One English play so far in UT!

CHANDIGARH: Borrowing a dialogue of Amitabh Bachchan from Namak Halal, one can say that Chandigarhians ‘talk English’, ‘walk English’, but they surely do not get their share of English plays.
Those in the city, who have a taste for English plays, hardly have an option but to wait for artists from Mumbai and Delhi, as there is no local English theatre group here.This year, till now, only one English play has been staged in the city despite there being many takers for this genre. This might come as a surprise for those who consider the city a hub of theatre activities in the region.
According to sources at Tagore Theatre, till now this year, various theatre groups have staged 14 different plays. Among these, there was only one English play, staged by a Mumbai-based production group in March.
There are over 25 different theatre groups in the city. None of them is actively doing English theatre despite youngsters largely preferring to watch English plays. Over the years, population migrating from cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata has increased in the Tricity due to there being a large number of professionals working in various IT and management roles in companies here.
Many schoolchildren studying in convent schools are actively doing English plays during their class shows.
Noted theatre personality Neelam Man Singh said English theatre in the city has not made it big. She attributes this to there being a lack of English-speaking families and theatre artists. “No theatre group is doing English theatre in the city. Department of Indian theatre of Panjab University is often organizing English plays, or production houses from Mumbai stage English plays here. For staging of any play, there should be a connect between the audience and artists,” she said.
Kuldeep Sharma, director of Tagore Theatre, admitted there was no group in the city doing English theatre. “All theatre groups have a regular and fixed audience. Moreover, youngsters are not the target audience for such theatre groups. When it comes to advancement and variety in theatre, English plays could play a key role. “We plan to organize English plays with the help of theatre groups based in the city,” he added.