Prof. Waman Kendre elected president of the new Asia Pacific Bond of Theatre School
The 9th Asia Pacific Bureau Meet of theatre schools held for a week at the National School of Drama (NSD) will be historically significant for many reasons.
The foremost of these perhaps is the renaming of the bureau Asia Pacific Bureau of Drama schools to Asia Pacific Bond of Theatre School, a move that signifies closer ties between the member nations.
New appointments were also made to the board of the organization. Prof. Waman Kendre, director NSD, as the next president of the Asia Pacific Bond of Theatre School. The decision comes months after he was elected as the Vice President – Asian Affairs, for the year 2016-17 by GATS General Conference in Lima, Peru, which is yet another feather in the cap of the prestigious institute. Other new appointments include- Gong Baorong of China (Director of the Secretariat), Ricardo G. Abad of Philippines (Vice President). Also, Dr. Farindokht Zahedi (Tehran), Mr. Aubrey Mellor (Singapore) and Dr. Hardy Shaffi (Malaysia) have been elected as the advisors.
Another significant decision has been to create a students’ forum for the first time, where one student from each member school across Asia Pacific Region will be nominated to the forum. There will also be an annual production of a play led by one of the member schools, involving one student from each school. And this year, NSD has got the honour of doing the same.
The curtain fell on the 9th day of the Asia Pacific Bureau drama schools meet with Prof. Waman Kendre, director NSD thanking the participating students, faculty, directors of the guest school, and the NSD team for successful coordination of the event.
In her vote of thanks, Prof. Tripurari Sharma who headed this year’s APB meet thanked the guest directors for electing Prof. Waman Kendre as the new president of the Asia Pacific Bond of Theatre Schools. This was followed by certificate distribution to the participants and musical by Rajasthani folk artists.
13 theatre schools from 10 different countries of the Asia Pacific Region participated in the confluence. The theme of this edition of APB meet was ‘The strength of Asia in Contemporary Performance Culture.’ The confluence examined the contemporary performance culture in Asia, the elements of traditionalism, modernization and other factors that contribute to it in terms of content, form and style.
Each day at the meet featured plays put up by the participating schools. The plays presented at the festival included- Flat Heart by Indonesia, Sanjhbelar Bilap by Bangladesh, The Identity of the Dead Butterflies by Iran, Loss of a Hometown by South Korea, Your destiny by China, My Friend has Come by Philippines, Kiri Kanan by Malaysia, The Dream Response by Singapore, I am not the Person by Japan, and Reshmi Rumal by India.
Apart from plays, a day’s program at the ongoing APB meet consisted of directors’ warm up sessions, workshops, students’ performances, directors’ meet and a panel discussion. Each school also conducted a workshop for all the other participants providing a glimpse into the school’s training methodologies through a series of exercises for the participants.
The entire National School of Drama was involved in hosting the week long APB meet as the students, faculty and staff member made sure that the event became successful and a memorable one. The international level conference was also a chance for India to showcase its exceptional art and culture. Experts like Dadi Pudumjee, Vidushi Rita Ganguly, Smt. Geeta Chandran, and the likes held workshops at the event.