Architecture and Design Elements in Ritual and Religious Drama in India

Addendum on contemporary theatres and scenography

By Farley P. Richmond and Richard E. Dunham

Article published in TD&T, volume 39, number 2, Spring 2003.

Addendum published on the USITT Web site 30 May, 2003.

Of special significance in India is the co-existence of such varied theatrical performance genres as those that currently exist within today’s modern society. While kutiyattam may form one of the world’s oldest forms of drama there are numerous elements of Indian folk and dance theatre as well as movements throughout the country that include fairly contemporary dramatic forms of theatre. Many of these bear a significantly western influence that most likely came about during the British colonial period which began in the 17th century CE. While ancient dramas may be performed solely for ritualistic reasons (primarily in the rural areas) many others are presented to modern audiences who are more concerned with remaining in touch with their heritage than in paying homage to the various deities. Additionally, within the major population centers, there is a tendency to produce contemporary productions that bear a strong western influence in the manners in which they are staged. Finally, actual productions of western drama such as the works of Ibsen, Shaw, Beckett and Brecht, as well as those of Williams, Miller and Albee, are also readily produced for urban consumption

Throughout the Indian subcontinent prayers or blessings are almost always required in all genres of performance to sanctify simple performance spaces. No matter how secular the content of the show may be, the performers take measures to ward off the evil eye and beseech support from the gods, especially Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of good fortune. Despite all of the western influences on contemporary production it is interesting to note the profound impact religion has had on this society. Shrines dedicated to deities and saints are found in every imaginable space throughout Indian society–in hotel lobbies, along the curbs of streets, displayed on the dashboard of nearly every taxi and motorized rickshaw. This impact even carries into the theatres where one may typically find shrines in the dressing rooms, lobby areas, wings and near the lighting boards. In one case, we even observed a shrine next to the company switch. The voltage of most lighting gear in India is typically around 220-240 volts. Maybe they knew something about their lighting system that we didn’t want to know about.

Contemporary Performance Spaces

(photographs)

The National School for Drama in New Delhi is comparable to our own Julliard School. On the grounds of the National School for Drama is a proscenium theatre that seats approximately 450 patrons. This is the primary performance facility for the training program. While slightly dated, the 40 foot proscenium stage is fairly well equipped. A counter-weighted fly system (although quite different in look from what we’d find in an American theatre) provides a batten on an average spacing of every foot or two. Additional equipment includes a 24 channel sound mixer that looks as if it could have been pulled off the shelves of any western sound manufacturer, two portable racks of approximately 96 electronic dimmers and a computerized lighting console. Despite the relatively recent control system for the stage lighting a set of auxiliary dimmers that are used primarily for house lights are created from auto-transformers mounted within piano-boards. Fixtures and hanging positions tend to follow the tradition of being a bit aged and fundamental in design.

At the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA), the largest theatre (Jamshed Bhabha Theatre) is a 1,150 seat state-of-the-art proscenium facility that is suitable for staging western operas and ballets. The wide proscenium opening (approximately 60 feet wide) masks large wing spaces, fully rigged counterweight fly systems, lifts and lighting and sound systems that are equivalent to any that you would find in most western theatres. The 1,010 seat National Theatre (also named the Tata Theatre) forms a fan-shaped auditorium that provides excellent acoustics for performances that are predominantly concerts or recitals in nature. Large acoustic panels help to provide an exacting sound environment for these music events. The floor plan of this theatre’s stage and house areas has a number of similarities with the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in New York. While sophisticated lighting is not required for the performances that are typically presented in this theatre there are actually relatively few hanging positions and fixtures dedicated to this space. This theatre reflects the common minimalist approach to lighting characteristic of Indian’s theatrical production. A third theatre, the 300-seat Experimental Theatre provides a flexible environment for theatrical presentations. Additional performance spaces include the 200-seat Dance Academy Theatre and a 114-seat multi-purpose recording auditorium. The auditorium provides an intimate space that functions well for those performances that follow a format that is more typical of the traditional religious dramas of India. Lectures, demonstrations and workshops are also conducted throughout the numerous studios and classrooms that exist throughout the building. This modern well-equipped complex forms the flagship of Indian performance facilities.

Alternative Performance Spaces

As an exception to the proscenium format a few theatrical companies are experimenting with the use of found spaces and a variety of audience/performer relationships. A popular alternative performance space for many companies has been in the use of outdoor amphitheatres. While many of these spaces are being utilized through various experimental companies a number of these external spaces have been developed through using the model of the proscenium theatre. In New Delhi, also at the National School of Drama, an amphitheatre has been designed where a terraced seating area faces a stage that rises about nine inches off the ground. More importantly, the stage features three sets of legs that have been formed through building brick walls that are approximately eight to ten feet tall and approximately eight inches thick. These walls define the proscenium opening and wings while also dividing the space into several different planes for the performers’ entrances and exits. This amphitheatre also makes use of two lighting towers situated on either side of the audience seating area. These function much like the box boom positions or lighting towers that a western amphitheatre will most likely be equipped with. A second amphitheatre is found at the Theatre Academy at Pune and forms the primary venue for this academic program. This amphitheatre more closely resembles the theatron of the ancient Greeks in that a roughly semi-circular orchestra area is defined as the primary performance space. A stone wall and dressing room facility with associated entrances forms the background for the stage -- once again much in the same manner as the skene of an ancestral Greek facility. This amphitheatre boasts a terraced area where audience members may be seated on a series of flagstone ledges. There are also provisions for lighting in this amphitheatre through a truss-like structure that has been placed at the downstage edge of the orchestra area. A simple two-tiered structure, this provides lighting positions at the edge of the performance area and stretches across the central two-thirds of the stage. While we didn’t witness any performances in this space several issues come to mind in regard to the location/position of where the truss is currently placed. First, there is the obvious issue of placing the structure in a location that obscures audience sightlines; second, the steep lighting angles that this position would produce for lighting the downstage areas of the performance area are likely to cause some problems and finally the issue that the truss doesn’t span across the entire width of the performance area. One interesting quality found in many of the Indian amphitheatres is in the fact that the lush tropical vegetation can often actually block audience views of the stages from various perspectives. Trees that have any significant size may be left standing in the middle of the performance area rather then being cleared for various sightline issues.

Scenery

(photographs)

With typical contemporary theatrical production in India being centered in touring companies or troupes several noteworthy conventions and qualities become apparent throughout most contemporary productions. In comparison to western theatrical production most Indian contemporary productions appear sparsely decorated and somewhat improvised. A majority of Indian theatre companies are formed by amateur performers who have other occupations besides acting. Additionally, many troupes choose minimal production support because of high theatre rental rates, quick turnarounds, transportation issues and the overall high costs of mounting a production. Limited availability of scenic materials such as wood products also play a role in establishing India’s characteristically minimalist production styles. In many areas of the country, what little foliage that exists has already been cut down and used for various wood products or simply as firewood.

Most scenery is commissioned to carpenters who specialize in theatrical scenery and who work off of sketches or plans that have been supplied by a director or designer. In many cases, theatre managers will provide a selection of neutral black flats, a selection of house lighting equipment and a few simple stock pieces of furniture and other scenery to the troupes renting a given facility. In many cases, this stock scenery is recycled through any number of different performances and troupes. A well established organization, troupe or commercial theatre may also have a fairly extensive selection of stock scenic and prop elements stored in warehouses from which they might pull a given production.

Unfortunately, the lack of technical sophistication found in many of the commercial theatres is a direct result of managers maintaining schedules that do not allow for maintenance and regular upgrades of the facilities and stock inventory, troupes that have no vested interest for improvement in the theatres in which they are performing and production costs that inhibit all but the most essential needs of any given organization. While equipment may be rudimentary, many of the most common shifting techniques of the proscenium venue do exist within these theatres. An example is that while a counterweighted fly system is an unlikely prospect in these theatres, most will still have some capability for flying scenery and some form of pinrail or hemp flying system. However, a full flyloft is also a rarity and often drops are simply hung from battens and pulley systems that are mounted only feet above the top edge of the proscenium opening. At the Bharata Natyam Theatre, in Pune (the second largest city in Maharashtra), we saw a production and strike where the scenic elements from the production included a single painted drop, a neutral black platform measuring approximate 4' x 8' x 8", and a set of black masking flats that had been pulled from the theatre’s stock inventory. The flats were in poor condition while the batten to which the drop was attached consisted of a series of scabbed together 1 x 3's that were supported by three or four lengths of cotton rope. Furniture used in the production was simply pulled from the company or manager’s readily available resources and no attempt was made to contribute to the specific demands of the play. The lighting made use of very few units and was adapted quickly from those fixtures already previously hung in the theatre. Despite conditions such as these, the productions play to full houses consistently and there is a sense of true support for the performers who act in these plays.

While simplicity is the rule there are also exceptions throughout India where fairly modern conventions and equipment are utilized throughout various performance spaces. In Kolkata (Calcutta) the Circarena Theatre is designed as a modified version of Washington D.C.’s Arena Theatre. This theatre boasts a twenty foot diameter turntable with a hydraulic lift that can sink below the stage area for completing scene changes. The first turntables in India showed up in Kolkata in the 1930's and ironically have never gained any popularity elsewhere in the country. In Mumbai the most typical means of shifting scenic elements has come through incorporating wagons into a production’s design.

Lighting

(photographs)

Most of the popular theatres’ lighting equipment could be compared with 1950s and 1960s theatrical production in America. As a rule lighting in India is done with a minimum of lighting fixtures. However, when a troupe rents a theatre facility the rental fee generally includes the use of enough house lighting equipment to adequately light the production without the need for renting additional fixtures. Most dimming in a typical facility is done through the use of rotary auto-transformer dimmers. Wiring codes are also not enforced as stringently as they are in America and it is common to see lighting cables simply strung throughout the theatre. Even more surprising is the fact that significant power loads are seldom protected within conduit runs in the theatre. In the commercial theatres typical hanging positions are found in the form of a first electric, a FOH pipe hung approximately fifteen feet in front of the proscenium opening and a set of pipes that are mounted to the side walls of the auditorium.

Westerners will typically find that the Indian theatrical lighting is dim. Tapas Sen, arguably India’s foremost lighting authority, has been credited with the development of a lighting system that has become a characteristic style of contemporary Indian lighting design. While spotlights and fresnels form the majority of equipment available to an Indian lighting designer these are used sparingly in any given design. Another Indian designer, Pradeep Muley, speaks of lighting up to five productions with as few as four spotlights per show. Part of the unique lighting quality that Sen is credited with creating is as a result of his specification of various hanging locations throughout a theatre. He has suggested construction of platforms of about eight feet in height directly behind the two sides of the proscenium arch for the mounting of spotlights and their associated operators. These lights are then supplemented with fresnels that are mounted on battens found both downstage and upstage of the proscenium and a series of spotlights hung on vertical pipes mounted to the sidewalls of the auditorium and balcony rail. These fixtures if blended and toned correctly will produce an even coverage of the entire stage. Ironically, part of the lighting quality often associated with Indian performances and this system often results in the perception that the strongest illuminations are located in the upstage portions of the stage while the downstage areas may appear relatively dim. Even despite the relatively few fixtures demanded by lighting systems such as this a specific light plot is developed for each theatre that a production will be presented within. Again, time is of the essence and the lighting must be capable of being hung, circuited, focused and cued within hours of a performance.

In terms of lighting equipment most theatres, regardless of type of facility, make use of fairly limited numbers of inventory. PC Spots and various forms of ellipsoidal reflector spotlights (the box silhouette is quite prominent) form the most common type of instruments found in many of the theatres. Fresnels are also popular within many of the theatres and it is also common to see 14" and 16" scoops hung from the first electric functioning as floodlights for the upstage areas. Throughout our entire period of travel we did not observe any theatres making use of any of the enhanced fixture designs such as ETC Source Fours and Parnels. We also never ran into any theatres making use of simple PAR fixtures either. Gel must be imported and is considered a luxury. It is used quite sparingly throughout Indian lighting design. In terms of dimming capabilities most theatres have fairly simplistic lighting systems comparable to 1960-era systems of road/traveling packages and preset systems. Eighteen through thirty-six dimmer systems appear to be fairly typical in many of the commercial theatres while the computer is virtually non-existent. In fact, rotary auto-transformers seemed to appear fairly frequently throughout our travels.

Ironically, the Indian film industry, dubbed Bollywood, which is located in an area just outside of Mumbai, makes use of fairly sophisticated lighting equipment. We had the pleasure of attending a shoot for one of the popular musical movies where the equipment being used included Pani fixtures, reflective panels, cranes and booms (although mechanized by human power as opposed to winch motors).

Sound

(photographs)

In the majority of Indian performances sound forms a critical element to the production. However, in virtually every case, this does not include the use of elaborate sound effects that have been created through any number of electronic means as done in western theatre. Rarely are recording devices used to add underscoring or effects to an Indian performance. For the most part reinforcement is characteristic of only the commercial theatres that produce primarily contemporary musical productions ---many times using antiquated equipment and techniques. It is a common practice to place microphones in full view of the audience --- sometimes placed on boom stands located across the front of the stage and approximately eighteen inches above the deck while others are hung from directly above the stage. The use of sound is simply meant to be live in most Indian performances. In many cases, live musicians accompany many of the performances. Often a single individual will produce the sounds through the use of any number of percussion or string instruments. Many times this musician(s) is prominently displayed in a pit area directly downstage of the stage. An alternative position will have the musicians seated along the forestage area directly in front of either side of the proscenium arch.

Costumes

(photographs)

Contemporary costuming for Indian urban plays is also simplistic compared to western standards. Plagued with many of the same problems as contemporary Indian scenic designers the role of the costume designer is also very much in its infancy. In many cases, costumes may come from an actor’s personal wardrobe or may be purchased at one of the local markets under the supervision of the director or costume designer. However, in the case of historical costumes where period details are required it is impossible to purchase the clothing off the rack. In these cases, a director may hire a costume designer or design the costume himself. In cases where a costume must be created specifically for a given type of performance the usual solution is to hire a tailor to complete the costume because these services are readily affordable due to the relatively low rates that tailors typically charge. Once built or acquired, costumes are typically moved from theatre to theatre in baskets or special trunks that resemble a decorative form of footlocker. These are kept small so that they can easily be carried while using various forms of public transportation.

Author's Bios.

Farley P. Richmond is Director of the Center for Asian Studies, University of Georgia/Athens. He co-authored Indian Theatre: Traditions of Performance with Darius L. Swann and Phillip P. Zarrilli. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990. Articles on Indian theatre and drama have appeared in The Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre, 1991. Paperback Edition, 1993 and in The Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre. Edited by John Russell Brown. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. His CD-ROM entitled, Kutiyattam: Sanskrit Theater of India was published by the University of Michigan Press in 2001.

Richard E. Dunham is an Associate Professor of Design at the University of Georgia and has been designing lighting and scenery for over twenty years. He has been active in USITT and is Co-Commissioner of the Lighting Commission. In addition to designing entertainment lighting he is NCQLP certified and designs architectural and landscape lighting through being the principle in Dunham Design Associates. He also holds memberships in IALD and IESNA as an architectural lighting designer.