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Theater is making a grand comeback at The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). Its chairman Khushroo Suntook has appointed award winning director Bruce Guthrie, who has directed several plays in London, Wales and Singapore, as head of the theater and film division. Guthrie is "full of beans; he will bring some professionalism to this area and is going to start workshops to train people in theater craft,” stated Suntook.
This February, eight plays from eight award winning playwrights from the UK, all of one-hour duration and written by youngsters, were performed by them. Eight schools and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) participated. Guthrie plans to increase the number of plays to 24 in the years to come. It will be an international competition and the prize will be to perform at the NCPA; one show will be selected to go to the UK and perform at the National Theatre as part of the youth theater program, titled, Connections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are also plans to conduct weekend courses at Bombay University which may lead to a master’s degree in arts. "There are a lot of wonderful actors and creative individuals here; we want to help and support them to create shows which the NCPA would be proud to partner with internationally,” said Guthrie.
Plans for NCPA to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, one of the major playhouses in the UK are underway. Birmingham has a large Indian population, and the plan is to create a hybrid team and co-produce shows in which 50% of actors and the creative team will come from Bombay and 50% from the UK. One year, the show will first be performed in the UK and brought to Bombay and in the second year the show will be premiered here and then taken to the UK. 
Guthrie has already directed Jim Sarbh in Constellations and Sea Wall. A third play, Tom Stoppard’s ambitious work, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (EGBDF) which was first performed in November 2022 was revived in March 2023 and has received positive reviews in the press as well as from the audience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"EGBDF was a great production which only a handful of organizations in the world can do as it requires both, a very good orchestra as well as a drama department,” said Guthrie. An in-house production created from scratch, "It was critical because we wanted to create an aspiration in the theater community and build an appetite for that kind of a show as well.” The presentations he has in mind from the city and across the country, will provide excellent diversity in terms of languages, with a focus on quality.
The playwrights have good core ideas, they have stories which are compelling and the manner in which the stories are told is interesting as well. What is lacking is "resources,” says Guthrie. This would involve not only money, but also access to training, venues and creation of space and the environment for actors to do the best work. "We in the arts are not very good in articulating why we need the things we need. Everybody takes great pride in making do with as little as possible and that is a good thing, but there is room for variety. We need to bolster what they already have and provide infrastructure and also professional expertise to go to the next level.”
Though originally "a very theater oriented organization…with 70% of the programs at the NCPA devoted to theater… the importance of theater diminished,” stated Suntook, adding, "the great actors of the past like Jimmy Pocha, Alyque and Pearl Padamsee, Minoo Davar faded away and Vijaya Mehta’s tenure as chairperson ended.” Mehta as a well-known author and thespian of great repute encouraged theater.
There have been some innovative productions in the past — an all-woman production of Julius Caesar, a production of Romeo and Juliet with a Hindu Juliet and a Muslim Romeo, a powerful production of Othello with Kabir Bedi in the lead role, Suntook recalled.
There is great scope for improvement in lighting, sound and theater craft. Remarked Suntook, "We were fortunate to get Richard Nowell who is a wizard with lighting and sound to come down and assist us with ramping up this area. Nowell was responsible for a brilliant performance of the London Symphony Orchestra at Trafalgar Square in London during peak traffic time.” Guthrie felt there was a chronic lack of specialist training for people who want to work in the technical aspects of theater since all the backstage elements tend to be lumped up as one.
Guthrie worked with respected theater practitioners Shernaz Patel and Anahita Uberoi to create the youth theater festival, Connections India. The plays for the Bombay festival were chosen from the bank of the National Theatre  plays performed over the last 10 years. Thirty to 40 scripts were read and modern plays were chosen which would be most relevant to India. Professional directors from Bombay chose the scripts they preferred to work with.
Guthrie wondered why there aren’t more Indian stories out in the world considering we have a population of 1.4 billion people and a rich history of theater. He agreed that the work ethic and methodology in the West is not necessarily better but we can take the best from these countries and apply it to the best creative work here. "Whereas there is a great sense of community and camaraderie, friendship and collaboration which the people get right, what I find challenging is how very relaxed the theater world is. People should show up on time, be prepared and committed to the task. There is a time to relax but when you are working, you should be working seriously and ensure that something planned is completed.”
Guthrie appreciated that Suntook has a vision and understands that it takes time to build brands. He has done so with the Symphony Orchestra of India.
Lack of support from the government and from patrons of theater has disappointed Suntook: "There is a general lack of understanding of what the arts can do for people. Culture reflects the personality of a nation.”