Mumbai: This 84-year-old theatre group is back with productions & masterclasses

There are times when a conversation turns into a time machine As Roger Pereira speaks of his years at St Xavierrsquos College he casually mentions commuting with a certain Joy Mukherjee on the local train from Bandra to Churchgate Yet the surreal experience is not out of place in the context of our conversation With the Theatre Group Bombay announcing a return to the city stage nostalgia is in the airA league of their ownEstablished by Sultan lsquoBobbyrsquo Padamsee in 1941 the group took its name from Stella AdlerLee Strasberg led Group Theatre movement in New York ldquoIt was the first English theatre group in the cityrdquo shares current president Raell PadamseeA dated photograph of Raell left and Alyque Padamsee File PicThe legendary Adi Marzban moved from Gujarati theatre Derek Jefferies and even Ebrahim Alkazi who directed Macbeth for the group Pereira was picked by Alkazi during an intercollegiate performance in the early 1950s ldquoMy first production was The Man Who Came to Dinner in 1960 under Adi Marzbanrdquo he sharesAnother towering name in the cityrsquos theatre circuit Sabira Merchant recalls ldquoI just walked in to audition for Alyque and Pearl Padamsees I read for the part of a school girl despite having had three children My first play was The Word by Pratap SharmardquoSabira Merchant as Blanche Dubois with Dalip Tahil in background as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named DesireAdvertising companyldquoAlyque was my boss at Lintas I was an executive in the film departmentrdquo shares Denzil Smith among the younger members of the seasoned squad Advertising was the bread and butter for many of them ldquoAlkazi recruited me for Shilpi Alkazirsquos agency Nissim Ezekiel was in a managerial role while Vijaya Mehta then Jaywant was also part of the agency It helped us take care of the chaipaanirdquo adds Pereira tongueincheek Smith reveals ldquoAlyque would often hire actors in some capacity on account of their creativityrdquoRadical movesMerchant attributes the group and Alyquersquos experimentations as a key feature ldquoWe experimented a lot We read from different plays and poetry to open up our voices We would also do extempore actingrdquo the 82yearold sharesNosherwan Jehangir and Roger Pereira in Gieve Patelrsquos SavaksaIn 1966 the group established the Sultan Padamsee award for playwriting Gurcharan Dasrsquo Larins Sahib won it the first year Pereira would play a part when the production would be staged later His lsquocollege matersquo Gieve Patel would win it the following year for PrincesSmith says ldquoTheatre Group would produce very radical scripts They did a lot of Indian English writing and the classics and musicals as well mdash from Jesus Christ Superstar to Evitardquo Merchant won the National Award for her performance as Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire ldquoOne of my favourite performancesrdquo the thespian recallsSabira Merchant left and Farrokh Mehta in A Streetcar Named DesireAnother familiar name is Ronnie Screwvala ldquoTheatre shaped all my skills as an entrepreneurrdquo says the producer who began his journey as Petruchio in Shakespearersquos Taming of the Shrew ldquoWith Alyque I was in Othello But my other fond memory is with Pearl directing me in Children of a Lesser God where I had to learn sign languagerdquo he sharesEbrahim AlkaziReturn of the old guardOn Saturday the old guard will return to a venue in Malabar Hill for a nostalgic performance Meher and Nosherwan Jehangir will play Petruchio and Katherina from Taming Of The Shrew Screwvala will take on Brutusrsquos iconic monologue while Pereira and Farid Currim will play Othello and Iago Merchant will play Lady Macbeth ldquoIt is a tribute to Alyque who was instrumental in my growth He cast me as Julius Caesar for an unfinished play Imagine thatrdquo she recallsDenzil SmithFor Raell it is the beginning of a new act Starting October the group will return to the tradition of recruiting young talent from colleges to nourish the theatre circuit Screwvala shares ldquoEveryone today wonders about upskilling but what about the soft skills There is no better way to build them than through the artsrdquo Raell adds ldquoWe are hoping to take these thespians and productions to the youth of today We will also be running workshops and masterclasses for those interested in the arts not only Shakespeare Keep an eye outrdquo she says We certainly willLOG ON TO raellpadamseeace for more details