With a history dating back centuries, Marathi theatre found its peak in the 1950s and 1960s with performances that included musical drama, folk dance, social plays, farces, experimental plays and serious drama. Even today, it continues to have a marked presence across the state. However, like everyone, this industry too suffered in the lockdown. On May 21, members of the Marathi theatre and film fraternity, including Mukta Barve, Aadesh Bandekar, Subodh Bhave, Avadhoot Gupte, Nikhil Sane and Hemant Dhome, reached out to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray to discuss on resumption of work. From discussions on helping the backstage crew and folk artistes, to guidelines needed to be followed while resuming post-production shoots, the meeting lasted for about two hours. However, with theatres being closed across the state, it may take a little longer for the industry to bounce back.

A 28-year-old playwright, Yugandhar Deshpande, is trying to keep all performers afloat through his new page on Instagram, Corona Theatre. Originally from Pandharpur, Deshpande is best known for his work in two plays, Agdich Shoonya (a story of two friends who come from the world of zeroes) and Aswastha Samudrawar Bail Melaay (the story of a small town couple and the big city chaos that follows them). "I have been living in Mumbai for the last eight years, and returned to Pandharpur just two days before the lockdown. Almost 10 days into the lockdown, I realised something needed to be done to keep Marathi theatre alive," Deshpande recalls. He argues that while writers can survive an indefinite quarantine, actors cannot. "I can at least sit down and write scripts, but what will actors do at home?"