HYDERABAD: Surabhi Theatre, the theatre family which is synonymous with Telugu theatre recently celebrated their 125th year. The group is known for their spectacular theatre which mostly are based on Hindu mythological themes. Bhoomika, a theatre group started in 1982 by Udaya Bhanu Garikipati, in collaboration with the National School of Drama (NSD) organised a workshop specifically for the younger generation of Surabhi, hoping to encourage them to stick with theatre as a mainstream profession. Says Garikipati, “Bhoomika has been collaborating with Surabhi for about a year and half. We have seen a lot of potential. So we came up with workshop to help make the shift to a more professional level.” The Surabhi family has about 300 households, all of which live in the same area in Hyderabad. From this, approximately only 50 of the family members are doing theatre full-time. The rest, as Garikipati points out, are part-time stage hands or something else, taking up jobs which pay better. “Many of them are technicians or drivers or something else like that. While there are those who are well-educated and have managed to earn secure jobs, the lesser privileged sect of the family is suffering,” he adds. To make sure that Surabhi doesn’t become a dying art, the workshop introduced the modern techniques of theatre to its participants. Explains Garikipati, “The theatre group has a certain way of doing things. Thus we initially found it a little difficult to get them to appreciate the modern techniques we were teaching them about. But after a while they warmed up.” The month long workshop had 30 participants between the age group of 15 to 27 years. “The NSD provided them with a stipend of Rs 3000 while Bhoomika also gave them an allowance of Rs 2000,” he informed adding that quite a few were the sole bread winners in their family and would have naturally found it difficult to spend an entire month in a workshop. They were also provided with lunch as the workshop was from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm.
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