A Night at the Theatre

1.01.07

What an amazing night it was at the old auditorium in Cuttuck, the ancient capital of India. When we arrived there after freshening up at Hotel Bombay we did not know what to expect. It was like entering a time warp or a movie set of some far off time when theatre and drama in India was at a peak. We were warmly greeted by one of the organizers. the legendary Professor Khartik Rath, a very characterful tobacco chewing man wearing huge flared pants, each leg the size of a woman’s flared skirt, covering his legs which suffered from severe elephantitis. Sandeep had told us to photograph everything, especially when meeting ministers and the like, but somehow we had managed to leave our photo camera at the hotel. There was great commotion all around, as we were guided inside to sit by the main stage. The special guests were invited to the stage, and you could tell that all these characterful dignitaries were lovers of dance and drama, and passionate supporters of the arts. The tourism minister of Orissa was actually quite underdressed just wearing a casual cardigan- it was like a family gathering of great legends in the field of Dance and drama. But you could tell this event meant so much to all of them. The performers come from as far away as Bangladesh, and Assam, and are of very high standard. As all the evenings performers gathered on the stage you really got the sense that all the individual artists of every age had something very special to contribute.

The festival is called “The International Theatre Olympiad” – the only International theatre festival organised anywhere in India. Sandeep and Freya were soon invited to sit on the main stage with the dignitaries, and were given a rosette and flowers. They were then asked to say a few words. Freya looked frozen and very serious, and Sandeep guided her and told her quietly what to say. I wish she had a few public speaking skills. We have seen many little girls younger than Freya speaking so confidently in front of a crowd- it seems so natural to them. Anyway, it was all a bit too much at once and quite unexpected all of it.

The organiser spoke very passionately about how the world’s peoples are all one, and that the arts is a powerful way to break down boundaries between nations. Indians are, as I have observed, very passionate about their rich culture and heritage, and holds its importance very high, but not just for theirs; they know the value of culture and what richness it brings to any society. But as is also typical with an Indian audience when important messages are being conveyed, people chat throughout proceedings, and also give a pretty lame applause to most things- I think I was clapping louder than anyone. Being the only white female, and wearing a sari, I got my share of attention, so I felt it was important to set a good example, and hoped my clapping would rub off onto others.

After all this hullabaloo, Sandeep whisked us off to the tiny low ceilinged rooms under the stage where the performers were getting ready. As we turned a corner we were met by 10 young ladies dressed in the most amazing costumes, all with huge cardboard snake cut outs on their heads, and the most amazing theatrical make-up. I just wished so much we had our camera. They looked absolutely incredible, and were all so enthusiastic and exited about meeting us. Sandeep and Freya then disappeared off to meet the press – this fair Aussie girl is just too much of an attraction. Guy and I became quite worried with all this fuss being made, and we can just hope that Freya pulls it off and does her teacher proud. We feel she is quite underdone with her practise, but Sandeep seems to have every confidence in her – much more than we have. He is so full of love and enthusiasm for her- and is quite unstoppable. He told us that the tourism minster would like to invite us all to stay an extra day, in order for Freya to perform at a “beautiful historic place”. This all depends on whether we can get our train tickets transferred to new dates- it is in the hands of the gods. We don’t want it all to become a stress for Freya or Sandeep…We just hope Freya will wow everyone tomorrow evening and certainly it will be a fascinating experience.