Natyavalay Museum to celebrate Marathi Theatre Thane, Maharashtra Praneti Kulkarni UG Semester 8
Introduction The first ever Marathi play Seeta Swayamwar was staged in 1843 by Vishnudas Bhave Company. The forward march of the Marathi Theatre has been ever progressive and full of constant social and aesthetic awareness. These heights have been scaled due to the glorious efforts of many highly learned playwrights and talented artists. The most surprising and pleasing happening on the Marathi stage is that right upto the present time both professional and non-professional Marathi drama groups continue to perform their plays on the Marathi stage with success, both groups develop and progress and maintain continuity. Consequently the Marathi stage is constantly every year enriched with the addition of new forward-looking playwrights, directors, artists and technicians. A special credit has to be given for this progress to the highly enlightened Marathi spectators. It is difficult to narrate its past in a few words. The share of Marathi Theatre in the development of Indian Theatre has been not only unique but a source of valued inspiration for theatrical arts in other Indian languages. Marathi Theatre has etched a golden chapter in the history of Indian Theatre. Hence, the Museum to Celebrate the spirit of Marathi Theatre industry.
Mission Statement Would be an institution dedicated to celebrating, supporting and further establishing the identity of Marathi Theatre. The institution aims to break the wall between the audience, theatre aspirants and enthusiasts as well as practitioners established in the field. The institute will achieve its objectives by: •Providing an interactive environment where the practitioners can share their knowledge and experience with theatre enthusiasts (aspirants, students, young professionals, strugglers) and encourage them to develop and expand their capabilities. •Functioning as a workshop for various levels of theatre practitioners (writing, set design, lights, backstage, costumes etc.) by providing them space and facilities for learning, exploring, experimenting and performing within the institute. •Providing opportunities for the general public to witness/participate the ongoing activities in the institute, thus attempting to make the work culture transparent, which in turn would help dissolve the misconceptions that prevail about the theatre community at large. (events) •Developing a museum to celebrate the Marathi theater tradition and its achievements. The museum will be dedicated to remembering the contributions of its patrons, its promoters, its practitioners etc. Journey of Marathi theatre from the traditional theatre to the modern day. The museum would also store and display/exhibit archival material relating to the most memorable people and performances (e.g. portraits, scripts, costumes, posters, props, tickets, musical instruments, lights, sets, photographs, official documents, etc.) The museum would provide opportunities for research and referencing to anyone who’s inquisitive to know. It will showcase the relation of Marathi theatre with the other theatres. •The center could also specifically include a section for children’s plays – Love for theatre starts early. Commercial Theatre for children is unique to Marathi Theatre. A unique part of the institute would be a canteen that would act as an artifact in itself in that, that a canteen traditionally has been central to most of the creative dialogue that takes place within the active theatre community.
A guided tour of the gallery The museum will have guided tours 3 times a day which will give the audience a complete experience with visual and audio elements. Each gallery will have a door man at the entrance who will hand each person a handout the size of a newspaper. This handout includes a brief introduction to the decade and the plays in it. With each decade the look and feel of the handout changes according to the advancements in printing in the particular decade. When the audience enter the gallery all the exhibits are dimly lit. As the group moves from one exhibit to another the exhibit/sets light up as they were during performances and audio inputs of dialogues, songs, sounds etc. start. As the group reaches the end of a gallery the door man of the next gallery rings the iconic bell ‘teesri ghanta’ which indicates that the next gallery will be opened in 15 minutes. Originally these ghantas are used in theatres to inform the audience that the play will start in 15-20 minutes. It is rung thrice hence the name ‘teesri ghanta’. The corridor has hand painted boards of the plays in the next gallery. This gives the audience an idea of the next decade. These boards were one of the first elements that gave the audience information about the play. A gap of 15 minutes is kept between viewing each gallery so that this gives the audience to rest their eyes and mind. Benches are placed at the end of each corridor for them to relax. Click on the arrows to see the view from that point.
• Before entering a gallery, hand painted boards of the plays in the coming gallery are displayed in the corridor. •These boards have information like the name of the play, production house, writer, director, actor, actress, light designer, etc.
•First look of the gallery - Thick curtains as in auditoriums •Exhibits seen through the gaps create curiosity among the audience.
Entrance to the gallery.
•The revolving stage was used for the first time in this decade. It was used by two plays so the stage is divided into 2 parts. •The stage also revolves and shows the mechanism that was used. •Depending on the play and its contents, significant characteristics are displayed and emphasized.
•Prema tuza ranga kasa’s was set in a bungalow in Mumbai. •The set was appreciated by critics and audiences alike. It is raised to a height of 500 mm. •This is how the lighting will be when the guide speaks about the play.
•The play ‘mi jinklo mi harlo’ by writer Vijay Tendulkar was one of the first experimental plays in this decade. •Experimental plays are generally content strong. Hence the exhibit for this play is text heavy and speaks about the script, the time when it was written and other writings of Mr. Tendulkar.
Himalayachi bayko
Raigadala Jevha Jaag Yete
•The backstage parts of the gallery have a mirror with make up accessories on the counter that were used in the decade. •The counter top gives information about make up artists and costume designers. •Some mannequins are placed in front of the mirror in such a way that the audience look in the mirror to see the costume, jewellery, etc. • This makes the audience a part of the exhibit. The images on the right are of the actual set. •The last image speaks about the artist who wrote the name.
•Matsyagandha was inspired from an old Sanskrit play. •Many artists interpreted the play in their paintings. •Some of these paintings and illustrations are displayed along with the set of the play. •A mannequin showing the costume of Matsyagandha is displayed too.
•Ashrunchi zaali phule is exhibited on half of the revolving stage. •The mannequins are dressed like the characters and an important scene from the play is replicated here. •In order to see the mechanism of the revolving stage with ease, the lower part of the stage is lit. •The stage revolves in the clock wise direction.
•The play Varhadi Mansa as the name suggests was based on the lives of the people from Varhad. •This reflected in the language, costumes and the sets of the play. •A large part of the set was the Varhadi vada, i.e. the house of the protagonist. •A part of the set is exhibited here along with a mannequin dressed like the female protagonist and two other characters from the play.
Varhadi Mansa
•Since Varhadi Mansa was based on the lives of the people from Varhad, the costumes were designed accordingly. •This is exhibited in the backstage area too along with the information about the make up, the make up artist and the costume designer.
•Shantata! Court chalu ahe was again a content heavy play by writer Vijay Tendulkar. •The play had a simple minimal set which is exhibited in the gallery.
•The play Padmashri Dhundiraj was the first all womens play. •Except for the light designer every single task was done by a woman. •The main panel talks about the characters and actresses. •Next to the mirror some photographs of the talims i.e. the practice sessions and the writer are exhibited.
•Dhanya te gayani kala was a musical based on the life of the great singer and Tansen. •Hence the set was inspired from Mughal architecture. •During the tour, sound clips of 2-3 songs from the play will be played. •Since the set was very elaborate a part of it is replicated and exhibited here and a scaled model of the whole set is displayed too on the right side.
•The play To me navhech was a commercial success. •It is considered to be Prabhakar Panshikar’s best performance. •Mr. Panshikar played 9 different roles in this play. One part of the stage exhibits a part of the stage and focuses on the 9 roles. • The other half of the stage shows details about the remake.
Dhanya te gayani kala’s backstage area and Lekure udand zaali.
At the exit, the symbolic red exit sign is suspended which reminds the audience of leaving the auditorium after seeing a play.
•The corridor acts like a break between two galleries.
•View of the gallery entrance from the end of the corridor.
Thank you