Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Stage by stage

Behind the glamour, there is grit and discipline. That's what amateurs learnt at a theatre workshop held as part of the MetroPlus fest

PHOTO: R. SHIVAJI RAO

GIVING THEATRE TIPS Karthik Kumar of Evam conducting a session at the workshop

"I wish I'd listened to my parents and become a lawyer," said actor-director Mark Waite, in a burst of laughter, as he discussed how tough it sometimes is to work in theatre. "Ah, but you love it," grinned Samantha Scott-Blackhall. "Yes, that's true," he nodded cheerfully.

Samantha (Creative Director of the Singapore-based Escape Theatre, and Straits Times Life Theatre Award Winner for Best Director) and Mark (Escape's Artistic Director and winner of the Best Actor Award at the Straits Times Life Theatre Awards) were in town to stage "A Very British Affair" for The Hindu MetroPlus Theatre Festival, after which they conducted a workshop for amateur theatre enthusiasts at the British Council.

"The rejections are tough," Mark continued to his wide-eyed crowd of wannabe actors. "For every 100 auditions you go for, you're likely to get one job. But we put ourselves through it everyday of the year. And we do it because that's the one job we really want."

A learning experience

Giving the group an idea of the grit and discipline behind the glamour, Mark discussed how important it is to keep working hard to look and sound good under the footlights. "As actors, you are always learning. The minute you stop learning you might as well give up."

His part of the workshop involved working on `voice.' He began with relaxation and focus techniques, showing the group how a few minutes of breathing can make their minds alert and their voices stronger. Apparently, it all comes down to how you breathe. "Because once you get your breath right, everything else will follow."

A worried participant then asked what he should do if he forgets his lines. "There will always be times when you panic," said Mark, "then, the worst thing to do is panic that you're panicking." "And if I just don't feel like acting?" yawned a languid young man. "That can't happen," said Mark looking horrified, "Now you're scaring me!" He added, "Yes, there are times you over rehearse till you are so sick of the play that you never want to see it again. But it's your responsibility to see it through, and give the performance that the audience has come to see. It doesn't matter whether there are two people or 14,000."

Audience matters

They both agreed that the most exciting feature of theatre was the audience. "You connect to their energy," said Mark, and "Every time we go on stage, we get a different energy."

After all that deep breathing the room was practically bounding with energy by the time Yog Japee of Theatre Y took over, announcing, "Let there be chaos." Running the group through a series of exercises, he discussed acting, and audiences. "Rule number one," he thundered, "Never underestimate your audience." Rule number two was "Respect the audience" and three was "Leave them with something to think about."

His passion for theatre overflowed into the room as he instructed the group to act with enthusiasm. "If you're telling a story, tell it like it's the best story in the world. I must see that joy in your eyes." The participants clearly loved the session, as they were turned loose and told to invent their own language to learn how to differentiate between sounds and language. There was mayhem as people blah-blahed and tra-la-lad everything from declarations of war to love and yearning. "The message has to come across," said Yog, adding, "Language can be an extremely powerful weapon, or it can be destructive. You can use it to create or break your character. Emotion is derived from your body, and your voice."

Karthik Kumar of Evam, which — as logistics partner of The Hindu MetroPlus Theatre festival — organised this workshop, spoke on text and sub text, converting what had the potential to become a rather dry lecture into a fascinating giggle-fest. Explaining the concept he said, "If you thought of text as a boat, this is the ocean on which it goes."

Picking two volunteers, he made them sit in the centre of a circle and chat while the rest of the group took notes. Then, using the bare-bones conversation they had, he guided the group through an exercise aimed at showing them how much can be gleaned from people's tones, body language and the things they do not say. "Often in life we do this intuitively," he said, "Often we don't." Sometimes theatre tips work out pretty useful in the real world too. Well, all the world is — after all — a stage.

SHONALI MUTHALALY

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail