World Theatre Day: As Theatre Nisha celebrates 25 years, we trace its journey from a two-member group to a prominent theatre ensemble

What is theatre? A performance? A reality? A mirror? It’s all of it and more; it is a living, breathing conversation between the stage and the audience, where each word, movement, and silence holds a mirror up to the human experience. It is a space where art meets life, where truths are spoken, and where the deepest questions of existence unfold. Through the lens of theatre, we see the world not as it is, but as it could be, challenging us to look beyond the surface and confront the complexities of society, history, and the self.

Raising a toast to 25 years of Theatre Nisha!

As we celebrate World Theatre Day (March 27), it is only fitting that we turn our gaze to a group that has embodied this philosophy for a remarkable 25 years — Theatre Nisha. Founded by the visionary V Balakrishnan, a National School of Drama (NSD) prodigy, Theatre Nisha has carved a legacy of artistic excellence, thought-provoking performances, and an unwavering commitment to the transformative power of theatre. Since its inception in 2000 with the daring production of Harold Pinter’s Ashes to Ashes (staged in 2001), Theatre Nisha has continually pushed boundaries, using the stage to delve deep into the human condition, society’s contradictions, and the timeless questions of life.

Over the years, Theatre Nisha has staged more than 130 plays, with a repertoire that spans from the works of ancient playwrights like Kalidasa and Euripides, to modern masters such as Albert Camus, Samuel Beckett, and Sarah Kane. This diverse range of voices reflects a deep dedication to exploring the complexities of the human soul and the society that shapes it. Beyond its performances, Theatre Nisha has become a nurturing ground for the next generation of artists, offering workshops that span acting, design, movement, and play-writing—ensuring that the art form remains alive, relevant, and accessible to all.

The Beginning

“Most people think that Nisha was my first girlfriend!” Balakrishnan, who is fondly called Bala, begins to tell us. “But no. Nisha (meaning) twilight was one of the first words that I had uttered on stage when I was working in a play written by a very prolific writer Arvind Joshi. The line goes — the fact that everything seems to be dank and dark, when will the sun rise? So Nisha was an attempt to go towards that sunlight,” explains Bala, who completes 31 years in theatre.

Interestingly, Theatre Nisha was founded out of a “necessity”. Bala sheds light on the same, “I had come to Chennai from Delhi and I wasn’t getting work here. It was either ‘Oh! He’s from NSD, we can’t give him work!’ or ‘Oh! He’s from NSD, so what? We won’t give him work.’ Now, I was a pure actor; I had nothing to do with direction or designing, and since I wasn’t getting any work, I said fine, let me create my own group. Janani and I were working for Ashes to Ashes at that time. She was all of 17 years old, but I said, one is too little but two seems just fine to start a group. And we called it Theatre Nisha.”

Growing from two to three and more was quite the domino effect. “After Ashes to Ashes, people recognised that there is a new boy in town who possibly knows his job, and then I started getting work. People like Dr KR Usha approached me and asked me direct her play Endless Pathways; I kept meeting more and more people; and before I knew it, by 2002, I had four or five people in my group. In 2004, I managed to do Andhi Veli in Tamil with lots of actors from Koothu-P-Pattarai which was the reigning group of that time and that kind of broke the shackles on set. It was a moment that announced ‘we have arrived’ and ‘we are here to stay’,” says Bala, whose love for the stage was and is so great that he doesn’t remember the difficulties in the initial years. “There were the challenges of rehearsal space, money, etc but somehow, I remember only the good things. We did play after play after play and never stopped.”

The Middle

Meera Sitaraman, an intrinsic part of Theatre Nisha, joined the group in the middle — in 2012. As we trace her journey, one realises that all the forces of theatre there are, brought her to Chennai, to be a part of Theatre Nisha, which she says is a space where “I can be unabashedly me without any fear. It’s liberating”. Her journey towards “the one thing that I have never given up”, which is theatre, began when she was in school. Meera says, “My school was very forthcoming when it came to annual functions. Plays were never directed by a school teacher. So, we always had people from outside who knew theatre, directing us. I had the opportunity of working with Sandeep Madan and the likes, who were really good theatre professionals in Jaipur. That’s where I grew up. I remember when I was 11, and I had just come to know about National School of Drama, I went home and said, ‘Appa, I want to go to National School of Drama’. Diwali came early in the house that year!”

She continues, “When I came to Chennai to do my graduation, that’s when I met Bala for the first time. So, although I joined Theatre Nisha in 2012, I have known him since 2007. I had the opportunity of working with him as well in 2007, 2008 and 2009. So, my introduction to theatre has always been through these people who knew what they were doing in their capacities. Over the years, I moved around but wherever I went, I did theatre. Later, when I came to Chennai again, this time to do a project with Child Relief, the day I landed here, the funding from it was removed. So, the project fell apart. I needed to search for work, and Bala was very kind to tell me, ‘Come, join.’ Initially, I was proactive in looking for work. But then I realised I could do theatre, so I stopped searching for jobs and theatre became my life.”

Who needs an end!

In the age of social media, how does a theatre group manage to survive for 25 years creating exactly the kind of stories they like? Well, Bala puts it perfectly. “If you are doing what you like, I don’t think survival is a problem. I think your other mercantile dreams that come into the picture, cause the problem. I know people who come from very low economic backgrounds who are doing theatre heartily because that’s what feeds their soul. And then there are those who say, ‘Theatre can’t pay me INR 60k or INR 1.5k a month. My MBA can. So, I’ll go with my MBA’. I don’t think that person ever really enjoyed theatre! Maybe you enjoyed the feeling of being in theatre. Like they say, one is to be in love and other is to be in love with the feeling of being in love. In the sense that, both Meera and I don’t own a car or an apartment, but we own our space.”

He goes on to add, “Yes, our stories are ‘dark’, but let’s also understand the word ‘dark’. I find what goes on in the name of comedy and stand-up to be very dark and scary. By ‘dark’, I mean that it makes people question. It makes people spend time with themselves. And many people find that uncomfortable. But I think discomfort is the first step in order to create a change. And theatre has always existed for one purpose — to create a change. So yes, our stories are dark because they make you look into the darkest corners of your souls and lives, after which, they also lead you towards light. That was why we called ourselves Nisha.”

Bala also says that theatre is the reason that we are all a society today. It is the reason that we managed to create institutions the way we have done. “It is the reason that we have laws and edicts and codes and codifications. And if theatre is what has made us who we are today, imagine its strength!”

As Theatre Nisha celebrates its 25th anniversary, we honour its devotion to the craft, and its profound impact on the cultural landscape of Chennai and beyond. Here’s to another quarter century of groundbreaking performances, exploration, and the unwavering belief in theatre as a transformative force in society.

Email: rupam@newindianexpress.com

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