Can you believe that this year’s Thespo fellows have never met each other in person? For the first time in Thespo’s 22-year history, the all-new team has begun the Thespo fellowship from home. We even had the traditional Thespo offsite but with nine happy faces peering into a screen instead of frolicking in Alibaug.
Everything around us has changed in the past few months. Things that seemed impossible to do from a distance are changing shape and form to adapt to the online medium. We’re all different but technology has united us towards a common goal – to stay safe, to stay connected, to remain positive and try to be happy. That’s what inspired this edition’s design.
In these uncertain and ever-changing circumstances, we find ourselves thinking a lot about what it means to be theatre-makers in these times. How can we continue to create and perform in the absence of auditoriums and rehearsal spaces? How can we continue to write when inspiration comes slowly and our surroundings are so bleak? Is there a way to predict the future of theatre when we can’t even predict when the lockdown will end?
As a team, we believe that hope is a path in itself. Hoping is believing. And we have always believed in theatre. As members of this generation, we have grown up in close association with technology and the internet. The web is as much a part of us as we are, of it. We have always used the various online mediums available to us to drive change and use our voices.
Our knowledge of online systems is going to come in handy in helping theatre, an art form that relies heavily on human interaction, adapt to the current circumstance. The role of technology in determining the future of theatre is immense and undeniable. That explains our theme for this edition of Ink. We can’t speculate about the future, let alone predict it. But what we can do to lighten our anxiety about the future is talk.
Which is exactly what we hope to do with this edition of Thespo Ink – start a conversation. This issue’s Dialogue features four young theatre-makers – Sharodiya (actor, writer, director), Sameer Ayyagari (aspiring writer, director, producer) and Sahir Mehta (actor, director) and their thoughts on the scope of theatre and its future after the lockdown.
Right now, what’s keeping us afloat and our spirits high are the insane initiatives by theatre companies from all over the world. We thought we would put together a list in this edition’s As You Like It to show our appreciation! It’s crazy that we are able to watch plays and stay engaged with theatre from within our homes and that wouldn’t be possible without access to technology.
In Young Perspective, Thespo fellow Anushka Ghose talks about what she thinks is the role of theatre in this lockdown and how the screen mediates our experience of change and the world.
On a lighter note, check out this edition’s Quick 8 with Ninad Samadar, a Thespo alumni and theatre professor (!) at Christ University, Bangalore. Meet the brand new team in What’s On At Thespo! Get a full recap of the busy past few months Thespo’s had, of workshops, Online Open Houses and more! If you’re lagging a little with reading plays, here’s a list to pick from, curated with the help of writer and theatre enthusiast Pragya Tewari for Thespo Recommends.
Meanwhile, we hope you stay safe, connected and engaged. The future is uncertain but the present’s looking bright and shiny!
Love,
Team Thespo, 2020-21
Anoushka Zaveri
Sameer Ayyagari
Sarah Minz
Anushka Ghose
Thespo Ink 