Christian Stuckl, the German who brought rare passion to theatre

For the sheer love for theatre, Christian Stuckl has made Mysore, and more specifically Rangayana, his second home. The actor-director talks about his love affair with Mysore for the past 15 years, his FIFA World Cup choreographing experience, his Passion Plays and more .

The stage is not only the meeting place of all arts, but also the return of art to life. Christian Stuckl, actor/ director, has proved this many times with his plays, staging them all over the world. His love for theatre has led him to Mysore which has now become his second home.

Speaking about his life and career, he said: “My first association with India was through the Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi, in 1993. I've not stopped coming to India ever since. It was then that I met BV Karanth [BVK] who took me to Rangayana and introduced me to a bunch of young theatre enthusiasts, and said they were under my mercy and I could do anything I want with them.”

Pleasantly surprised, Christian took these young artists and staged A Mid Summer Night’s Dream at Rangayana.

“When BVK came back and saw the rehearsals, I was asked to remove every single kissing scene from the play. That is when I understood what theatre in India was and how hard it was to show romance without kissing,” he said and laughed.

Not only did he stage plays in India, but also took artistes to Germany and worked in several plays giving them a chance to look at world theatre.

“After A Mid Summer Night’s Dream was staged in Mysore, I took the same batch of artists to Germany and we staged it in Munich. It was a great success there as well. This was the time I was introduced to Rangayana Raghu, who is now a big star,” he said.

Seeing the rise and fall of the Indian theatre, he feels India should take ideas from Germany where over 180 theatres are built by the government.

“In India, theatre is meant for the intellectual. Historically, dramas were staged for commoners. That flavour is lost here. We need to bring more people to theatre and make plays simpler in script and narration,” he said.

In 2002, Christian came back on his customary visit to India and found that theatre was dying here.

“I decided I would never come back. But by 2004, I was feeling home sick. And to my pleasant surprise, a beautiful Bhoomi Geetha stage was ready at Rangayana. I decided that I can never stay away from Mysore’s theatre,” he said.

The challenge
Working with world theatre, Christian is the only director who has been able to direct three passion plays consecutively.

“In the 16th century when a small village called Oberammergau in Germany was infected with plague, the villagers vowed that they would stage the story of Jesus as Passion Plays every 10 years. The tradition has never been broken,” he said.

A passion play is usually a grand affair. The council selects the director and preparations begin three years before the play is staged. With strict rules, the play is only done by the Catholic Christian villagers of Oberammergau.

“I was only 24 when I first directed a passion play in 1990. Everyone mocked at me. But, I had acted in a few Passion Plays before and I knew how it was all done. I managed to get other communities involved in my first big directorial venture and have been doing it ever since,” he said with a wink.

Even though Passion plays are well known around the world, by 1980, tourists who came to watch them had fallen in number. They were bored of watching the same story said in the same style.

“I knew that the play was lacking in script. We cannot change the story, but we can change the style of narration, costumes and stage. This was the year when Thomas Cook watched the play and acclaimed it critically. He brought people from America and UK to watch the play. 1990's show saw a record number of 100 shows with 5,000 people per show,” he said. Since his first show, the council of Passion Plays has given the responsibility of the plays to Christian.

“It is a big deal. I've to make the script, costume, stage and everything else better every time. And it is a challenge,” said the 49-year-old bachelor.