NEW DELHI: March 28 was World Theatre Day. Indian artistes celebrated the event to highlight the rich tradition that is associated with the Indian theatre. A majority of the artistes observed the day with the theme, “Theatre for career and life skills”, to encourage young people to take up theatre as a career.

Theatre, particularly the Indian theatre, has always been known to fathom the hidden depths of human soul, unlocking the hidden treasures that lie deep within the human spirit. As in many cases, Hyderabadis started the theatre celebrations right from the new year day. The historic Nizam College organised a seminar on “Relocating Indian theatre in English and in translation” pepping up the spirits of the local youth.

Says Professor B.T. Seetha of the department of English in Nizam College, “Theatre is the best instrument for making careers and strengthening life skills and Indian theatre has been one of the best media to achieve this. It also serves as a means of unification, bringing people together and building bonds.”

The history of Indian theatre is as old as the Indus Valley Civilisation. When European drama was struggling to establish itself, Bharatha had already come out with his Natyashashtra and Indian drama was at its climax and created memorable drama like Kalidas’ Shakunthalam.

“Drama is one of the most ancient arts which has explored human sentiments, emotions and motivations over a long time in almost all the continents. It will be fruitful if we place our native drama in the context of the European drama, giving an assessment of how far we have come in our theoretical endeavours and how much more we need to do in this direction,” observes professor N. Gopal, dean, faculty of arts, Osmania University.

The Nizam College’s seminar was not only interdisciplinary but also was a combined paper presentations and performances. “The idea is of not merely appreciating performances on stage but also translating the page to the stage and relocating theatre into the classrooms emerged as the basic premise,” says Seetha.—Dawn/The Asian Age News Service