What is your Genre ???

In this small and quirky note, Kuljeet Singh asks whether is it a necessity to have a genre when you are a theatre person? After having a long discussion about genre, one would tend to ask the same question, what is your genre, says the author.

Rarely you find a theatre practitioner who knows his idiom. Some claim, they do not believe in genre-game, some don’t know the meaning and there are a few who vehemently deny to have any (read they have none).

To have it or not to have is not the question, whether you know what you are doing or you are doing just like that is the question.
Jargon like “Symbolism is my forte and realism is what I practise”, “…I am a post modernist” (read chaos) and “the idea is to communicate your subject…so genre has nothing to do” come vehemently very often.
Imagine Romeo and Juliet or Death of a Salesman in symbolism or Waiting for Godot in realism.

I came across a few who believe that genre is radically and essentially related to urban theatre and has connotations in urban domain of performing arts. To this, my instant response lies in the performance of Jatra in West Bengal or Nautanki in Uttar Pradesh or Naqqals in Punjab or Ankia Nat in Assam. The rural or folk performers know what they are doing and practicising it with the understanding or shall I say, They Know Their Genre.

“In all art forms, genres are vague categories with no fixed boundaries. Genres are formed by sets of conventions, and many works cross into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions. The scope of the word "genre" is usually confined to art and culture, particularly literature. In genre studies the concept of genre is not compared to originality. Rather, all works are recognized as either reflecting on or participating in the conventions of genre.”

“Genres are often divided into subgenres. Literature, for example, is divided into three basic kinds of literature, classic genres of Ancient Greece, poetry, drama, and prose. Poetry may then be subdivided into epic, lyric, and dramatic. Subdivisions of drama includes foremost comedy and tragedy, while comedy itself has subgenres, including farce, comedy of manners, burlesque, satire, and so on. However, any of these terms would be called "genre", and its possible more general terms implied.”

Conflict resides in the mind of the urban, well-cultured, sophisticated mind that pretends to have understanding or perhaps have the intellectual grasp for the subject but on the level of rendition, the reality comes to the fore. Subsequent responses of doubt and apprehension of the craft is obvious. Choice of subject and dealing with it differs here. Playing of character and moulding it in one’s fold also apparently seen.

Question I still intend to ask What is your genre ???