It is indeed true that the number of viewers for drama and theater is waning day by day. This is particularly true if the venture is by a local amateur troupe. Nonetheless, we have observed a growing interest among a group of motivated youths to practice and think about drama in their very own way far away from homeland with extremely limited resources available. Most of the time their sincere effort is thwarted by the monstrous challenge that a good and solid theatrical production often pose including a proper and affordable stage and other equipments, availability of artistic and technical resources near at hand, ample time at disposal which one can afford to invest for such an enterprise keeping the other primary commitments intact and the list can grow. Even if a production somehow manages to get to the stage surpassing these limitations and hardship, getting audience just sufficient enough to cover the expenses are not always guaranteed. Despite these facts, isolated and sporadic attempts and interests for Bengali drama have only grown in the recent past. News of many productions and small groups in and around San Frasisco Bay Area can vouch for that to some extent. The same might hold true for places like Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and others where ever there exists a little concentration of Bengali speaking population.
How does ‘Natya Mela-2005’, organized by Sanskriti, fit into the above scenario? To put it very simply, Sanskriti sees this festival as a means to encourage and provide a platform for the innumerable number of connoisseurs of drama who are constantly nurturing and nourishing this art-form outside the periphery of their native land.
The ‘Natya Mela’ in San Fransisco Bay Area is by far the first ever effort of this sort in California. The festival offers a vehicle for sharing the artistic expression and experience of theatrical arena in both a positive and festive ambience. Only a whole hearted participation from different performing groups and the general public can make such an event a complete success.
Even though it is a drama festival and supposed to be a breeding ground for future ideas, and drama is of course the central piece of talk, it is also possibly true that the ‘Mela’ attempts to take away all that extra gravity and over-seriousness that usually gets tagged with such affair. This particular venture also tries to present itself as a place for social interaction although having drama always as a backdrop. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that it has not been attempted to make the event a competition.
Through its spirit of participation and congenial intermingling of the participant group as well as the audience, the festival serves as a celebration at the same time extending a way to advance practicing and encouraging Bengali Drama by the local amateurs in a foreign land.
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