NCPA opens today: Here’s what to expect

When the lockdown was imposed late March last year, the National Centre Performing Arts (NCPA) had to cancel nearly 40 shows as well as suspend all their teaching activities. The NCPA comprising five performance spaces – Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, Tata Theatre, Experimental Theatre, Little Theatre and Godrej Dance Theatre – had hoped to reopen their doors in May, but the pandemic loomed beyond everyone’s wildest of imagination. And like other major cultural institutions across the world, NCPA bore a huge cost.

This evening, it will reopen its doors to the public after 11 months. The inaugural concert is a curated SOI Chamber Orchestra performance featuring renditions of old classics. The reopening night also includes a digital broadcast of ‘A Homage to Abbaji - Ustad Allarakha’, which was presented at the NCPA in February 2019 to mark the tabla maestro’s centenary, with an ensemble led by his son Zakir Hussain. Along with musical concerts, the month will also host plays and dance performances at the venue.
In an interview, NCPA’s chairperson, Khushroo Suntook, who is pulling out all the stops to ensure a smooth reopening, talks about how they soldiered on and kept the spirit of the arts alive during this time.

What steps did NCPA first take when the threat of Covid-19 became imminent?

The NCPA took steps to safeguard members of the public as well as patrons, artists and its staff members, deciding to close its offices and theatres by mid-March 2020, even before the lockdown was imposed. The audiences who booked show tickets received refunds for all cancelled shows.

There was a sense that shows will resume in May, but nobody anticipated the lockdown to be extended by over 10 months. How did it impact the NCPA?

Every industry, including the arts and entertainment, has been adversely affected. With all shows being cancelled and theatres shut, it has impacted us not just economically but also in other ways. Covid-19 has put many artists and art communities under financial strain. It has changed the perception of the way we work and communicate with people. For the first time in its 50-year history, the NCPA had to shut down. Despite this crisis that artists and cultural organisations in the country are having to go through, financial support from the government is not forthcoming. The NCPA hosts over 700 live performances in a year. Since the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown, all events have had to be cancelled.

From the programming perspective, how does NCPA plan to bring back audiences to the theatres?

The NCPA programming has always been a blend of performances by the finest international and local talent. With ever-evolving lockdown rules and travel restrictions, the focus will be on curating high-quality performances featuring local artists and concerts by our resident musicians of the SOI Chamber Orchestra. For the opening concert on February 3, the chamber orchestra will present a programme of beloved classics and a few surprises from the golden era of Bollywood featuring soloists from the Symphony Orchestra of India. The month of February includes recitals by promising artistes in Hindustani classical music, a Bharatanatyam performance by Vaibhav Arekar's dance company, plays and screenings on a wide range of themes, and international music concerts featuring the golden years of pop, jazz, swing and rock ’n’ roll. Even as bringing down international artists may not initially be possible, we will continue to bring performances from the world over through our screening collaborations with the Metropolitan Opera, New York, National Theatre, London, and the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow. With work on curation across genres underway, the months ahead will feature a higher number of programmes with an excellent line-up.

What was the biggest lesson for the NCPA during this time?
Work at the NCPA did not stop for even a day. Recordings of our events which thus far had been done for the purpose of documentation called for being viewed in a new light. Efforts continue to be directed towards augmenting our digital presence and making concerts from our archives as well as new performances available to members, patrons and new worldwide audiences, who discovered our offerings through our digital broadcast series, NCPA@home.

So, given that the NCPA is reopening, what are the safety measures you have implemented, keeping in mind the Covid 19 protocol?

Hygiene is a priority at the NCPA. The safety protocols have been designed in adherence to the rules laid down by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and our own additional precautionary measures. In addition to compulsory and proper use of masks, sanitisation, and physical distancing in the premises as well as the theatres, the audience, artistes and staff will go through temperature checks upon entry. All venues, green rooms and washrooms are regularly sanitised while measures have been put in place for adequate physical distancing during intervals and safe consumption of refreshments. E-tickets will be issued online and at the box office to avoid physical handling of tickets.

Photographs by Raju Shinde, Produced by Vinay Arote