NT NETWORK
Vijaya Mehta, the name that spells excellence in the world of theatre, believes that in its current phase theatre is scaling down after reaching a saturation point.

“There are various reasons for the current state of theatre. When we worked we never aimed at money or publicity, we eventually gained it. We worked because we were passionate about what we did. But now I feel that because everything is easily available, the passion and urge to discover has dropped. At present theatre is in its low phase after having reached a high point once. But I am hopeful that in times to come it will reach that the high point again,” stated Ms Mehta, who was interacting with theatre enthusiasts at the Kala Academy on Saturday as part of the World Theatre Day celebrations.
She further commented that she was fortunate enough to be part of the renaissance of not only theatre but also all forms of art.
Mehta who is also a theatre actress and acclaimed director mentioned that the actor should never do demonstrative acting. Speaking about her experiences she mentioned that during her three-year scholarship at Europe to learn training methods of actors for non realistic theatre she realised that Indian theatre is based on British theatre. “I realised that what we are doing is British theatre. Thus, to bring in an Indian essence I did the ‘tamasha’ format and showed how the actors interacted with audience. And from then on I started touching upon folk forms of theatre,” added Mehta, who then collaborated on Indo-German theatre projects with German director Fritz Bennewitz for many years.
Mehta also mentioned about her theatre group, ‘Rangayan’ where they focused on doing one play written by Marathi writer, one adaptation, one-act plays, workshops and most importantly to have only six shows of one play. But, then it closed down in the 1970s and she moved to mainstream theatre. She believes that plays of P L Deshpande made her a household name.
She also mentioned about her failures and remarked that from those failures she learnt more than her successes. She also wrote and directed a Hindi film, ‘Pestonji,’ which she believes was her attempt at something different.
Being a student of Ebrahim Alkazi and Adi Marzban, Mehta always restrained herself from English theatre. “I did only three plays with Alkazi because that theatre made me feel very uncomfortable. Also I feel that I didn’t flow with the character,” explained Mehta who started her career at the age of 18 with these mentors.
During her interaction she also spoke about Goa and termed Kala Academy as her home. “I was involved with the Kala Academy right from its inception. So I feel that I am at home,” added Mehta.
She also elaborated on tiatr and expressed that she enjoyed watching it. “I loved tiatr because of its connection with the audience. Also its format is very alive. I used to even take my students to watch it,” concluded Mehta who is now part of NCPA (National Centre of Performing Arts).