Strategic Management in the Art of Theatre (SMART) Programme

Strategic Management in the Art of Theatre (SMART) is a capacity building programme for theatre groups in India that addresses their need to understand the role of strategic thinking and management in their work. This was launched in 2015, as a collaborative project where practitioners from theatre and management collectively share their experiences and learnings through a structured pedagogic process that includes a foundation course, workshops, and talks and conversations on theatre. The goal is to build knowledge, skills and expertise about arts management from within the Indian theatre community. The current SMART Core Team comprises Arundhati Ghosh, Ashish Mehta, Menaka Rodriguez, Neel Chaudhuri, Sameera Iyengar and Sunil Shanbag. The team is supported by Rupali Bhave for the SMART Office and Darshana Dave from IFA.

Over the years, SMART has conducted two editions of the three-phase SMART Course; seven day-long city-based SMART-On-Wheels engagements; five three-day SMART Workshops in various cities across India; a three-day online workshop; and six SMART In the Round online discussion sessions during the pandemic. 

In 2023-24, the SMART programme will conduct two major activities for the theatre community – a training module on production for fresh theatre graduates and a research on theatre spaces to build networks for performance circuits.

SMART is managed by India Foundation for the Arts (IFA), and supported by Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi, in FY 2023-2024.

Background

Theatre in India has enthralled, impacted and transformed audiences across the country, through the ages, as a living, breathing part of its sociocultural fabric. Practitioners pour their heart and soul, their passion and commitment into their theatre-making, always with a larger dream and vision. A practical road map would help them realise their dreams.

SMART was conceived to equip theatre practitioners with this road map - skills and expertise necessary to build this strategic plan which is achievable and grounded in their specific reality. The hope is that this will enable the group to be more sustainable, effective, efficient, and financially viable – making it conducive for them to be truly free, creatively, to achieve their dreams.

Need Analysis for SMART

In 2012, a survey was conducted with theatre practitioners and groups across India, by India Theatre Forum (ITF). This served as a dialogue with the field of practitioners to understand the gaps in capacity building and how best to address this need through SMART. From the overwhelming 68 responses, it was evident that theatre practitioners felt a deep and acute need for building capacity in areas like understanding and articulation of core values, audience building, administration, fundraising and communications, and related areas. Suggestions from this survey helped shape SMART. Click here to read the analysis of the survey.

SMART: A Collaborative Effort

SMART was conceived as a collaborative programme between theatre practitioners and arts administrators, organisations and individuals. Initially it was held under the aegis of India Theatre Forum (ITF), managed by India Foundation for the Arts (IFA), Bangalore, and Junoon, Mumbai. The founding SMART Core Team members included Arundhati Ghosh, Sameera Iyengar, Sanjna Kapoor, Sudhanva Deshpande, Sunil Shanbag and Swati Apte.