Corona crisis: Shows get cancelled, Marathi theatre industry incurs losses

The team of the Marathi play Amar Photo Studio was supposed to perform 14 shows on their US tour till April 5. However, their tour was cut short owing to the coronavirus outbreak. After completing just three of their 14 planned shows, a majority of the team returned to India on Wednesday.

Sunil Barve, producer of the play, told us, “Due to increasing concerns around the coronavirus outbreak and other conditions, we had to cancel all remaining shows of Amar Photo Studio in the US.We are not a big production house and the losses are definitely a setback. But in times like these, there’s no other option either.” This was the team’s second US tour. They had a successful run of 12 shows in February 2019. This time, they could only perform at Connecticut, Philadelphia and Houston, with the following shows getting cancelled. Harshad Parashare, from the US-based company that organised the tour, informed, “When the team left for the US, on March 5, the situation was not as grim as it is today. The WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and everything changed. The team was in San Jose for the fourth show then, but on the day of the show, the local government banned all public events. Soon, all remaining shows got cancelled. From arranging tickets for them to fly back, to auditorium charges and other things, we incurred losses of approximately $12,000 (`9 lakh approx).”
Not long ago, the team of the play Ashrunchi Zhali Phule had announced cancellation of their US tour. Harshad, who had organised the shows of that play too, shared that 13 shows of the play, featuring Subodh Bhave, Umesh Jagtap, Seema Deshmukh and others, were to happen in the US. “The tour was to happen from March 26-April 26, but due to the current situation, all shows have been pushed to next year. The losses for this tour stand at approximately $17,000-20,000 (`12-15 lakh approx),” said Harshad.
Besides the US, shows of plays like Eka Lagnachi Pudhchi Goshta and Tu Mhanshil Tasa were to happen in Africa and Muscat respectively, but those too have been cancelled. Actor and producer Prashant Damle, who is associated with both the plays, said, “There already is uncertainty in the theatre business and we are used to such things happening. We have postponed the shows that were to happen in Tanzania, Uganda, Dubai and Muscat.”
The situation at home
March to June is the peak season for business for the Marathi theatre industry, according to producers. It’s a prime reason behind majority plays having shows in this period and auditoriums being booked on most days.
But with the state govt’s directive of shutting auditoriums, owing to the coronavirus outbreak in Maharashtra, over 100 shows of different Marathi plays, scheduled till March 31, have been cancelled.
Rahul Bhandare, producer of plays like Iblis, Nimma Shimaa Rakshas and Albattya Galbattya, shared that almost 22 shows of all three plays were pulled out. “Calculating the ticket refund and venue cancellations, the loss for each show stands at around `1.5 lakh. So we are looking at losses of approximately `30 lakh this month,” said Rahul.

Dilip Jadhav, producer of the plays like Teesare Badshah Hum, Vacuum Cleaner, Haravlelya Pattyancha Banglaa and Kaapus Kondyachi Goshta added, “This is the period when new plays open. But the outbreak has resulted in unrecoverable losses for the theatre industry. I had to cancel over 38 shows of our plays.” Dilip also added that there’s uncertainty over the April shows too. “In an ideal situation, we would’ve planned April shows by now. But looking at the way the virus is progressing, we are not sure about anything,” he said.
On similar lines, Rahul shared that even if the situation improves and auditoriums open in the near future, people are not going to come to watch shows immediately. “All in all, the holiday season business is going to take a solid beating,” said Rahul.
It is the 100th year of the Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Natya Sammelan, organised by Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Natya Parishad, and the event wasn’t limited to one city alone. There were various programmes scheduled from March 25-June 14 for the same, but the progress of the same looks uncertain now.