I guess the answer is “YES”, theatre now has become “theatre for all” theatre now has become a strong force which drives any human to think, act and imagine. In technically terms, one can say theatre has now become “OPEN SOURCE”

As per the history theatre has evolved from ages and has been a strong force in every war and revolution. Indian theatre’s biggest evolution was its journey from Entertainment to a platform or a force. Bal Gangadhar Thilak started the trend of moving people against the British early in 1900’s through theatre. Thilak’s visions of broadcasting his views in the form of dramas were the early signs of “theatre for all” in India. As time emerged itself, technological revolution took its turn to bury theatre completely; the advent of television to Indian houses was devastating to theatre eventually leading people to forget stage, lights and the struggle behind the stage. It was all “Lights, Camera and Action!!!”

As they say, every thing has a turn and so is, for theatre; Theatre regained its charm and lost glory but what could be the reason for this fulminant downfall and raise of theatre?

The answer is very simple, Availability and opportunities. Unfortunately the post freedom period of Indian history did not offer much opportunity for people who craved to act, majority of theatre was dominated by huge names and for common man it was like a diamond. Theatre suddenly became untouchable.

Late 2000’s showed a drastic change with theatre groups emerging with equal support from the public, the result was very simple “theatre for all…” Theatre was made public, any one interested was allowed to act, passion counted more than experience, desire weighed more than money and for those who were not involved creatively theatre again became a medium of entertainment.

The main reason for this transformation goes to some of the theatre houses who have opened the doors for all and made theatre available for any normal, common man. Anyone who desired to see themselves on stage or sing on stage or even watch a play; for them it is just a catwalk. With one click people can get to know what is happening in theatre, with one phone call people can now join a theatre group and with one thing called “passion” people can relive their dreams. As we evolve from the ages of pigeons to E-mails, theatre soon will become yet again a driving force, a reason, a platform, a desire and lastly a hope to achieve something new, to tell something new and finally to showcase something new.

The answer is NO. Theatre is considered as a struggle by a common man against society’s iniquity, theatre is a way of expression to the eternal world; theatre is the only medium which speaks about integrity. History books take us back to a very interesting story which speaks about the origin of theatre during the Greek period.
There were three types of drama composed in the city of Athens; Tragedy, Comedy and Satire. The origins of Athenian tragedy and comedy are far from clear, but they began as (and continued to be) a part of the celebrations of the god Dionysus, which were held once a year. Every year three authors were chosen to write three dramas. All the plays were played in the Dionysos theatre in Athens, and the best author for both tragedy and comedy was chosen.

As time evolved, the dramas of medieval period concentrated more on vernacular languages of Europe from religious enactments of the liturgy. Mystery plays were presented on the porch of the cathedrals or by strolling players on Feast days, which evolved into tragic and comic forms, depending on the theme. The first truly secular plays in Europe were historical plays, celebrating the lives of historical or legendary kings; these combined the functions of entertainment and propaganda.

These brief facts leave us with a small hint that Theatre/ Drama was started purely for entertainment purposes, but as we advance into the medieval period, theatre was considered as an outlet to express feelings. Love, lust, anger, jealousy, madness, laughter and struggle, with so many expressions hidden and suppressed, common man wanted a vent though which he could pump out all his expressions. He used theatre to do it.

As we turn the pages of history and come towards the closing of 18th century, theatre had slowly evolved into a platform for revolution, legendary warriors, freedom fighters and revolutionaries who used theatre as a means of public platform to propagate their views, ideas and vision.

Theatre today has a unique ability, allowing us to witness and experience another person’s feelings or to sense a situation that we would not normally encounter such as, being a General in a war. This is what makes drama a useful way of teaching, learning and growing as a person. Drama has a holistic way of teaching people. Whether it be in a play or by partaking in a virtual situation, participants learn through interactions with others — this allows participants to not only learn facts as they would from a book or in a classroom, but to enter the world of another person, to be allowed to explore how they feel about this situation or person. Every interaction with another character or situation gives a greater understanding of what is happening around us.

Theatre brings a whole new meaning to our lives, a brand new imagination and thinking; it allows us to enter that virtual world that no other medium dares to venture. Drama is a living, breathing art form. Actors are placed on stage, so that they can breathe life into the characters that have been created by the playwrights; this is what no other entertainment medium offers.

Very evidently, in today’s world, Drama Therapy is often considered an effective treatment for people who have had severe emotional and psychological problems.
From being an entertainment factor to today’s drama therapy, theatre has been part and parcel of every one’s life. As William Shakespeare quoted “Life is a stage and people are mere actors”, theatre has evolved itself from an entertainment platform to a passion.

Today theatre is practiced to bring the lost culture into light, to lift it up amidst the waves of technology, to bring in a new revolution, to create a new platform where people can showcase their hidden talents. Theatre today is set to bring back its lost glory, to induce the power of theatre in people. Theatre is believed to be a “humble man’s struggle” against increasing injustice, poverty and illiteracy.

Fundamentally, it’s in our own hands to bring back our lost tool, our lost platform and passion instead of merely asking the question, “What’s the point?”

The origin of theatre in ancient India or rather folk theatre and dramatics can be traced to the religious ritualism of the Vedic Aryans. This folk theatre of the misty past was mixed with dance, food, ritualism, plus a depiction of events from daily life. It was the last element which made it the origin of the classical theatre of later times. Many historians, notably D. D. Kosambi, Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, Adya Rangacharaya, etc. have referred to the prevalence of ritualism amongst Indo-Aryan tribes in which some members of the tribe acted as if they were wild animals and some others were the hunters. Those who acted as mammals like goats, buffaloes, reindeer, monkeys, etc. were chased by those playing the role of hunters.

In such a simple and crude manner did the theatre originate in India about 3500 years back in the Indo-Aryan states of Rig Vedic times. There also must have existed a theatrical tradition in the Harappan cities (civilizations).

Natya Shastra

Indian history about theatre cannot be explained without taking the name of Bharat Muni . Bharata Muni (2nd century BC) was an ancient Indian writer best known for writing the Natya Sastra of Bharatha, a theoretical treatise on Indian performing arts, including Theatre, dance, acting, and music, which has been compared to Aristotle’s poetics.

Bharata is often known as the father of Indian theatrical arts. His Natya Shastra seems to be the first attempt to develop the technique or rather art, of drama in a systematic manner. The Natya Shastra tells us not only what is to be portrayed in a drama, but how the portrayal is to be done. Drama, as Bharata Muni says, is the imitation of men and their doings (loka-vritti). As men and their doings have to be respected on the stage, so drama in Sanskrit is also known by the term roopaka which means portrayal.

The Natya Shastra is incredibly wide in its scope. It consists of minutely detailed precepts for both playwrights and actors. Bharata describes ten types of drama ranging from one to ten acts. In addition, he lays down principles for stage design, makeup ,costume , dance (various movements and gestures), a theory of Aesthetics (rasas and Bhavas),Acting , Directing and Music each in individual chapters.

Bharata sets out a detailed theory of drama comparable to the poetics of Aristotle. He refers to bhavas(feelings), the imitations of emotions that the actors perform, and the rasas (emotional responses) that they inspire in the audience. He argues that there are eight principal rasas: love, pity, anger, disgust, heroism, awe, terror and comedy, and that plays should mix different
rasas but be dominated by one.

According to the Natya Shastra, all the modes of expression employed by an individual through his speech, gestures, movements and intonation must be used. The representation of these expressions can have different modes, according to the predominance and emphasis on one mode or another. Bharatamuni recognises four main modes: speech and poetry (bharati vritti), dance and music (kaishiki vritti), action (arabhatti vritti) and emotions (sattvatti vritti).

Classical Indian Theatre

The Ramayana and Mahabaratha can be considered as the first recognized plays that originated in India. These epics provided the inspiration to the earliest Indian dramatists and they do even today. Indian dramatists such as Bhasa (c.2nd century BC) wrote plays that were heavily inspired by the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Kalidasa (1st century BC) is arguably considered to be ancient India’s greatest Sanskrit poet and dramatist. Three famous romantic plays written by Kalidasa are the MALAVIKAGNIMITRAM and ABHIGNANA SHAKUNTALAM (The Recognition of Shakuntala), it was the first to be translated into English and German.