Assamese Theatre Doesn’t Have An Audience Problem. It Has An Accessibility Problem: Kula Kuldip

Even as popular Assamese actor Kula Kuldip prepares for the release of his Kannada debut Border Diaries, it is theatre that continues to occupy the centre of his artistic life.

“Though cinema has expanded my horizons and introduced me to audiences beyond Assam, when the conversation shifts to theatre, it is not always about acting, but more about the future of this form of art that is at a crossroads,” the actor, who will next be seen in Himanshu Prasad Das’ XYZ, feels.

For years, theatre practitioners in Assam have debated why audiences are steadily shrinking. Auditoriums that once hosted packed performances often struggle to attract respectable crowds, while many theatre groups find it increasingly difficult to sustain regular productions.

Kula Kuldip, however, believes the discussion has focused too much on declining audience numbers and too little on changing audience behaviour.

According to him, theatre has remained confined within the conventional proscenium stage even as people’s lifestyles have undergone dramatic changes.

Travelling across the city after work, spending money on transport, purchasing tickets and investing an entire evening to watch a play is no longer convenient for many people. Instead of expecting audiences to return to auditoriums, he feels theatre must find ways to reach audiences where they already are.

He suggests that theatre practitioners begin thinking beyond traditional performance venues and explore smaller, more intimate spaces such as apartment complexes, village courtyards, community halls and neighbourhood gathering places.

Theatre, unlike many other performing arts, does not necessarily require elaborate sets or sophisticated lighting to communicate a story. Its greatest strength, he argues, is its flexibility.

“If fifteen or twenty people are willing to gather in a residential complex or a village courtyard, perform there,” he says. “The next day, perform somewhere else. Theatre has the freedom to move.”

His argument stems not merely from convenience but from observation. Assam’s mobile theatre industry continues to attract thousands of spectators every season despite the rapid growth of digital entertainment.

For Kuldip, this demonstrates that audiences have not abandoned live performances altogether. Instead, successful theatre organisations have understood the importance of accessibility and outreach.

He believes independent theatre groups can learn from that model without necessarily replicating its scale.

Making productions portable, reducing logistical complexities and taking performances closer to communities could gradually rebuild the relationship between theatre and its audience.

Kuldip also feels that the choice of stories deserves equal attention. Contemporary Assamese society is witnessing rapid social, political and cultural changes, offering theatre practitioners an abundance of subjects that deserve discussion. He believes audiences are more likely to connect with productions that reflect their own concerns and lived experiences rather than stories that remain detached from present-day realities.

The actor acknowledges that such a transformation cannot be achieved by performers alone. Organisers, directors and cultural institutions would all have to participate if theatre is to become more accessible.

Someone, he says, has to take the initiative to experiment with new formats instead of waiting for audiences to return on their own.

Despite his growing commitments in cinema, Kuldip continues to return to the stage whenever opportunities arise.

One of his recent productions, Neem Goshor Cha, demanded a level of realism unlike anything he had attempted before.

Rather than relying on theatrical exaggeration, the performance required restraint, allowing ordinary human behaviour to take precedence over dramatic expression.

The experience, he says, reminded him why theatre continues to challenge him as an actor in ways cinema often cannot.

His observations may not offer an immediate solution to the challenges confronting Assamese theatre, but they do shift the conversation in a different direction.

Instead of treating declining attendance as an irreversible reality, Kuldip argues that theatre practitioners should rethink where performances happen, how audiences are approached and what kinds of stories are being told.

If theatre has historically evolved by adapting to changing societies, he believes the present moment demands another such reinvention.

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