I clearly remember one of those ‘90s summer
afternoons. The cruel heat of scorching sun had compelled people to hide inside
their homes for shelter but could not prevent a bunch of young, enthusiastic
boys and girls who sat under the modest shade of a Banyan tree, gleefully
working on a special project. Between the ages of five to fifteen, these lads
were so absorbed in rehearsing an act, which I guessed must be a stage drama
that they seemed to care two hoots about the agony of the brutal weather. They
were practicing a script. Sometimes laughing boisterously and sometimes weeping
tears that could melt a stone heart, they intermittently created background
music with their implausible voice modulations. The place was an open playfield
in the Jawahar Bal Bhawan (Dramatics) back in my hometown, Allahabad,
which I had joined with a school friend to utilise our summer vacations more
creatively.
A new teen that I was, stepping into the touch-me-not
girly phase of adolescence, I’d have hated to even stand under the sun for a
couple of minutes, when the grit and commitment of this group left me
mesmerised. Who are these people? What
bonds them together in the thread of diligence? What drives them to work
tirelessly in tough conditions and yet be thrilled about it? How do they
create such magic with their art?
Returning home, I slept with the
restless imageries of smiling pink faces wet with dripping sweat, that spoke
more of the ecstasy of their work than of the fiery suntan imprints on their
body.
In hardly a few days, I joined their
theatre troop. My journey from dust to gold, an effortless priming to become a
better human being, had begun.
My theatre training, thus, started.
As I grew up, time took its own toll.
After completing my academics, I joined India’s biggest power sector
conglomerate, got married, made babies, dabbled in an alternative career of an
author and got attuned to regular lifestyle of a modern day working woman.
Theatre, like a noble first love, quietly receded into the background giving me
space to work out priorities. It had already given me more than I could have
asked for. It didn’t matter any longer where was I and doing what, theatre was
so ingrained in my being, that in all moments of conflict I found a lesson from
‘Dramatics Training’ to fall back on.
When I look back, I can easily list
down some of the most valuable lessons from theatre that have chiseled my
being and helped me evolve. Here are my favourite 10:-
1. It teaches how to give the
best with whatever we have in hand
Every theatre artist would
vouch on the days when a play had to be produced on a shoe string budget, zero
sponsorships, borrowing of clothes for costumes, making props out of waste and
setting up stage like it was a giant SUPW project. The days when few cups of
tea, and samosas, if we were luckier, was all that the team could have during
day long rehearsals. Theatre taught me how in even in the least magic can be
made.
2. Deal with different people
and celebrating differences.
A theatre group is often a
funny and interesting mix of strikingly different people. From a sombre script
writer to a joker in the pack of actors, from a lethargic light assistant to a
hyperactive sound engineer, from a director who thrives his day on
chain-smoking to his assistant who is forever hungry for food, the team is like
an entertaining mash up of varieties of personalities. Theatre taught me to
celebrate differences.
3. Strategize and execute
Every single play put up is a massive
project management assignment. It needs to be have a goal with a vision, be put
on paper in blueprint, financially be vetted for viability, manpower resources
hired, strategies detailed and execution done as per a well laid out plan.
There are silos of in numerous work activities, like light design, sound
engineering, set design and construction, public relations, acting, directing,
producing, marketing, ticket sales, customer service, ushering, make-up, and
costuming. Theatre basically taught me project management.
4. Improvisation
No matter how well
rehearsed, there would be no play executed without unforeseen mishaps taking
place. Goofing up of dialogues, wardrobe malfunction, stage setting giving
away, sudden mic failures or missed entrances, something which was so
meticulously executed during rehearsals would go wrong at the last minute and
suddenly, without any prompts, someone from the team would voluntarily step in
to cover the accident. Theatre taught me to pitch in for others and fill up
gaps with quick and wise acts.
5. To value the power of
communication
I have seen theatre productions which
have moved audience to tears, have made the house laugh, brought a turn-around
reform movement, interrogated a belief, broken a stereotype, and left us all
with thought provoking questions. Theatre has unfolded how powerful
communication can change the world around.
6. Make difficult choices and
Experiment
Audition - A good friend
who is an ordinary actor or an acquaintance who is exceptional? Director –
Someone with low credentials, backed by sponsors or a fresh talent with
promising potential? Venue – Closed or Amphitheatre? Script – Pick-up or
Rewrite? Rendition – Traditional or Experimental? I learnt not only to make
difficult choices but also to do fearless experimenting. Theatre prepared me to
take fearless risks.
7. Take criticism and move on
“Dramatics profession will
give you nothing.”
“What a silly play was
that?”
“There are hundreds of
actors as ordinary as you. ”
“Forget it, you have no
mettle. ”
“Oh, she will never make
it big! ”
Give me the name of an artist who
hasn’t been told any one of those. Theatre has taught me to take criticism and
still be focussed on following the life’s call.
8. Hard work
If you have been to the
green room, you would know that even the celebrity theatre artist who delivers
impeccable performance on stage leaving his audience spellbound is actually a
nervous, diligent, school going child backstage who rehearses his lines a
hundred times before rendering the final performance. Theatre taught me there
is no substitute for discipline and hard work.
9. Placing Us before Me
So many times it would
happen that a protagonist in one play would be given a one-line dialogue in
another, or somebody who we saw as a deserving lead actor would actually land
up getting role of a stage assistant. Yet, no one would complaint. No role
was too small for a contribution and no opportunity too big to claim stardom.
Theatre taught me to place the team effort before individual credentials.
10. The show must go on
In the middle of a play
when the protagonist’s part was half over, a team member informed him about his
father having met with a brutal accident. Even before the nervous team began
preparing contingent plan with co-actors volunteering as his substitute, he
gathered his strength and walked up on stage to stand until the end. Once the
curtain was pulled down, my friend broke up. Poor health, irritable mood, cruel
tragedies, come what may, Theatre taught me how to keep the show going on.
Years
down the line, I may not be in the mainstream profession of theatre but I
haven’t missed practicing any of the lessons I incidentally learnt. Theatre
and I have almost become inseparable.
Remember, what Oscar Wilde
once said -
“Theatre
is the greatest of all art forms,
the most
immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what
it is to be a human being.’
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[Originally published in Repertwahr, The National Theatre Festival's Blog; Nov 21, 2017]
