Art of the Possible, a professional development programme by the NCPA that seeks to support, elevate and revolutionise the current ecosystem of designers, technicians and managers of the Indian stage, held its second symposium in February this year.
The night before the symposium, the air at The Experimental Theatre held its weight; warm, salt-edged, dense with the press of time. The sea moved just beyond, steady and unconcerned, while inside, the soundscape was its own kind of tide—the constant thud of flex prints being put together, the crackle of mics, the occasional metallic clang of a ladder being shifted. Amidst this, Avafrin Mistry, production and stage manager at the NCPA, scrambled through the rows, checking mics, adjusting sightlines, making sure the backdrop sat exactly where it needed to. Every question, every cue, every last- minute change ran through her. A thousand moving parts, and somehow, she kept it all from fracturing.
Yael Crishna was easy to mistake for intimidating. A lighting designer and stage manager, she didn’t have much time for small talk. She stood on the stage, scanning the seating, anticipating problems. From the balconies, the side seats, the centre rows—would every seat have a clear view? Would the lighting hit the stage just right without glare or shadow? A problem, then a solution. In a loop.
I went up to her in the middle of it all and enquired if she had put her name down in the Art of the Possible (aotp) directory. She turned to me, equal parts annoyed and amused. Of course she had, back in 2022, at the time of the first aotp symposium. Later, we checked with the developer and found out why she wasn’t in the system. She had been flagged as spam. “Sounds about right,” she said, laughing, having resigned to the absurdity of it. It was, in some ways, the perfect metaphor. The people who make things run smoothly, who solve problems before they occur are so often unseen—even by the systems meant to include them. I stood in front of the stage and watched the making of it. By morning, none of it would be seen. The lights would come on, the sound would be crisp, the transitions seamless and the work—this real work— would disappear, absorbed into the thing it made possible. And that is the paradox—to do something so well that no one notices. This is the way live events work, and also how an industry sustains itself through labour that remains unseen. Art of the Possible (aotp) is for them, for their work to be visible and for it to matter. Created by the NCPA, it is a professional development and upskilling programme aimed at bolstering the community that soldiers on behind the scenes.
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In 2020, Bruce Guthrie, Head of Theatre & Films at the NCPA, initiated a discussion with the late Antonia Collins, a noted UK-based stage manager, educator and educational consultant, about training options for production arts in India. They had collaborated over several projects and shared an understanding of the potential of the field. Before determining a concrete course of action, they found it vital to further investigate the Indian scenario. With funding from the British Council and Godrej Agrovet, the NCPA commissioned the Art X Company to undertake research the following year, wherein a series of interviews, focus groups and round-table discussions were undertaken with over 200 arts professionals in India. The report was released in February 2022. “Key findings included the fact that production arts were mainly viewed as an informal sector with very little structure in either training or pay and working conditions. Whether people even discovered these career options was totally dependent on their own experiences and exposure. There is no formal training option in the way you would see in other countries and most learning is done on the job. We also heard about the gender bias in the industry and the financial barriers to further education and training. For myself, one of the most unexpected key findings was how many different job roles people were undertaking in order to create a sustainable career,” wrote Collins in an article for ON Stage.
Between the first symposium, held online in August 2022, and the second one in February 2025, a website has been developed, complete with a directory where professionals can upload their details, where events, workshops, talks specific to production arts can be posted, and details of rehearsal spaces, venues and arts companies can be accessed. The aim is for aotp.in to become an open, go-to resource for India’s creative and technical professionals.
By the time the symposium begins, the Experimental Theatre is full. The room is buzzing—a few technicians, designers, production managers, and a lot of students. Some have built this industry. Some are just stepping into it. They are here to talk about the future of production arts in India. The discussions cut to the core: Can India build training spaces that don’t just meet global standards but set them? What do we need—funding, policy shifts, new collaborations—to stop playing catch-up and start leading? Do we need degrees or apprenticeships? Rashmi Dhanwani, Suraj Dhingra, Brian Tellis and Vivek Rao lay out the landscape of production arts in India—where it stands now and where it needs to go. Chaitanya Chinchlikar and Dr. Priyanka Pathak examine global training models, questioning whether an ‘Arts Academy’ is the answer or if India requires something more tailored. Roger Watts, Toby Van Hay, Mark Dakin and Guthrie speak of performance spaces and the technology shaping the industry worldwide. Running through it all is the quiet, urgent question: What does it mean to build an industry, not just scattered singular successful events?
The presence of TAIT UK at the symposium highlights a different set of questions: should India’s theatre industry aspire to global models, or should it develop its own frameworks? What does it mean to learn from international expertise while maintaining regional specificity? India’s theatre scene has long had its own traditions of storytelling, performance and stagecraft. The question then is how to integrate new technology and ensure that global standards do not erase local ingenuity.
After the pandemic, the question that hovered in the world of live events was: would people return? Would they crave the experience of being in the same space to witness something collectively? As Principal of Placemaking at TAIT UK, Dakin understands what transforms a concert from something heard into something felt. Think Coldplay, Taylor Swift. The past 18 months have been filled with productions that leave a mark. “The evidence says [that since the pandemic] there’s a bigger appetite than ever. To be in a big stadium, sharing this experience, is a very special thing,” he reflects. Dakin believes the industry’s future depends on the next generation—who enters it, where they begin and how they are trained. New technology reshapes productions and influences the pipeline, starting in schools and colleges. India, he says, stands on a threshold. “The potential here is huge. Huge talent, huge creativity. India is incredibly diverse. There’s a real opportunity to support and help build the cultural sector.”
The momentum already exists. “I don’t think India has had the kind of phenomenal growth in the events and live experience space as it has in the last two years,” says Rashmi Dhanwani, founder of The Art X Company and Festivals From India. “BookMyShow reported its highest-ever ticket sales in 2023, and we are now in 2025, post-the Coldplay concert—we can imagine the appetite of the Indian consumer.” More shows, more opportunities, more people stepping in. But numbers aren’t enough. “We need to create a better creative sector—more diverse, more equitable,” she adds. The work goes beyond scale; it depends on structure. “Let’s build databases and continue to get people together. It’s a difficult job. aotp can help get these databases in order. The opportunity here is: how can you become the LinkedIn for creative sector technicians? To foster associations and do collaborations that can advocate for the sector.”
This is the work. To drag the spotlight away, for a quick moment, from the shows that get built and torn down, to the networks that remain. It begs us to consider that when the work itself thrives, then the next step is to ensure that the people who make it happen are recognised in more than name and are supported in ways that last—in wages, in security, in the ability to build a future in this field, and in creating a real, functioning network. The problem, says Vivek Madan, theatre actor, producer and founder-director of Bhasha Centre for performing arts, Bengaluru, is access—to not only jobs but also movement, circulation. “There’s a gap in being able to tour a work. A show from Mumbai or Kolkata—how often does it actually go outside the city?” The ecosystem has gaps, and the people within it move carefully, working around what’s missing. Funding remains an issue, but it is also about where the work goes, who sees it, how the circle widens—or doesn’t.
These networks have existed in an informal way before, Madan notes. He doesn’t know if he would have joined one himself back then. But he sees the need now. He sees how aotp gives shape to something shapeless, how it aims to bring people onto the same platform. “The fact that the website is going to be open access is a great start,” he says. “I just hope that the people who really need this are able to access it. That they get what they need, not what we think they need.” That distinction matters. “The solution,” says Guthrie, “is to get more resources, to do more shows, to do them better and to attract more audiences. To create more value around what we do. Because the work is already there. What’s missing is the recognition and the support to make it last. So, the most important thing that people can do is register on the website, fill out your profile and share it with people who you might be working with. Tell them about it. Be evangelical about it.”
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Theatre has historically celebrated the director, the playwright and the lead actors. aotp aims to shift the focus to the collective. Does that entail threatening traditional hierarchies, or does it reinforce a new kind of power structure? Does the performance evolve when the foundation beneath it is valued? Pallavi Patel, a costume designer, sees the shift in her own field. “Costumes used to be one thing you check off the list while making a production, but now creators are realising it’s an important part of storytelling. It’s not technical any more. It’s not just about making a dress. It’s holistic.” She believes that aotp can be a game-changer. “The best part is this is building a very focused resource for us in the industry. There are so many places where you can see which performances are happening in a city, but the workshops and talks don’t get advertised as much as the shows. aotp is bringing the spotlight on the training bit. Who are the people you can get in touch with? How can you meet others in the industry and make better work?”
The symposium ends the way these things do: the last words spoken, the final slides clicked through, applause, thanks. And then the quiet dismantling. Cables coiled. Screens packed away. The stage returned to its blank state. Later, much later, the people who built this day—who lifted it, lit it, cued it and carried it—begin to pack it all away. Crishna catches my eye as she walks offstage. “Still can’t believe the website thought I was spam,” she says, shaking her head, half laughing. Then she’s gone, back to work, onto the next thing. The room empties. The stage resets. The work continues.
