Groups take to street plays, social media to draw a crowd

PUNE: Ignoring the blaring horns of vehicles passing by, a sizeable

crowd

gathered along the

street

to watch as a group of youngsters fused Kabir’s couplets with easy-on-the-ear music.

Dressed in a dhoti and gamchha with tambourine, mridangam and ghatam, the youngsters sang, “Natak dekho, natak dekho, Kabira khada bazaar me dekho, Ramanujan ko bhi dekho,” in unison.

Since the unusual affair on the street made many heads turn, members of the theatre group believe they hit the bull’s eye. The artists, all member of Swatantra Theatre, were promoting their upcoming drama festival. One among the

plays

to be staged is ‘Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein’, which focuses on the mystic poet and saint’s teachings and its relevance. Another play by the group ‘The Death of a Mad Mathematician’ explores the lonely life of the genius Srinivasa Ramanujan.

“Ofcourse, there are several other methods of promoting an event but giving the audience a glimpse of the play leaves them intrigued. Street plays help the artists communicate with the audience. People can also enquire about the play,” said Dhanashree Heblikar of Swatantra Theatre.

Gone are the days when artists went around the city distributing pamphlets or displaying posters of their upcoming shows. Moving away from the key marketing tools of yesteryears, theatre

groups

have now adopted street plays and flash mobs apart from

social

media platforms to promote their work.

The inefficiency of pamphlets, requirement of large budgets and a quest for creativity have forced theatre groups to evolve their promotional activities.

Pioneering the concept of bringing virtual trailers into reality, Swatantra Theatre has been staging live promos during the interval of other plays. “Some time ago we hosted Swatantra Rang Festival and invited several other groups to perform at the festival. When their shows had an interval, we did a live promo of what we would be staging the next day. This piqued their interest,” Heblikar added.

Members of Rhapsody Theatre Group realized that while the pamphlets burned a hole in their pockets most people did not pay much attention to them either. As a solution, the group moved towards organizing colourful flash mob. “The initiative did turn heads but unfortunately the footfall at the venue remained the same. The logistics of taking the group to popular places and have them perform was a financial burden,” shared Deepak Morris, founder of the group.

Both Heblikar and Morris agree that social

media

has made the humongous task of reaching out to people much easier. However, their opinion differs when it comes to the virtual enthusiasts converting into a ticket-buying audience.

Morris believes that although social media has changed the means of reaching out to people, it just creates the buzz but doesn’t help fill an auditorium. “In the past, local theatre groups largely survived due to word of mouth publicity and, surprisingly, it still remains the most effective way of getting an audience into the theatre. People see the events on Facebook and show an interest but few turn up at the event,” he said.

Ashish Mehta of Aasakta Kalamancha pointed out that social media is akin to the entertainment column in a newspaper that lists upcoming events. “Earlier theatre groups had their own following and people would wait for advertisements from their favourites. Theatre enthusiasts checked the section regularly. The routine still exists but with the advent of social media its popularity has decreased,” said Mehta.