»theatre«

And yet i do it everyday.

"Acting to me is a true self-expression of my inner desires and helps me connect with my inner self and the many selves there are within others."

All that is cock.

Actually it's true - it's just one way of describing acting.

I miss being on stage. I haven't cuz my head got a bit too swollen - too soon. And i started throwing my weight around - not literally or figuratively...directly - but in my own stupid pompous way.

Yes - i'm pompous....but if you've read enough of this blog...you'll know that to be fairly accurate...but then pomposity has it's reasons for being....

What i love most about acting...........is that first step on stage........after weeks , sometimes months, of rehearsals...workshops...discussions...arguements....points of view...all that.....

just for that one step...

cuz with that one step - the preparation is over. You are deemed to be prepared....to take that step....and deliver....if you then mess up a scene or cues or lines...that's just something that happened in that moment - and ofcourse, to others, it would reflect badly on your preparation or the lack of it...but...i dunno...what i mean to say is - once you take that first step onto stage after all those weeks - you're starting a completely different process of judgement and evaluation....and preparation too :) Cuz by the end of the evening, your director will have his notes hehe...and if you messed up - you'll hear of it for sure!

And that's the amazing part about the whole craft...the learning through exchange...through listening to each other....

"listening on stage" is key to great performances or, "a great actor is one who listens" - according to Alec Guiness...

I wanted to be great - but i gave up too soon. Like many other things in my life. Where i felt like i'd proved whatever i had to - to myself and those around me....and so i needed a different challenge....

...but i think i'm ready to start over. As with a few other things in life....that make me - me.

I love acting...and being on stage...cuz of the many lives you get to experience....get to live...

It's been too long...

Watched a STUNNING play last evening....

wow

...characters were so well defined, and by well defined I mean that the actors themselves seem to have spent a considerable amount of time thinking of the details...pouring over the subtext...the issues plaguing themselves, each other and those plaguing the larger theme of the play - the ganga. It was a work in progress (which is why we got to see it free:) ...but wow...

Basically, I liked it so much cuz the story wasvery naturally and believably told. And given the topic was so sensitive, within the play there were different points of view - be it religious, scientific orjust personal...I definitely felt very involved throughout the play - the character of the minister rocked!! :) ...like dude! ...it seemed so reminiscent of all the images of these politicians you see on tv and in the movies - it was like whatever youmight've imagined had come alive in front you...

Must also mention the little boy's character...had theperfect dose of nervous energy, shifty eyed..a little afraid...but very much like the little kid on the street that you want to help out - and why you shouldnt is what we got to see...how they get high on petrol or drugs or drink throughout...and the police catch and beat them...

The most passionate without a doubt was the doctor...hehe...he seemed to have this perfect pinched, irritated look plastered on his face, which was quite amusingto see :) but perfect for his character! He goes on whining about the river and what it'll do to you...you canalmost imagine him coming there every morning and bothering the tourists- a sight that all the locals have got used to seeing and the little boys probably point out and laugh at him...but yet goes on.

Like the minister pointed out, ''he is the only selfless man around here''.

All in all, kudos to the director and cast and especially to the playwright for putting together this very simple and yet very believable story about these 6 chracters living on the banks of the Ganges.

Its so true, sometimes its the simplest things you see around you that make you stop and take notice...the wit, intelligence and simplicity in the writing is made me take notice of something I had no clue about - 'Faeges Therapy'

Learnt something new :) Hope to see these guys on stage again...and will be really curious to see how much further this 'work' would have progressed by then!

There's one painting by Vincent Van Gogh that he painted while he was at a mental asylum - it captured the mindset that he was in at the time and he hardly seemed mentally disturbed to have painted it when he did.

Just like an artist uses a paintbrush, canvas and color to create vivid images - actors do the same with their words, bodies and the stage. Last night I was at a play about the life of Nadeema and how she was raped in afghanistan...and her father was hanged in front of her...her brother was shot while trying to save her father...her sister was carried away to be gang raped...

The story of many a refugee caught in the cross-fire of war.

I've always been fascinated by monologues...its amazing how an actor (a good one) can weave magic with words and you get lost in this imaginary world for an hour or so...this particular actor, Farzaan I think, was pretty damn good. The play started reasonably well...showing the passing of time with blackouts..the entire play is set in an interrogation room, possibly at the airport. Nadeema has been detained by the immigration authorities, despite being a US citizen...and in this room, she tells us her story.

Overall, I felt the acting was a bit 'in and out' i.e. there were moments I completely believed whatever Nadeema was saying...and then there were moments I could only see Farzaan trying to paint the picture...there wasn't enough belief.

At the end of the play there was a short discussion with the playwright, actor and director...and they told us how this could've been anybody's story...any refugee from any camp around the globe...all of them live in terror and uncertainty..its hardly shocking, cuz we're so used to hearing stories like this - but its real.

At the end of the play- I reflected on how insulated a life I actually lead. I mean, my main complaints are about the traffic, weather and a few personal matters...these people struggle with not being thrown into slavery...or being gang raped...or being shot because you forgot to say 'salaamat'...

Its like pinching someone who is already dead - what reaction will you get from him?

How 'already dead' are we?

...watched a musical last night....

within the first ten minutes my face was contorted with as many wrinkles as a 90yr old....the 'pain'. "I have to sit through another 90 minutes of this??"

i had already written about half of this review in my mind within those first 10 minutes...but then, i decided to 'shut off' the little voice in my head (don't screw up ur face - we all have one, even you!) ...and decided that i'd 'see how it goes'

at the end of it all, i didn't think it was anything earth shatteringly moving/funny/powerful/dramatic etc etc...it was 'ok' ..infact it was yet another installment in a series of 'formlua' productions by this particular group of people...simple example would be their poster - the only thing that changes on that poster every year is the title - everything else - lead actor,actress,director, 'music director'...right down to the designer of the poster...is the same! year after year after year....same 'formula'...

this in mind - after the play was over, i did something i wouldn't have done otherwise....i went backstage.

Now, as a rule, (one've the many little 'rules' i have in my head) i only go backstage after a play if i feel i can be genuine in my appreciation of the play/performers etc...i don't like going backstage and saying, "Hey!!!! Haven't seen you on stage for sooo long - but you looked completely at home out there!! FABULOUS performance! Congratulations" - when what i really want to say to the person is more like - "Why the F#@% are you on stage? Who the f#$% gave you the f$%@%^g right to go on stage and call yourself an actor? Why don't you sell vegetables instead? You should sell vegetables, i think it'll be really good for you...infact, it'll be almost ironic...considering that it'll remind you of your 'vegetative' performances on stage." (No, i haven't said that to anyone.........yet)

anyway...i went backstage after the play - NOT to congratulate them and be pseudo - but to backslap them and be pseudo...i know that doesn't make much sense....i did tell them the truth - just not in the way i've written here...simply because i know a LOT of the cast...and it was just good to see them again. I said the play was 'ok' and that 'last year's play was better' (which isn't saying much) ....but i wasn't blunt with anyone simply becuz all of them were nice people...forget being nice - the one thing that i did like in the play, and the one thing that stands out for me everytime this bunch puts on a show, is that they do it with a lot of 'heart'....they really try :) ...which is why you sympathize with them when they don't quite hit the mark - rather than criticize them unnecessarily...

This is in contrast to the last play i wrote about. I still think that one actors' performance was originally bad. And that the play was really quite boring...and there too - i knew everyone in that cast....but i didn't go backstage cuz...they were going through the motions of 'saying lines the correct way'...or using their 'body' the 'correct way'...or had 'expressions' that had to be 'just right'....there was nothing....well.....'real' about the play. I, as a member of the paying audience, was listening to people indulging each other on stage (it wasn't the case throughout the play...there were a few actors that stood out...or 'moments' rather)....which isn't too different from me indulging my thoughts, through this keyboard, onto this blog...it's ok here - cuz you as a reader, have the option of closing this window whenever you want - no no!! wait...i'm wrapping up soon....but when ur paying to watch a performance...you don't want to watch something cuz it's the 'proper way to do it'...and you most definately DO NOT want to watch egos indulging each other on a public stage...

Also, i must admit...i have a few 'issues' with this bunch...so it wasn't right....but i was a little biased in writing the earlier review...

THIS was the difference between yesterday's show and the earlier one. These guys tried :) ...they didn't really succeed...but they tried to reach out to me - not to 1000 people sitting in the audience - but to me...and i felt it.

In my next posting to do with 'theatre', i think it'll be fair to make transparent the various 'parameters' by which i make these judgements...will also show me how much i actually know about theatre!

All in all...i'm dying to see a play with 'fantastic!!' production value...cuz i think nowadays, unfortunately, since every tom, dick harry and his cousin are so busy trying to 'direct' plays...they've forgotten - or - don't give enough emphasis to the finer details of the performance....the set, the costumes, the lights, makeup...backstage crew....blackouts...and so much more...

It's such a joy to watch a production like 'Fire and the Rain' and 'Tughlaq'... (i haven't seen 'phantom of the opera' yet)..because you know that there's a heeuuuggee production crew at work there...and they're the true heroes of the stage!

So on a parting note - I'd like to thank each and every production crew member for every play that i've ever been a part of - you guys are the one's who make things happen. Without you - there would BE no play...performance....moments in time that the audience is waiting to take away with them...You guys are the one's who make those 'moment's - memories....

*sniff*

;) later

Firstly, if you haven't read my opinion on a play i watched some time back, do so at the following link:
http://typolis.net/karn/stories/8023/
The piece is called 'Bad Theatre'.

I've been involved in theatre for the last 7 years in Bangalore and i started out in theatre only because of a workshop conducted by a well known and established theatre group. I owe a lot to that one workshop - and the subsequent plays i did with that theatre company - all that has shaped me into the person i am today.

Having said that - I stick by what i said in the post. I think the main issue is not what i said, but that fact that - I - said it. I've been known to not have an opinion (in the past). As you can tell, that isn't the case anymore.

I ran into one of the actors of that play earlier this evening. I was at RS to watch a play from Bombay (which, incidentally, was pretty good....i kept zoning out when the hindi bits started, but all in all - great energy, production value and some really cool innovation on stage with props and body) and i ran into her before the start of the show. She told me how the cast read my 'critique' at their cast party and people weren't happy with my opinions on the subject (and from what i could tell - she was putting it mildly). It really is ok - like i said at the start of my piece, i stick by what i said. I probably haven't won any brownie points and ....stretching it....might not get to work with this particular group again - but if that's the way it is, then that's the way it is.

There's more to life than discussing Karn Malhotra's opinion of a play.