How Not to Build a Theatre Institution

But such undertakings, especially if they function independently of secure government or corporate largesse, can falter or fail. The poverty of infrastructure and support for the theatre are among the external factors that are adduced for the precariousness of artist-led institutions. Internal factors are rarely cited. What if the institution is over-reliant on personal equations and goodwill for its sustenance? Or if its ownership is narrowly concentrated in one or two charismatic personalities? Or if it is too obsessed with legacy concerns to avert obsolescence in a swiftly changing environment? This session will investigate what might lie inside any theatre institution that could threaten its stability and hamper its growth. Reflecting on their personal experience of founding and running institutions, three theatre artists will tell us about what worked or did not work about the choices they made. Were discontents allowed to simmer, tensions swept under the carpet or challenges left unaddressed? In hindsight, do they regret any missteps or wish they had done some things differently? About the Participants Sanyukta Saha Sanyukta Saha is a theatre pedagogue, facilitator and community arts leader, and the Founder and Executive Director of Aagaaz Theatre Trust, a community-rooted arts organisation in New Delhi. Her work focuses on participatory arts-based learning processes with children, adolescents, youth and women, using theatre, dialogue and reflection to explore questions of identity, citizenship, gender, well-being and belonging. Sanyukta holds an MA in Theatre and Development Studies from the University of Leeds, UK, and a BA in English Literature from the University of Delhi. She has taught and facilitated learning processes at Ashoka University and the University of Delhi, and has also been involved in mentoring through the Bargad Theatre Fellowship. She has over 17 years of experience working across theatre, education and community-based practice. Before founding Aagaaz Theatre Trust in 2015, she worked as Arts Education Programme Coordinator with the Aga Khan Foundation, where she designed and implemented arts-integrated education programmes in the neighbourhood government school in Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin and early childhood centres. She has also worked as a theatre facilitator and community practitioner with Pandies' Theatre and through her independent practice. At Aagaaz, Sanyukta leads the organisation's strategy and overall development, while continuing to facilitate, mentor and develop participatory creative processes with young people and communities. Abhishek Majumdar Abhishek Majumdar is a writer and director, working across theatre, novels, essays, film and opera. He is the Program Head and Arts Professor of Theater at NYU Abu Dhabi and Artistic Director of Nalanda Arts Studio, Bengaluru. His work has been produced and commissioned by leading theatres of the world, including the Royal Court Theatre (London), Prithvi Theatre (Mumbai), Ranga Shankara (Bengaluru), Deutsch Shauspielhaus (Hamburg), Ruhrfestspiele (Recklinghausen), Théâtre du Soleil (Paris), National Theatre (London) and San Francisco Opera. Beyond theatre-making, he is deeply committed to training younger playwrights and directors and curating diverse voices to contribute to a theatre of ideas Abhishek Mudgal A State Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee, Abhishek Mudgal graduated from the Department of Dramatics, University of Rajasthan. He also holds a Diploma in Natyashastra and Western Theatre from Rabindranath Tagore University, Bhopal. In 2021, he was