A tryst with theatre

Jennifer Kapoor performed various roles with great finesse. She was not only a dutiful daughter but also a loving wife, a caring mother and a visionary who set up the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai. Screen pays a tribute to the actress on her 78th birth anniversary.

If Jennifer Kapoor, nee Kendal, would have been alive today, she would have been 78 on February 28. Daughter of Sangeet Natak Academi Award winners Geoffrey Kendal and Laura Liddell, the actress par excellence developed an Indian connect after she moved here with her parents at the age of 13. In a career spanning over five decades, the only constant factor in her life was theatre. It was this art form that drew the light-eyed beauty to India, helped her find a life-partner in actor Shashi Kapoor, prompted her to set up Prithvi Theatre in suburban Mumbai and give a new lease of life to stagecraft in our country.

India beckons

Jennifer was born in 1933 at Southport, England. Her eternal bond with India started, thanks to her parents who first came here during the Second World War in 1939 as part of the Entertainment National Service Association that organised performances for the British troops. The couple fell in love with the country and were besotted by its beauty and people. After returning to the United Kingdom, they decided to set up their own theatre company — Shakespearana—- as it was becoming increasingly difficult for them to sustain due to the economic depression. They decided to take a chance and return to India.

Sanjna Kapoor, Jennifer’s daughter and director of Prithvi Theatre, says, “It was during my grandparents’ second visit to India that they brought along my mother when she was 13. Before leaving UK, they met her school principal and told her that since they would be away for a year, they did not wish to leave her behind. The principal was happy as she felt that my mother would get a better education by visiting another country. “

However, Jennifer never went back to school. She joined her parents’ theatre company and started travelling extensively across India right from villages to schools in small towns. In those days, a theatre company comprised only 15 people, so everyone had to do everything, right from designing costumes to painting backdrops, handing out leaflets, promoting their productions through loudspeakers and urging audiences to come and watch their work. Though Laura would often play the female lead, once she grew older, Jennifer stepped into her shoes and acted in modern classics penned by renowned writers like Noel Coward and George Bernard Shaw.

Love at first sight

Jennifer first met Shashi Kapoor in 1956 when she travelled to Calcutta (now Kolkata) with her parents where Shakespearana was to stage a play. But when the Kendals reached the venue, the manager told them apologetically that they could perform only after a few days as a successful Indian company’s shows had been extended due to public demand. That group was Prithviraj Kapoor’s Prithvi Theatres.
After the veteran Indian actor learnt about the Kendals’ ordeal, he invited them to watch his group’s shows every night. Sanjna says, “My father was just 18 at that time and he worked as a third assistant stage-manager. Every night he would peek through the curtain to see if the venue was full or not and it was on one such occasion that he saw my mother and fell for her beauty.”

Shashi and Jennifer, however, actually got to know each other many years later when they met in Mumbai. They became close friends after the handsome actor joined Shakespearana and performed with the company for two years. Sanjna recalls vividly, “My father found it quite difficult to learn the lines and perform in English plays. On one occasion, he wrote in his diary, ‘My tongue felt like a piece of lead in my mouth while delivering all those heavy English dialogues.’”

Later, Shashi went on to act in several classics. Though Shashi and Jennifer were as different as chalk and cheese, theatre bonded them and they soon tied the knot. The light-eyed actress was a woman of many talents and would later design her husband’s costumes for his films. The proud daughter recalls vividly, “I was 10 when my parents were shooting for my father’s production, Shyam Benegal’s National Award-winning film Junoon. My mother not only designed all the western costumes but also hand-stitched all the bonnets worn by the actresses. Our drawing-room had turned into a tailor’s den replete with lace, ribbons and buttons. She was very good at stitching and though she tried to teach me, even today I sew a button with great difficulty!”

A new beginning

After her marriage, Jennifer was clear that she wanted to take care of her family. But she was in for a big surprise. Her husband wanted to build a theatre to give an impetus to the art form in India. Sanjna says animatedly, “We always thought that the idea to build Prithvi Theatre was my parents’ mutual decision. But it came as a huge surprise to us when my aunt, actress Felicity Kendal, who was writing a book on my mother, came across her letters in which she had written, ‘Shashi has gone mad, he wants to build a theatre.’ Though Prithvi Theatre was my father’s idea, it was my mother who executed and breathed life into it. The arrangement was simple - while my father would earn money to finance it, my mother would be more hands-on.”

A few years after Prithviraj Kapoor’s demise, Shashi and Jennifer set up a trust in his memory and bought land with the intention of building a theatre to promote the performing arts. They roped in architect Ved Segan to build Prithvi Theatre. But the surprising aspect was that Ved had never built a building, so they sent him on a visitorship to UK to study theatre spaces and watch shows in them to get a better understanding of the function a space was supposed to serve. After his return, Jennifer and Ved worked closely to design an intimate space with excellent acoustics and a pervasive feel of theatre.

Sanjna says, “There were huge spaces in Mumbai like the Tejpal and Patkar Halls where a lot of Gujarati and Marathi productions were staged but there was no dedicated space for Hindi plays. The whole idea was to give a platform to Hindi troupes and provide professional amenities and space.”

Shashi and Jennifer were also clear that the space should cater to the needs of the actors. Sanjna explains, “Since they had faced various problems while performing at diverse venues like the Opera House, school halls, fields with tables tied together and proscenium theatres, they knew what were the desperate needs of the actors. Usually we take care of the foyer, the seats and the audience needs, but we often forget about actors who hardly have any backstage space or good dressing- rooms. But my parents took care of all of that within the tiny space of Prithvi Theatre.”

In order to provide all kinds of amenities to artistes, Shashi would often throw surprises at Jennifer and Ved. Sanjna describes how a few weeks before the theatre was supposed to open, he demanded that air-conditioning should be installed at the venue. “They had to make a lot of adjustments and change things as the venue was not designed for air conditioning. But finally they managed it. My parents would have a lot of arguments about various things like the height of the stage, the seating arrangement etc.”

Finally Prithvi Theatre opened its doors to the public on November 3, 1978 with a play staged by the theatre group IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association). But unfortunately the troupe was not prepared and the opening had to be called off. After two days, Majma, a group comprising actors Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah, stepped in to open Prithvi with the Hindi play Udhvast Dharamshala.
While this set the ball rolling, it took some time for people to actually come and watch plays at the venue. So the artistes would use different means to attract audiences and sell tickets. Veteran actor-director Dinesh Thakur says, “We used to go to traffic signals and sell each ticket at Rs 5. I was a star then, so I would convince people to buy tickets. They would buy four just to please me but never turn up for the plays.”

1979 - A Golden year for Prithvi Theatre

1979 proved to be pivotal as it was during that year that the venue, which was till then called as Prithvi Theatre Workshops (PTW), was re-christened as Prithvi Theatre. Explaining the change, Om Katare of Yatri Group says, “The place where Prithvi Theatre is built was actually the venue where Prithviraj Kapoor would rehearse. So it came to be called as PTW. But in 1979, Jennifer came up to us and told us that we should stop experimenting and turn professional. That was how the word workshop was dropped.”

Om goes on to explain that Jennifer was very supportive of all the groups and always encouraged them to rehearse diligently. He says, “She would ask us to rehearse regularly at the theatre till our play was staged. She believed that we should be so comfortable with our surroundings that we shouldn’t feel that we are acting. She also gave us access to Prithvi House, the space opposite the theatre, which was earlier Prithvirajji’s residence, to conduct our rehearsals. Today we have to book a theatre before a month just to have the final dress rehearsal.”

Shashi and Jennifer also watched plays regularly to hone young talent. Feroz Abbas Khan, who first met Jennifer in 1979 when he acted along with Shafi Inamdar in Pkshuff, says, “After the performance, Jennifer came backstage and appreciated us. She was so generous with her comments. It was a tradition that Shashi and Jennifer would attend each show of every play. Despite being owners, they always insisted on buying tickets.”

A people’s person

Apart from being actively involved with theatre, Jennifer was also a humble person who enjoyed immense popularity. Feroz says, “Every Monday, though the theatre would be shut, Jennifer would be there. One would feel extremely calm and relaxed after talking to her. She was like a saint who was full of compassion.”
Dinesh couldn’t agree more. He says that Jennifer was also a stickler for cleanliness, who believed in doing everything on her own. He explains, “I used to address her fondly as bhabhi. When her car entered the gate, she would alight and pick up the stray leaves and papers without asking the workers to do so. Such was her simplicity.”

Om, who started his career with Prithvi Theatre, confesses that Jennifer was also strict about the groups being professional and using all the resources to the optimum. He says, “My play Rajneeti had premiered in 1979. I had used a thin piece of cloth to hide the stream of light that was falling on the audience. After the performance, she reprimanded me, saying that I should have used a thick cloth that would not have disturbed the audience. She always said ‘We are offering all kinds of facilities to you. You should know how to use them.’”

Dinesh recalls how Jennifer offered all the costumes of Junoon for his play Jaane Na Doongi. He recalls, “Jennifer just opened the bag without me asking her. She told me, ‘You can use whatever you like, I just want the performance to be good.’ And those clothes actually added a new dimension to my play.”

End of the road

From 1979, Prithvi Theatre gradually turned into a hub where young and old groups aspired to perform. To celebrate the success of the venue, Jennifer came up with the idea of the Prithvi Theatre Festival in 1983. Feroz, who worked with her for the festival, says, “She was keen to get all theatre companies under one roof and motivate them to give their best productions. She wanted more interaction among all the groups and believed that together they can make a difference to theatre.”

But while her dream was in the process of being realised, personally she was going through a tough phase. Feroz recalls how on the last day of the festival, he learnt that she was suffering from cancer and was flying abroad for treatment. He says, “Initially even she wasn’t informed about the seriousness of the disease. Despite going into therapy, she continued working. I met her for the last time at her place where she was in the midst of preparations as her parents were supposed to perform at Prithvi. Such was her level of commitment.”

Om, who was staging his new play on September 7, 1984 when Jennifer passed away, still remembers everything vividly. He says, “We were just about to start our play when the news of her death came in. Her huge photo was put up outside the theatre. It was quite difficult for us to perform as we were staging a comedy play Unse Mili Nazar. We paid our condolences and in true spirit of the Kapoor family followed the dictum ‘The show must go on’. The audience was in no mood to laugh, it was only after 45 minutes into the performance that they started letting themselves go.”

Today thousands of shows have been held at Prithvi Theatre. Every year 550 shows are held that are attended by around 75,000 people, all thanks to the vision and passion of one lady - Jennifer Kapoor.

As Feroz says on a parting note, “Jennifer was born for theatre and she died for theatre.”