Feature films entice the common man, while the stage is believed to cater to the connoisseur. It is ironic, considering that feature films in India are an offshoot of stage plays. The debate of whether an elitist tag is attached to theatre has been going on for many years and continues till date. Popular actor Karthik Kumar admits that in 2003, when he and partner Sunil Vishnu founded the theatre group Evam, there definitely was a tag of elitism attached to English theatre here in Chennai. “When we first started, we would have a certain literate, older audience, not below the age of 40,” he says. But nine years after he founded the company and with the influx of newer theatre groups, he reiterates that theatre has evolved to be more accessible, catering to a larger audience. “Now, I would definitely disagree that theatre is elitist. The audience age range has changed to 20 – 40 years,” he says.If Karthik was willing to admit that there might have been hints of elitism at one point, theatre veteran P C Ramakrishna dismisses it completely; almost as if the thought itself is blasphemy. “Theatre is not elitist at all,” he says, evidently angry. “Theatre has covered a quite lot of ground.” And when he calms down, he explains, “How can Chetan Bhagat be elitist, for god’s sake?” referring to the adaptation of the author’s novel Five Point Someone. He says that if there are adaptations of Shreekumar Varma and Kalki, there are also more audience-friendly ones like R K Narayan and Bhagat. “Of course, once in a while, we want to celebrate the work of a great author,” he explains, but maintains that over the years, audiences have grown exponentially, both in terms of age and demographics.Popular theatre director Michael Muthu feels that among Chennai’s six million population, only 5,000 are probably interested in watching plays, and 15 plays a year just won’t make the cut. “I don’t think the problem is whether theatre is elitist or not. People are not watching plays here because 90 per cent of the plays they watch are junk,” he says.But the one thing that this generation can take solace in is the fact that there is a wave of cultural change happening. It is now a time when it is not only normal and accepted, but is also the norm for someone to enjoy a Chetan Bhagat adaptation one weekend and a Jerome Bixby the next. Like travel writer Pico Iyer admitted in an interview, the best way is to “mix it up”
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