என் இரண்டு சிறுகதைகளும் ஒரு சற்றே நீண்ட சிறுகதையும் மேடை நாடகங்களாக நிகழ்த்தப்பட உள்ளன.
’ஆழ்வார்’, ‘எழுத்துக்காரர்’ இரண்டும் சிறுகதைகள். ‘சிலிக்கன் வாசல்’ மூன்றாவது.
ஷ்ரத்தா குழுவினர் இவற்றை அடுத்த (நவம்பர்) மாதத்தில் மேடையேற்றுகிறார்கள். நிகழ்வு நிரல், அரங்கு பற்றிய விவரங்கள் என் பேஸ்புக் டைம்லைனிலும் ஷ்ரத்தாவின் பக்கத்திலும் வெளியிடப்படும்.
நாடக ஒத்திகைகள் மும்முரமாக நடந்து கொண்டிருக்கும் நேரம். நானும் அவற்றில் பங்கேற்பதை விரும்பிக் கலந்து கொள்கிறேன்.
ஒரு எழுத்தாளன் – நாடக ஆசிரியர் என்ற முறையில் என் கதா பாத்திரங்களை in flesh and blood மற்றும் குறியீடுகளாக சந்திக்கும் அபூர்வமான அனுபவம் தினமும் எனக்குக் கிடைக்கிறது. Revisiting now the characters created at various points of time in my life is an interesting experience.
அனுபவப் பகிர்வு அவ்வப்போது இங்கே நிகழும்.
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EraMurukan Ramasami
As an author, let me ask my actor friends –
1) Do you think play reading the full script as a team should be mandatory before the regular rehearsals commence?
2) how do you create your own space on stage? To what extent it could intrude into others’ who share the physical space with you on stage?
3) are you comfortable with a conventional proscenium stage or with a stage lay-out allowing audience participation like in the Koothambalams of Kerala temples (temple theatre, especially for chakyar koothu)?
4) If the author of the script and director of the play happen to be different entities, who would you look to in case you require help in interpreting a character?
5) Are you comfortable with those in the front rows looking up at the stage and those in the rows at the back and on the balcony looking down at you?
6) Are you Brechtian (character alienated from the actor) or Stanislavsky-ian (method acting) in your approach to theatre?
Like · · 10 hours ago
2 people like this.
Swaminathan Ganesan My answer to question 4: Director.
8 hours ago · Unlike · 1
Shalini Vijayakumar 1)Yes, reading and discussing as a team ensures that all of us are on the same page, it helps when working towards one final output.
2)Personally, I believe in making the co-actors look good. Someone once told me, giving your co-actor space and respect will automatically make you look good.
3) That would depend on what the script requires, and also what we expect to give to the audience, just entertainment or to involve people.
4) Both. To discuss and debate with both of them.
5)I forget the audience when on stage.
6) Method Acting I think.
8 hours ago · Unlike · 1
EraMurukan Ramasami Swaminathan Ganesan Absolutely. That is the response as an author I would welcome. After completing the script the author steps aside enabling the audience at large (at that juncture unidentified) to interpret the proceedings as they unveil.. the director represents a collective perspective and it is better the actor gets clarified from her / him. The interaction between the author and the director occurs in another plane altogether differnt.
49 minutes ago · Like
EraMurukan Ramasami Shalini Vijayakumar thanks.. and my two penny worth thoughts about the eternal Staislavsky Vs Brecht concepts- a surreal ‘Metamorphosis’ (Kafka) or an existentialist ‘Waiting for Godot’ (Samuel Beckett) with a vaudeville-slapstick façade may fall flat if tried in methodological style. And a ‘Kunthi meeting Karna’ from the maha kavya, Mahabaratha simply would not fly if one elects to do it the Brechtian way… would love to discuss more with friends..
38 minutes ago · Edited · Like
1. Yes it is a must. Play reading should be done as a group first. In Krea, our theater group we normally to do character analysis after the play reading. I as the director, make the actors talk about their characters – the character’s background and the relationship with other characters etc. This helps the actors understand their characters much better and this really helps.
2. Creating Space -When you are there on stage as a character, I think you will take just the space needed for that character in that particular scene and give space to the other actors… I don’t think any good actor will intrude in others’ space. But I have seen some good actors upstaging others and I consider that as intrusive.
3. We have done plays in both Proscenium and thrust stage. We have performed in Museum theater, Ranga Shankara, a theater in Edmonton, Canada apart from regular Proscenium theaters. The director and set designer will have to come up with the change in the design and give appropriate instructions to the actors. I think as an actor… from an actor’s standpoint I do not think there will be any difference – At least not to me and I will be following my director’s instructions.
4. Director. Before the actors come in the picture, much before the casting is done… Director gets to read the script and he or she should have a clear understanding of each and every characters. All the discussions should be done much before the rehearsals start. Once the rehearsals start there should be only one person in command and that should be the director. Otherwise the actors will get confused and the director may even lose respect amongst his peers. Having said that, if the actor and director do not agree on some thing, the director may and should approach the writer for clarification.
6. Either of these depending on the content I would say. Whether you are a Brechtian or Stainslovskian you need to understand your character and be in that character while you are on stage. One thing I always tell my actors – I do not want people to see Rajiv or Dheepa or Vidhya and I want them to see only the characters. If the actor can achieve this in anyway that works for him or her. I would like to give one example here. This incident happened when we staged Sruti Bhedham here in Chennai. Here is the scene. Father, the great musician returns home to his mistress’s house after a long tour. The mistress Kalyani had fallen sick when he was touring. He enters the house and the first person he sees is his illegitimate daughter Nithya. Musicians’s first dialog should have been –
– என்னம்மா நித்யா எப்படி இருக்க? but he asked என்னம்மா கல்யாணி எப்படி இருக்க? I was playing Nithya and I immediately replied to him in less than a micro second – பெத்த பொண்ணோட பேரே ஞாபகம் இல்ல எப்படி உங்க கிட்டேந்து பாசத்த எதிர்பார்க்க முடியும்? I was able to react as Nithya and not as Dheepa because I was in the character at that particular moment and I could react as Nithya.