Corporate Bengaluru finds its calling in theatre

By: Jahnavi SanjeevWorking professionals in the city are happily squeezing rehearsals and performances around their demanding day jobs. Bengaluru’s inclusive theatre community gives many of them a space to pursue their passion for acting, directing and storytellingSindhu Savanur, 29, who works as a senior financial modelling analyst with HSBC, always wanted to pursue theatre. But while growing up, it was at the bottom of her priority list due to practical reasons.“I was always too focused on studies, something I regret today,” she says.Sindhu’s now making up for the missed years. She joined Bengaluru-based theatre group Theatrenama in 2021. “Now that I have a job, I thought I should explore this interest (theatre) of mine,” she says. Sindhu also works with Rangved and Alchemy and has directed plays like Manav Kaul’s ‘Chuhal’, ‘Tax Free’, ‘The Blind Men’s Club’ by Chandrashekhar Bhansalkar and ‘Wrong Number’ by Pali Bhupendar Singh.Sambit Debnath, a 34-year-old working as business development leader at Flipkart, started his theatre journey from his engineering days in IIT Kharagpur. The Bengali Theatre Society in IIT Kharagpur started as a source of entertainment for the professors there, who encouraged students to participate in stage performances. “I was cajoled by my seniors into joining the Bengali theatre group. And I took a liking to it immediately,” he says.After moving to Bengaluru for work, Sambit naturally fell into Bengali and other theatre circles in the city and is now associated with theatre groups like ENAD (Ekti Natoker Dal), Eklavya Performing Arts, Theatre Thugs and The Royal Indian Theatre. He has also been a part of Bengali plays ‘Ami Celebrity’ (Am Celebrity) and ‘Amrito Sandhane’ (The Search for Ambrosia), and ‘The Ungodly Disco’ (English) and ‘Oedipus’ (Hindi).While the stage is where you perform, it is also one of the most real spaces for the people that are a part of it. “You can let go of all shells and facades when you’re doing a play,” says Sambit, talking about the reasons why theatre is of significance in his life. “You form really deep connections with people you do theatre with, because it is a space that demands you to be your most authentic self,” he adds. Sambit says that his closest friends have come from theatre circles.While some do theatre on the side, for some working professionals, theatre is one of their main priorities. Sambit, who is also an IIM alumnus, says that his job is a means to achieve the things he wants to do and pursue in life. Sindhu, meanwhile, says she squeezes in weekend rehearsals between her plans, and does weekly readings before or after office hours. When approaching the play date, these professionals do everyday rehearsals, meeting at 7 in the morning and then going back to their normal lives. They say they meet in the mornings simply to skip the Bengaluru traffic!There are some who have taken a step back from theatre because of pressing professional commitments like frequent travel. Shajith Moosa, vice president for global customer services at Palo Alto Networks, says that it has been a while since he did a theatre production. “The friends I made from my last production are still very active and passionate about theatre. They make time for it and arrange their schedules,” he says. He now commits only to OTT or ad shoots that demand less of his time.Popular consensus is that the Bengaluru theatre scene is extremely inclusive. One way to get into these groups is through workshops held by theatre groups, which might or might not continue into original productions. Manoj Balaji, CEO of TatvaCare, says that it is not as difficult to make your way into the theatre scene in Bengaluru, as opposed to a city like Mumbai which has just a few big theatre companies.After the curtain call in theatre shows in the city, Sindhu says, they recommend people from the audience to reach out if they’re interested in the art form. Further, through WhatsApp groups, social media notices and friends of friends, people wanting to explore theatre get to blend into the community. The pursuit of theatre is more often than not, for passion alone, since there is barely any financial payoff from doing theatre. While some theatre groups do try to pay their members, often people pitch in together to cover the production costs.Sambit says about 90% of people in the city’s theatre groups are part-timers and have a day job, which is why rehearsals happen on the weekends. He pointed out that some people in tech are also able to do it on weekdays because they have the luxury of work from home.Sambit says audiences are spread across certain pockets in Bengaluru, depending on the language of plays. Eastern areas like Whitefield bring in more numbers for Hindi theatre, while central and south Bengaluru have more turnout for Kannada and English plays. Other regional plays like Bengali, Sambit says, work through word of mouth and theatre circles.Theatre, for many working professionals in Bengaluru, is more than just a hobby. It is a passion that finds an artistic way out, despite packed schedules and the pressures of everyday life. And, as a result, you see that action comes alive on weekends in the vibrant auditoriums of Ranga Shankara, Jagriti, The Koramangala Club and similar such spaces that stage plays for those who want to spend their evenings enjoying some good old catharsis, and a well put-together theatrical performance.Bengaluru-based health-tech company Onsurity has recently launched its own theatre IP “Office Drama”, an event where they staged theatrical performances by nine emerging theatre groups, centred around scenes from an office setup. The audiences at the show were working professionals and executives from around town.“Methods of building communities in the corporate sphere have become very transactional and boring, like those occasional mixers where you’re forced to mingle with everyone,” says Onsurity co-founder Kulin Shah. “When we realised that everyone in a community has grown up watching some or the other form of drama, theatre seemed like a fun way for community building and networking.”Kulin reiterates that everyone in an office has their own specified role, and so does a character in a play. So the idea of employees expressing their feelings about their work environments and the happenings in them, which in its more fleshed out form appeared as “Office Drama”.“For ‘Office Drama’ we chose emerging artists because they understand both sides: they act, as well as understand the nitty-gritties of working a 9-5 job. We looked for artists who have day jobs but who pursue their passion outside of them,” Kulin adds.