Birth of Thespo
In 1999, 5 young graduates and under-graduates had just formed Q Theatre Productions (QTP) in an effort to continue practicing theatre outside the comfortable confines of their alma mater St. Xavier's College, Bombay. The love, the excitement, the passion and the energy that they had shared doing college productions had inspired them to always have theatre as an integral part of their lives. After graduating, they noticed that there was a dearth of opportunities for young theatre enthusiasts who wished to pursue theatre as a hobby or profession. Out of this void emerged the idea of creating a forum for the youth to experiment with and explore the possibility of taking theatre seriously as a mode of expression, a career, a way of life.
Around the same time, Theatre Group Bombay (TG) was toying with various ideas for projects to pass on training and expertise to the young and upcoming actors, writers, directors. TG was formed in pre-independence India by a similar bunch of young and confident theatre enthusiasts who wished to immerse their hearts and skills in the practice of English language Theatre. Over the years the TG committee has been led by Sultan 'Bobby' Padamsee, Alyque Padamsee, Ebrahim Alkazi, Derryk Jeffreis, Gerson Da Cunha, Sylvester da Cunha, Pearl Padamsee, Roger Pereira, Vinod Mehta, Homi Sethna, Vijay Crishna, Hamid Sayani, Farrokh Mehta, Farid Currim, Raell Padamsee among others. Macbeth (1941), Candida (1955), Tughlaqh (1970), Godspell (1970), Jesus Christ Superstar (1974), Evita (1982), are but a few of the memorable productions that have been staged under their banner over the last 7 decades. In 1999, TG led by President Derryk Jeffreis, decided it was time for the group to pass on the skills and the expertise that they had garnered over the years.
From the desire of senior theatre practioners to pass on the torch and from the vacuum young theatre lovers felt in 1999, was born Thespo - An Annual Youth Theatre Festival. Founded and supported by TG, managed and run by QTP, Thespo was formed with 2 very clear aims:-
- To recognise, encourage and showcase India's best youth theatre talent.
- To provide guidance and training to the future stars of theatre.