Cooking Up a Plot!

For a 3-hour drama workshop, it wasn't bad at all! and could we have chosen a better day than august 20th, vishaka's birthday, to have some fun with ourselves.

actually, we did not get to do some of the stuff i had planned for you guys for this improvisation workshop. but then, it is better to have something else MORE than not enough. what wasn't enough was time! i have given you solo improvisation work - building or creating a character off the cuff. this can actually go on and on, as you guys get into it more and more. once you are able to tap into the flow in yourself, lots of exciting things can come out. whew! i remind you guys of mayilai's pierce brosnan's co-star and umesh shanker's gangster who stood over mathan, the usual bully!!! ashwin's chinese bungling spy was a laugh, and so was hari's rich-but-poor man who only has two dollars in his wallet. that was a desperate attempt to sound rich. in all, i liked the different tones and attitudes that came out. though the general flow was one of hamming up, i was eager to see if any of you could, given the verry short time, dig deeper into the character when the workshop moved along.

the scene building was good too. most of you were able to squeeze a few laughs out of us. mathan's beggar had very good comic timing, especially ehn madangopal's teacher was trying not to buy lingerie from visha's lingerie boutique owner. from what i saw, i think mathan loves lolling on the floor. or in the dirt, whenever he can. otherwise, how do you explain his absolute comfort when he does these things? i hope he is able to give us some answers here, so that the rest of you can follow suit...

watching giri, i see another side i have never seen before. the bohsia kungfu girl stuck to the handphone. i hope you guys will fill up the rest of your antics as a matter of record and report so that i can have something to refer to later on.

you guys looks quite ready to do a comedy! what with mayilai's hammed up dentist with his face stuck to the mirror. and then, the really risque plot he gave us... hmmmm, my mind started working... and all those characters, those evil-minded people inside your heads... i am sure going to have a tough time cooking up something from here. it will probably be quite poisonous. but not to worry, i shall whip up something quite flavourful to match your hidden desires, and yet, quite palatable for the audience.

Journeys to the Buddha

The small scale but profound production JOURNEYS TO THE BUDDHA came as a flash of inspiration when the initial thoughts of restaging a shortened version of BUDDHAM SHARANAM GACCHAAMI fell through. Not many of you know this, but the resources available to me then was just Giri, Mayuri and Mathan. It struck me that it would be a good thing to make a special offering to Swamiji on Wesak Day. After having seen Mathan, Giri and Mayuri in MERCHANT, I thought it would be an exciting thing to challenge them further by doing monologues. A monologue is almost like an arangetram in dance - you have nobody else but yourself on stage. What's more: you have to create your own music, your own dance movements, your own abhinaya - through the words and your characterisation of course.

The first version in Temple of Fine Arts Kuala Lumpur was very exciting because it was indeed a first in many ways. A first for the institution, for me as a playwright, for the actors, and for the audience we are used to. We took the show on the road - to Johor Bahru, and then, to Singapore in May and June.

The interesting thing for me, trying to gauge audience response, was that most people became quiet after the performance. A few told me that there were many things to think about after watching it. I believe many just could not begin to express how they felt - too many thoughts running in their minds. Thavam, in her review on SFI, revealed that she did not want to speak to anyone after the production because she wanted to contemplate on everything that flashed through her mind while watching it. Dhanya Thurairajah recently told me that after watching the performance, she went home crying, thinking of all the things the performance reminded her about herself, and how she felt she did not have the courage to transform. Wow!

It would be interesting for me to know what the Pancatantra team think with regards to the content of this production. Just to remind you - there are at least two layers in the production for analysis - the content, and then, the performance. In all this, it is the actor who brings subject matter into reality with his performance.

In terms of performance, Giri, Mayuri and Mathan had done their best at each outing. We must remember that we are all not born actors, and like everything else, the art of acting, dancing, singing and writing, is a process of exploration and growth. Nobody is expected to be perfect right from the beginning. No one can be.

So, when we talk about performance of the actors, we invariably talk about the direction of the actors. From the director's point of view, the actor is a whole person - with a certain mindset, emotional makeup, prejudices, thinking habits, fears and insecurities that come together to make the person. The drama coach, through theatre exercises, create an environment within and without to bring about an enhanced awareness of the actor about himself. The drama coach does not direct. He stimulates, illuminates, and suggests that the actor contemplates, so that this new awareness can be used with greater effect whenever the need arises; that is when a new role comes.

The director cajoles, provokes, teases, pushes, demands and manipulates the actors' awareness to create a performance with the actor. This can become a tussle of egos - and usually it is.

The tour of Journeys to the Buddha to JB and then Singapore gave us the opportunity to work on the performances further. And this challenge, Giri, Mayuri and Mathan took on with gusto. There were many moments of beauty and light. You all should know that during rehearsals, many wonderful moments came upon us as the actors began to create their roles. In a sense, those of you not in this production missed out on this experience but nevertheless, I am reminded of the characterisation class we had one late evening for MERCHANT when Mayilai drew a beautiful sketch of Gangadharan for us.

In fact, what you saw at the performance varied with the magical moments during rehearsals.

In Singapore, the production was presented to Shiva Family and Geetha Rajan spoke in an analytical way about their performances. She has written a review on SFI too. In all, most were taken up by the stamina and imagination of the actors. I have yet to receive any feedback about Mathan's performance during Swamiji's Mahasamadhi in Coimbatore. The night before, we worked on some finer details and Mathan "took the plunge" as I had asked him to. That is, to let go of his "fears" and to let the real Angulimala emerge, totally, during performance. Of course, this is a difficult thing to do. I mean, where do we draw the line about who is Mathan and who is Angulimala. Once again, this is the thrilling thing about creating a role - the subtlety of living for the moment.

Confidence and Imagination

It was a fun time for all of us doing THE MERCHANT, THE MONEYLENDER, AND THE MISTRESS in February this year. Though it was a very small scale production - like the reviewer from Starmag said, it was under a porch in Brickfields, and had noise from the road - I myself was very pleased and excited that the whole thing had comeoff so successfully.

Successful in the sense that all the actors took on their parts with gusto and sincerity, and then, more than that, created the characters with conviction and heartfelt emotions. i couldnt have asked for a more energetic and dedicated team. i was amazed at the inherent sensitivity of the actors with regards to their characters. It was real. It was playacting, but it was real. The many reviews that we have received tell us that we are on to a good thing.

In all this, I am glad that I had decided from the outset to "shepherd" you guys into using your imagination, and making use of the lessons I have given you in drama class. The net effect was that each of you guys created a distinctive "personality" for the play. All of you have amazing potential - so amazing, in fact, when I think about it I realise that I am so far behind. What I have taken years to learn and acquire, you guys did it in a matter of months!!! So wow! there.

Now our version of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice is of course a very simple one - with us just toying with the basic plot and all. Though we casted Giridarshini as the female Shylock, the character did not undergo any major interpretation from me. If there is a chance for us to do this again, maybe we can review some of the themes in the play, and then choose to play these up for a certain direction. This is the exciting thing about drama - that it is so malleable, so rich with possibilities.

In your development as dancers and actors, I would like to see you guys exploring further the talent that you have. Either with me or with somebody else. It is important to do this for yourself. For me, a few of you have very exciting potential - glimmer of God-given skills that should be nurtured and enhanced.

Mayilai, for instance, has a wonderful and powerful voice and an ease of stage presence that is very rare. Also, he enjoys the stage, and is absolutely comfortable under the lights. He should seek out opportunities to develop a broader spectrum of imaginative characterisation to enhance his elegance as an actor.

Giridarshini has shown me that she is utterly willing to go the extra mile in her exploration. She is not afraid of new ground and has the imagination, the creativity, and the confidence to step out. This is a wonderful thing. I remember how when younger, she had such a small voice. We all saw her as Kissa Gotami in Journeys to the Buddha. Now she has performed this more than three times, and each time she found ways to do things differently, to challenge herself. And of course, everybody who saw our MERCHANT, just loved her "control freak" aunty image of Shyla.

When I think about it, I am tickled that I had chosen Umesh and Ashwin to play Sivam and Selvam. Though I had downplayed these roles somewhat I realised that both the actors were so remarkably paired and contrasted in their physical and mental makeup that in themselves, they gave so much colour to the play.

Talking about pairs, looking back in hindsight, Hari and Swathi were also paired to stand out, in a sense to act as contrasts to the "hero and heroine" of the play. We could ponder over how Lawrence convinced Jessica to run away with him, and how Bhaskaran "won" his Pooja. The way we played it though, it appeared that Lawrence and Jessica were two very young people eager to enjoy life, to find new possibilities. Actually, such a situation as has been written in the play would bring on much darker and gloomy thoughts. Shakespeare's MERCHANT is not an easy play at all.

With Madangopal, I was restrained by his involvement in both projects at the same time, and allowed him to do the best he can with a somewhat "minor" role. But he did not make it minor at all. In fact, he blew it up into co(s)mic proportions. I remember the laughter from the audience whenever he appeared. As for the song that he sang, one day I would like all you guys to learn singing - you will never know what we can do next!

Between Mayuri and Mathan, I thought there were many good moments, especially in the court scene and the last when everything turns topsy turvy for the guys. Mayuri and Vishaka brought out some very interesting thoughts for me about acting in their scenes together. And Vishaka always amazes me with her sudden transformation on stage.

Mathan and Kamalesh were of course very very good. I really liked Bhaskaran's very emotional and upfront, wearing-his-heart-on-his-sleeve personality contrasted with Antony's restraint and suppressed thoughts and emotions. I really don't know where these guys got what they got, but I would definitely want to see more of it.

Perhaps what is most beautiful about this whole experience is the combination of emotional involvement and comprehension of the lines uttered by the characters - creating a total effect of "reality" and drama on stage under a porch in Brickfields.