365 days

The Actor’s Studio Hyderabad (TASH) is project being launched by Samahaara, a non-profit theatre company in the city . TASH is concept that provides theatre 365 days a year for anyone and everyone.A workshop is conducted for two-months and culminates in a play, only to begin again with a differnt focus for another two months. This process will go on for a year, thereby conducting six workshops and producing six plays. These theatre specific, streamlined classes will take place on a regular basis; every morning and/or evening from Monday to Friday. Says Rathna Shekar, founder of Samahaara, “We have conducted many workshops over the past few years. But after the workshop, we realised, the experience is not complete. So we decided to give the workshop a goal - a play. Thus, now, people who come to the workshop can practice what they’ve learnt in a definite setting. It gives them a more complete learning experience.”There are workshops catering to all kinds of people - amateurs, hobbyists, practising theatre artists and so on. For professionals who would like to come in for a pass-time and can’t spend too much time, there is the Theatre club that happens on every Sunday. Registration is Rs 1000 per month. The club is fashioned almost like a stress buster, pushing people out of their comfort zone. Explains Rathna Shekar, “We’re planning on taking our classes to different setting every week. It could be a mall, a park, on the road, anywhere. The element of the surprise is the trademark.”T.A.S.H, though is a propriety entity of Samahaara, founded and run by Rathna Shekar, its objective is slightly different from Samahaara. T.A.S.H aims to develop theatre as a lucrative profession. Says Rathna Shekar, “I have friends, colleagues, students of mine, my seniors and juniors, many of whom have taken up theatre professionally. They are perhaps teaching at a university level or conducting workshops and seminars or are doing theatre on the sidelines. T.A.S.H aims to bring all this talent on to one platform that can pay. Which is why we have registration fees for our workshops. At the same time, we want this to be available to as many people as possible. So we aren’t priced too high either.” The workshop for the adults (17 years and above) charges `6000, while the workshop for children costs `1800, both of which are for a two-month period. TASH has a Facebook page that lists their programme out.