In an age where everything is going digital, theatre still charms us with its intimate appeal. And to be able to take a play to different places, to be a travelling artiste is a dream come true for any actor. Ahmedabad Times talks to Gujarat’s celebrated artistes about their experiences of performing for an audience that is not their home crowd…
Performing for different ethnicitiesPerforming for people of different nationalities, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds puts your craft through a solid test, believe artistes. Actor Pratik Gandhi recently performed a monologue as Mahatma Gandhi for an international crowd in Dubai and Kuwait. “The audience had spectators from UK, Spain, and other places and I didn’t know if I would be able to reach out to their hearts because the play is very Indian in its story and appeal. They responded at the right places and that for me was very encouraging. When you step out of your comfort zone, there can only be positive outcomes,” he sums up.
A world of a difference
The fundamental difference when you perform overseas is the infrastructure and people’s mindset about theatre. “Overseas, theatre is an industry as big as the movie industry in India and a much more professional one. The technical support is tremendous and shows are announced months, even over a year in advance,” says actor-director
Chintan Pandya
who has been performing in Europe, US and UK. He adds that even when it comes to respect and monetary compensation, an artiste gets what he/she deserves. The budgets are big and the audience, sincere.
Going placesFor films it is easier to cross geographical boundaries but for small theatre companies funds are a big thing. Director-artiste
Aditi Desai
, whose team is going to perform a Gujarati play in Delhi in February 2017 at a national theatre festival, feels that more people must invite regional productions. “Performing in other cities regularly is not only creatively fulfilling but also helps you connect with the fraternity,” she says. Actress Mahnaz Damania agrees. “The best part about travelling plays is that you end up learning more than you had set out. Performing in multiple cities presents the opportunity to meet people from your field,” she says.
An experiment of sortsIt is not only about going out of the state or the country, even within the state, each city gives you a different reaction. Writer and actor Abhinay Banker, who also takes theatre workshops in the city, says, “The moment you step out of Ahmedabad, you can feel the difference. Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Surat, Baroda — performing in all these cities is different. And I believe it’s a very good thing because actors get used to certain things — like expecting laughter here or applause there,” He adds that it is interesting to see how different groups of people relate to different things in the same play.
Growth galorePerforming the same play in different languages in different parts of the country, even overseas is enriching for an artiste. Actress
Dipna Patel
started her career with theatre and feels that the crowd’s response leaves her surprised every single time that she performs. “We had performed a Gujarati play in New Zealand and the crowd there was more responsive than crowd back home. Currently I am doing two hinglish plays and we often incorporate the local lingo when performing in different cities,” she shares. She adds that she is very excited to be doing a play with Sharman Joshi in 2017 for which they will be travelling across the country.
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