Mumbai: During the worldwide lockdown Coconut Theatre started “Chai-Wai & Rangmanch – 2020” in association with Ticketninja.in from April 26 onwards and hosted 108 back-to-back live online sessions with theatre stalwarts from India and various other countries. They shared their experiences and details about modern-day theatre covering all the aspects of the art. ‘Superstar’ Shatrughan Sinha, ‘The Showman’ Subhash Ghai, Padma Bhushan Awardee and five-time National Award winner Shabana Azmi and the finest actress Supriya Pathak also did sessions during the first season of “Chai-Wai & Rangmanch – 2020”.
Amongst the other speakers, a few have been felicitated with Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards and other Indian & International Awards. These sessions have been watched and appreciated by millions of theatre enthusiasts across the globe.
After season 1, the audience expectations increased hence, Coconut Theatre decided to continue the live sessions and announced season 2 of “Chai-Wai & Rangmanch – 2020, Lok Kala Ke Sang”, which is based on traditional Indian folk theatre.
It is a small initiative to promote the native folk art to audiences worldwide. Experts associated with various folk theatre forms from different parts of India will conduct live sessions on Coconut Theatre’s official Facebook page and will share their experiences, history of the particular theatre form and importance of Indian folk theatre in our society.
Folk theatre is a composite art form with a fusion of elements from music, dance, religions and festivals having roots in native culture is embedded in local identity and social values. These art forms have been performed extensively in India to propagate critical social, political and cultural issues in the form of theatrical messages to create awareness among the people and show them the rich Indian traditional culture and also to make them aware of the true form of art through narrative and performance.
The folk forms of different states will be introduced in sessions like ‘Bhand Pather’ from Jammu & Kashmir, ‘Nautanki’ from Uttar Pradesh, ‘Gavari’ from Rajasthan, ‘Koodiyattam & Kathakali’ from Kerala, ‘Bidesia & Launda Naach’ from Bihar, ‘Ankia Naat’ from Assam, ‘Yakshagana’ from Karnataka, ‘Tamasha’ from Maharashtra, ‘Bhavai’ from Gujarat, ‘Maach’ from Madhya Pradesh, ‘Chhau’ from Orissa, ‘Dashavatar’ from Goa, ‘Nacha’ from Chattisgarh, ‘Jatra’ from West Bengal, ‘Shumang Lila’ from Manipur, ‘Naqual’ from Punjab, ‘Saang’ from Haryana, ‘Ramman’ from Uttarakhand, ‘Therukoothu’ Tamil Nadu, ‘Veedhi Natakam’ from Andhra Pradesh, ‘Kariyala’ from Himachal Pradesh and many more.
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