BY ALEX. ELMORE

By many traditionalists, the art of the modern theatre is despised as something which detracts from the actor’s art and which is, generally speaking, superficial. This point of view, it must be admitted, has much truth behind it and cannot be completely ignored by those who champion the modern stage and all its numerous accessories. A very great deal of staging is done today which is merely playing with the toys of the theatre. A very great deal is mere ‘fireworks,’ displaying, not an artistic and restrained use of the various highly dangerous mediums at the command of the present-day producer, but a childish and expensive, garish and ugly showing-off of the mere mechanical conjuring tricks possible in the well-equipped theatre of the twentieth century.

In India, there is an unparalleled wealth of drama. There is a living tradition which cannot be bettered. Yet if we look at the usual attempt at production, we see incongruous use of materials. We see bad construction of plays which grind on for interminable hours without line, without climax, and without regard for that precious jewel of dramatic presentaticn. ‘atmosphere.’ The strange thing is that nearly all the stories used in these presentations have all these attributes. There is certainly ‘line’ in the beautiful stories of the Golden Age, because they are true. There is certainly a most dramatic and wonderful climax wherein the truth and the actuality of the story is made highly apparent. As for that magic ‘atmosphere,’ where else are there histories so full of the magic of atmosphere as in India? No, the material is there in abundance. Can it be that we, in modern India, have lost the reality and the truth of our own intimate, historical, religious story?

Let us return to the theatre. We have before us perfect matter for dramatic presentation. What is our first step towards a worthy production, then, of an Indian play? First, if the subject is historical, we must implicitly believe in the reality of that history. Even if ‘miracles’ are forthcoming, as they certainly will and should be in a true history of a Nation and people, we must treat these ‘miracles’ in the light of realities, and even if our rather stupid minds will not accept them as facts, we must bring into working the most powerful gift an artist has–the imagination. Thus far, we have overcome the first obstacle and put our feet on the right road of ‘true’ presentation.

Now let us take a look at our theatre equipment. The most important of these in modern times is undoubtedly Light. In India very little is available in the way of really first-class lighting equipment, as, naturally, there is very little demand and it is usually very expensive to acquire. Nevertheless a great deal can be done with quite amateur equipment. Light is very easy to misuse. Pretty effects can be obtained with the minimum of effort, but effects that are more than pretty need careful thought and a great deal of experiment before they can be successfully produced. The next piece of equipment which is related to Light is the type of back-drop known as the Cyclorama. This is a circular cloth or wall which is stretched round the back of the stage almost to the front at each side. The ideal and so-called ‘Full Cyclorama’ is the same thing with half a dome brought over the top of the stage. These Cycloramas can be painted any colour, and light thrown upon them in the right way will produce an effect of infinite distance. These two pieces of modern equipment–Light and the Cyclorama–are quite sufficiently revolutionary on the Indian stage, without our having to consider further details at the present moment.

We now come to a point of great importance–Simplicity. Let us take the subject of Costume. How many plays, or worse still films, have we seen which have been costumed badly, cheaply (in effect, not in cost) and with glaring incongruities and anachronisms? How many times have we watched and listened to some hero or heroine singing endless songs in the wrong place and time, clothed in everything that panders to the Westernized taste of much that is modern in India? If historical heroines, one feels, would only completely adopt the Western frock and high-heeled shoes and cheap jewels and be honest about it, it would almost be to the greater advantage and clarity of the unfortunate audiences who are compelled to look and listen to these rather dreadful ‘hybrid’ heroines! India has a tremendous advantage over many nations in that she has first-hand material in the shape of bronzes, paintings and other works of ancient art whereby she can draw her exact knowledge. There are, naturally, many reasons why an exact copy of ancient dress cannot be used, but with carefully and thoughtfully designed costumes, the ‘atmosphere’ of any particular period can be achieved without being necessarily an exact copy. In fact, exact copies are usually a dismal failure on the stage, and it is usually better to ‘dramatize’ the costume slightly. But, above all, Simplicity is the key-note.

Then, of course, the actual acting. Tradition has a tendency to become very stilted after too many years of use. There is no reason, and in fact it is quite certain, that the best plan should be to take the best of tradition and add to it the best artistic expression of the age. In this way, new and better traditions grow. In India, especially in certain parts, one sees a pathetic attempt to set the old tradition into modernized settings. Either the old acting tradition must remain and the producers must make their modern settings accordingly (which is quite feasible), or the acting must be modernized upon the old tradition to fit in a more modern setting (also quite feasible). The main thing to hold in mind is still the truth and actuality of our story. We must not lose that in the evolutions of our technical interests. If we do, we are lost artistically. Technical points of danger for the actor are stilted diction, and still more stilted movement and facial expression. Reality is ruined so often by every actor in a film, shall we say, all having the same ‘routine’ to produce tears. One gets to know the different stages of ‘teardom’ as it were and can count them on one’s fingers, to the passing of the minutes it will take for each stage. This is, of course, highly primitive and spoils the power and purpose of the drama, which is to tell a story with conviction in a manner that grips and takes the audience out of their world into the great world of history and greatness. Then there is that peculiar expression which comes over the faces of film stars when they are about to burst into song. It may be that they are given their too, too numerous songs to sing at impossible moments and that there is a sort of effort needed to ‘step it up’ as it were into another realm of art. It is a habit and these habits grow quickly and strongly in the atmosphere of the stage. In fact, one of the faults both of the stage and certainly of the screen in the Western world is that actors are forced to be certain types, and the artists that they set out to be are swamped in the mechanical repetition of stock expressions, gestures, and even types of play which are given them to use in various degrees of intensity.

Is there then a meeting place for the modern theatre and the ancient tradition? There certainly is. That meeting place is found by realising the reality of the matter to be dramatized (whether it be an ancient history or a modern social story) and never allowing that reality to fade away under the garish light of modern technique. It is also to be found by using the technical gifts placed so generously in our hands by modern science with discretion and restraint, again never letting them become our masters, but by making sure that we gain mastery over them.

As a last word. Training is quite necessary for effective stage-work of any description. The theatre is the active home of all the arts, and to be an expert in ‘theatre’ one must know at least a little about them all. It is as useful for the actor to know the technique of the theatre as it is for the theatre technician to know something of acting; and training for the stage should be as comprehensive as possible, with plenty of practical work from the very beginning. This also, of course applies to film. In fact, the film is fraught with frightful dangers for the unwary. It is a new art and has no tradition behind it. Anyone with the inclination and sufficient money can start filming, with the results which we only too often see before us on the screens of India.

India has the tradition. India has the great capacity to adapt herself to the best of modernisms. It is the duty of all Indian artists, and others who love India, to keep the tradition living and pure and to see that only that which is really useful and beautiful and lasting is taken from the modern. The Theatre in India could become the Temple of National Culture–an outstanding Home of Art to which the world would turn in wonder and admiration, and to which it would send its sons and daughters to learn of the secrets of true culture.

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