AU theatre hall dying a slow death

ALLAHABAD: In the words of famous theatre director Peter Hall from UK, the state of theatre in any place is the best indication of the quality of life there.
The ruined building of the dramatics hall at Allahabad University, once the heart of drama and theatre, in not only the city but the entire state, speaks volumes of the slow death of theatre.
It is worth mentioning that the hall, located behind the department of economics, was initially a stable for the horses owned by authorities of Indian Press.Later, it was turned into the dramatic hall which dominated the scene of drama and theatre for around six decades, from early 20th century to mid 1990s. The hall, with the seating capacity of around 350 persons, has witnessed performance of numerous plays written by almost all the famous Indian litterateur, spanning from early 1920 to late 80s.
Dharamvir Bharti, Ram Kumar Verma, Mahadevi Verma and the list could go on, whose plays have been acted in this hall. Besides, individual performances by Ustad Vilayat Khan, Kamlesh Dhar Tripathi, Saeed Jafri and others were also held.
During the tenure of Masi-uz-Zaman as the secretary of the dramatic association of the university, the hall witnessed its golden period when numerous plays in Hindi, English, Sanskrit, Urdu and Bengali were staged. In 1964, when the department of English observed the centenary year of William Shakespeare, several faculty members and students performed various plays written by the eminent dramatist. Similarly, in 1983, David Grant from US enacted various acts from the novels by Mark Twain. Equally remarkable was the Ram Lila performed by the students belonging to hilly region.
Things took a u-turn after early 90s when the last performance was a play called Elkar written by Mangir Lal, member of MP Rang Mandal. The present condition of the hall is just the reverse of what it was in its good old days. The ceiling, furnitures, stage, changing rooms, window glass, stairs and everything has been ruined. The changing room, located behind the main stage is giving shelter to a security guard. The roof, made of tin sheets, is leaking. A wall is dominated by vegetation.
The shabby building has caught the attention of several vice-chancellors and most of them had promised to improve its condition. However, nothing materialised and the hall continues to decay.
The natural acoustics (the quality of sound) is not good. The state department of culture has given monetary help but the renovation work has to be left midway due to crunch of funds, said Sachin Tiwari, a faculty member of the department of English, who has a long association with the hall.