UNESCO World Theatre Day

Yesterday marked the start of World Theatre Day, an event celebrated by the UNESCO International Theatre that will culminate on April 29 as ITI World Day. Andrei Perinetti, secretary-general of UNESCO International Theatre Institute, has announced that Girish Karnad, one of the top writers of India, would provide the main message of this year’s worldwide celebration. His message has a vital message for world theatre today and it is that if theatre is to survive it will have to continue its role of presenting man’s role in this world.

Karnad emphasized his message by calling our attention to the Natyasastra, an early drama treatise that dates back to the third century before Christ. Its first chapter is about the Birth of Drama. It was at a time when moral virtues had yet to be acknowledged. To get the message across a new media had to be discovered, one that would be both entertaining and edifying. So Brahma, the Creator, combined the different elements of the Brahmin’s four sacred books – the Vedas, which meant knowledge. The first part of the book consisted of hymns, the second chants, the third mainly of prayers both in prose and verse, and the last of hymns and spells that concerned superstitious practices.

The gods could not perform in the plays because gods cannot pretend to be something they are not. They cannot live on make-believe. So it was turned over to a man named Bharata, who with the help of his sons plus celestial dancers sent by Brahma staged the first play. The gods were the very first to acknowledge the great possibilities of the new art form.

The play itself was about the battle between the gods and the demons culminating with a great victory for the gods. The demons did not like the play and so they interrupted the performance by impairing the speech, movements and the memory of the players. The gods attacked and killed many of the demons. Brahma, the Creator, had to approach the demons and explained what drama was all about. He told them that drama represented the state of three worlds. "It incorporates the ethical goals of life – the spiritual, the secular and the sensuous – its joys and sorrows. There is no wisdom, no art, no emotion which is not found in it."

Today we cannot escape drama. It is everywhere in radio, films and television. Some people stoutly maintain that children today are more influenced by radio, movies and television than by their families, the church or the schools. So the quality of drama in the country should be everyone’s concern. A classic good use of drama is what the Special World Theatre Balintataw broadcast production is doing to commemorate Holy Week by drawing a parallel between the agony of Death and Resurrection of our forests and seas. Another is the Earthsavers Dreams Ensemble that will perform in different parks composed of handicapped artists jointly with the urban poor and tribal youth participation. Sad to say, man is the greatest enemy of our environment. Animals do not destroy, poison or pollute the environment.