Date:26/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/26/stories/2006052619770200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Prayaag to play godfather to theatre talent

Susan Muthalaly

Aim is to put city on country map of performing arts

A still from Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer.

CHENNAI: Putting up a play in Chennai is about to get easier. No more running around seeking funds from prospective sponsors.

Well, if all goes according to plan, Sathyam Cinemas' new project Prayaag plans to be a sort of godfather for talent from the performing arts.

A confluence of theatre, dance and drama, Prayaag's objective will be to put Chennai on the country map of performing arts. Its debut production `Black Comedy' opens on Friday at Sivagami Petachi auditorium.

Asim Sharma, who is heading the project, says the primary problem with theatre in this city is that it lacks infrastructure. Not only will Prayaag attempt to provide adequate infrastructure, it will be a scouting agency for performers. They plan to build a database of the city's finest and most promising for future reference.

Sharma says they plan to have talent scouts to scour the city for suitable people, and not just the performers. "We want to target the local writing talent. India, on the whole, lacks original scripts. We are always doing plays from abroad," he says. He says the idea is to find the talent and take care of everything for them, from funding to copyright. They also plan to concentrate on regional theatre, that doesn't have too many platforms in the city. "It's going to be a long search", he acknowledges.

Kiran Reddy, managing director of Sathyam Cinemas, conceptualised this due to his passion for the performing arts. It is still in the nascent stage and may take a while to gain some recognisable structure.

For now, Prayaag is aiming at familiarising itself to the Chennai audience through its maiden production, an Indianised version of Peter Shaffer's farce `Black Comedy'. Set in Mumbai, the play takes place during a power failure at the house of a struggling artist. It is a crucial day for him as he is to meet his society bee fiancée's disciplinarian father.

Directed by Michael Muthu, the shows will be at 7.30 p.m. on Friday, 2.15 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets are available at Sathyam Cinemas and the venue and are priced at Rs. 500, Rs. 200 and Rs. 100. Call 42244224 for bookings.