Still waiting in the wings

We hum tunes in English, binge TV, spoken word acts and comedy in it. Why, pray tell, does theatre lag behind?

- Arshia Dhar

Plays suchasHamlet, the ClownPrince (inset) andDear Liar (starringNaseeruddin ShahandRatnaPathakShah) have run to critical andpublic acclaim.Andyet,morepeople gravitate to stand-up comedy rather thana comicplay for an eveningout.

All the world's a stage? Then how come some stage events do better than others, even though they're in English too? In the last few months alone, Indians booked early-bird tickets to gigs and music festivals, singing along to The Backstreet Boys, Halsey and Sting. But barely a fraction of those folks attended a play. Comedian Vir Das has sold out bigger concert halls than Indian playwrights tend to do. Spoken Fest claims to be Asia's largest spoken-word gathering and packs out arenas in Delhi and Mumbai; but theatre festivals fill far fewer seats.

PLAYWRIGHTS HAVE BEEN CRAFTING PLAYS IN ENGLISH FOR INDIAN VIEWERS. THE STORIES AREN’T ABOUT JOHN AND GEORGE ANYMORE, BUT ABOUT ANAND AND VIKRAM