On a weekend evening, I watched a play in an intimate space with barely a handful of people in the audience. As the actors delivered a powerful performance, I wished it had a fuller house, but unfortunately, many plays face this fate. Competition from digital content, busy schedules and traffic woes... the obstacles are many and real.
Bengaluru-based playwright and director Shatarupa Bhattacharyya argues the issue of dwindling audiences isn’t linked to a lack of interest, but is a symptom of a culture that prioritises celebrity over art. “If Naseeruddin Shah performs, the auditorium is full,” she says. “As independent practitioners, we often find ourselves persuading, requesting, sometimes begging people to attend.” This dynamic shapes artistic choices, creating tension between telling the story you believe in and the one that sells.
In the age of social media and OTT content, the act of watching live theatre offers a connection to real life. Theatre allows us an opportunity for genuine human interaction. Bhattacharyya insists theatre isn’t in direct competition with OTT but with shrinking attention spans. “Asking an audience to sit through 2 hours without distraction requires patience, and that is becoming rare,” she says. Many productions operate on shoestring budgets and play to half-empty halls. She recalls staging Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis, an exploration of mental health, in November 2022. It had to close after six shows due to poor attendance.
Mathura Kalauny, a Hindi playwright whose group Kalayan has performed in Bengaluru for decades, points out that we live in a time of instant access. “Theatre asks for commitment: stepping out, planning, investing attention. In an age of convenience, this is its first disadvantage,” he says. Kalauny notes that theatre often fails to market itself with the urgency of OTT platforms, making ticket prices hard to justify unless the experience feels “must-see”. Yet, he views this not as a crisis but as an opportunity to redefine theatre’s place, leveraging its unique power of the shared, live experience.
Bhattacharyya suggests shifting the focus from numbers to community. “I’d rather have 30 fully present people than a packed, disengaged auditorium,” she says. Bhattacharyya has consciously shifted away from proscenium spaces to foster a closer relationship with the audience. She does this by inviting people to script readings, work-in-progress sharing, and post-show conversations. “When audiences feel part of the journey, they become invested. It’s not about bringing people in transactionally; it’s about building a community,” she adds.
Workshops can be seen evolving into performances in areas like Aram Nagar in Andheri, Mumbai, the hub of production houses and casting agencies. Atul Kumar, founder, The Company Theatre, has seen hybrid spaces in the neighbourhood for small-scale productions where rehearsals often result in impromptu performances.
In Delhi, Neel Chaudhuri, artistic director of Tadpole Repertory, believes theatre makers must take risks and push boundaries in their work. Understanding demographics is also key. His collective recently tailored productions to specific audiences: a devised play, Aakhirkar, a variety show, NDLS: Kahan Pahunche, and a dramatised reading on the Eichmann Trials. “Theatre makers need to accept that the audience will be small and they ought to nurture what exists,” he says.
Sravasti Datta is a Bengaluru-based independent writer.