. They have tried new techniques like live art and postdramatic theatre and the response was laudable. It also has a drama club organised by the students of the English Department and it was inaugurated by Syiem.
Other colleges like IIM Shillong and NIT Meghalaya have also been actively taking part in theatre.
“Youngsters in Shillong are showing much enthusiasm for drama in the recent years. There is a rise in interest among students to know about this field and experimenting themselves with this art form. They look forward to learning and performing theatre in schools and colleges. But as I interacted with the students I found that there are only a few who want to take up theatre seriously. It’s still merely an extra-curricular activity,” said Syiem.
“As there is no active role of theatre they still think it can only be a hobby and done with lecture time and not as a full-time job. To stage or not to stage isn’t the question but the question is whether there is scope for theatre and drama as a profession,” she added.
Syiem said the younger generation is still trying to make sense of theatre as a viable profession. There has been interest but the guidance needs to be there to show the opportunities that are there to take theatre professionally.
And the guidance is coming from experts like Syiem and Dr Naomi Bhuyan, an associate professor at Sankardev College, who involves her students in plays on social issues, trains them and encourages them to grow with each play.
“Life has challenged and fascinated me. Experiencing life and observing others have borne fruit in realistic depiction through theatrical pursuits. Passion and love for theatre have inspired and encouraged me. As theatre is a very powerful medium to convey a message and to move people emotionally and their mindset, it has spurred me on to do more creative work and perform. Furthermore, it is to help others perform and in a wonderful and meaningful way, to grow holistically,” said Bhuyan, who recently staged a play on child abuse in the city.
Bhuyan’s actors in the troupe, A Class Act, are not only from Sankardev but also other institutes like NEHU, Lady Keane College and St Mary’s College. She pushes the young actors for method acting and encourages them to interact with real life characters. For example, while preparing for a play on the problems faced by transgenders in Shillong, Bhuyan, who is into theatre for the last 30 years, took the artistes to meet members of Shamakami, an organisation that works with the LGBTQ community.
“I portray life in its various aspects. However, I give special emphasis on suffering in society and exposing social evils,” she said.
Manisha Sharma, a student of English (Hons) at Sankardev College who works with Bhuyan, said theatre helps one to grow as a person. “I had a big ego. But when I met Ma’am Naomi and started working in her plays, practising with other actors and meeting new people, I realised how wrong I was and that ego does not take you a long way. I have outgrown my earlier self and I look at life in a different perspective,” she said.
Talking about the importance of theatre in society, Sharma said drama which deals with pertinent issues bring forth the darker side of the society we live in. “Theatre creates awareness and if youths are involved then the impact is more because they are the future and they can pave way for change.”
When asked how drama is important for youngsters, Bhuyan, who is known as a tough task master among her actors, explained, “The main goal is to spread the beauty of theatre to the public and expose its great importance and relevance in our lives. Also, it is to encourage the youth who are interested in learning, to train them properly where they are made to realise that theatre goes beyond simply acting… one gets clarity of speech and learns to emote, one gets character development inputs and how to develop the personality too. One focuses on discipline, sincerity, honesty, team work and learns about the importance of humility and gratitude. One grows as an actor but more so as a role model in society (90 percent of my actors come with very little or no experience in acting). Their enthusiasm and sincerity is encouraged and actors also learn playwrighting skills.”
Many schools in the city have also introduced drama as a co-curricular activity.
The stage is not a popular space but with time, it seems the curtain is rising for the young aspiring thespians of Shillong. For Mary Theresa Synnah, who acted for the first time in a play staged by Bhuyan recently in the city, drama made her confident. “I think more youths in Shillong should be involved in theatre as this will bring out the best in them,” she said.
“Professional artistes need to come to the city and have active workshops and take responsibility to let the youth know that there are opportunities in the field and people should also come out and discover their talents,” said Syiem.