A Balancing Act
by Ashwin Kumar Indra
Kaadhalin Shakti is the second drama production I have done with Uncle Ket at the Temple of Fine Arts. It was a significantly different experience from the first (The Merchant, The Moneylender, The Mistress, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice), for various reasons; the first being because they were much bigger roles than the role of Selvam in the “Merchant”, and thus carried more weight in the story.
The roles of Hari in “Hariomeo and Manjuliet” , and Baptista in “How to Get a Rich Shrew for a Wife”, an excerpt from Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew”, turned out to be rather challenging as the rehearsals went on from week to week.
Playing the role of Hari, being someone who exists in real life, and at the same time, adding a comic touch to it really did not come easily. I think somehow I couldn’t connect my mind and soul like Uncle Ket always said, and was ‘acting’ the part instead of feeling it.
For the character of Hari I think it was difficult initially because I had to strike a balance between being in love with the character of Manju and at the same time despising her, and also making sure neither of these two opposing feelings overcame each other all at once.
In my honest opinion, I don’t think I managed to execute it as well as I hoped to, especially the second time we did it. The first show at the Ashoka Hall was better, maybe because of the excitement of finally doing the pieces. And I think I did a lot better on that day compared to many rehearsals. It could also have been due to the pressure of living up to the audience’s expectations then, and making it a memorable wedding reception for the newlyweds.
On the second performance I felt differently while in front of the audience, for starters, probably because I could see all their faces clearly staring back at me. I do not think it was nervousness though, at least not in my conscious mind. Maybe it was in my subconscious, and I think that feeling didnt really heal because the audience didn’t really respond to my antics as Hari as much as I wanted them to. The parts we changed also did not come across as well as I intended them to. And yet, I liked singing as Hari on that second show.
It would be nice to take on such roles, especially in full-blown musicals. I think I could still work on Hari a little more, maybe ‘feel’ the character more and not lose the character just because it’s a comedy. It’s of course not a piece of cake to play a character who is acting as someone else in the play itself (a play within a play, come to think of it), but yet it’s far from impossible.
Playing Baptista on the other hand was a tad simpler in the sense it didn’t require the same kind of effort. It was not effortless of course.
At the beginning Baptista was a bigger headache for me, one of the reasons being that somehow the idea of being parents to Muthu and Mathan as girls did not click in my mind. But I think, as we did it more and more, I succeeded in gaining comfort acting with both of them, which helped tremendously.
Something that I would like to think of as being special about my character was the fact that Baptista stayed serious and calm whilst full-blown comedy erupted around him.
I guess one thing I learnt from this is that we as actors have to stay in character even though distracting situations occur in the play, be they hilariously funny, deeply emotional or the like.
When Baptista meets Petruchio later on, balance was needed once again, that is balancing my love for Katherina and my desire to get rid of her. I think the character was written with only one of these feelings in mind, or maybe neither. Yet I chose to go with Uncle Ket’s reasoning that Baptista was an opportunist who wanted to push his shrew daughter to Petruchio.
But I still felt that Baptista as a father would certainly have love for his daughter, no matter how shrewd she was, and thus I tried to make sure I kept that thought in mind when I played the character. I guess when that delicate balance is achieved, the beauty of the character shines through.
Kaadhalin Shakti, and the rehearsals leading up to both shows taught me various priceless lessons; improvisation, connecting mind and soul, trying not to be stiff while acting, being in the moment and not getting distracted, not ‘acting’ the character but rather being it, among others.
Nigella Lawson, that chef on TV, once said on her show that it was beautiful how balance was important in food, just like it was in life. To me I reckon that balance is just as important in drama, to your character, to the lines and the entire production.
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Kaadhalin Shakti
by Hariraam
Kaadhalin Shakti. An experience throughout my dramatical life which i will never forget. The power of the woman. The one who longs for attention, popularity or maybe understanding. Isn't it obvious to all of you guys out there that girls want so many things from boys? I think it is because in this 3-piece play, all the woman want attention, and understanding.
Manju, a character who loves drama, especially Romeo and Juliet, is a person who overacts, in my opinion. Once again it comes back to girls who, in this case want a big chunk of attention from the guy who is suffering, who is trying to please the girl, who is trying not to upset her and finally, who must listen to or obey the girl. The pain, the agony, it turns out that it is the man who is in distress. In this play, Manju, is going to get married to Hari, her beloved. Therefore she wants him to do so many things for her, as usual, it all leads back to the girl.
Playing 'Manju' was an interesting experience. I say this because, playing a girls part may be quite out-of-this-world, but then again, during Shakespeare's time, men would play girls parts, so what the heck. Now, creating my view of 'Manju' was quite tough, well maybe because i did not know how to act as a girl, but as time passed by, things started falling into place. Improvising her was also a challenge. Once you start getting to know your character, you sort of become one with him or her. So thats how things got going. I also realised that 'being a girl' was tough, well because if you look at it in real life, the girl has to get the boy to listen to her. Attention basically.
But the good thing about being someone else is, everything is already inside of us, therefore we have to dig deep into our mind and heart and catch hold of that 'person'. That is what finding the core of the character means, i think. Anyway who cares, nothing's wrong or right. For me, having grown up with a whole lot of girls (got boys also, don't worry), i know vaguely what girls are like. So i used whatever i knew about girls and applied it to 'Manju', and I think I hit it!
I also learnt that, playing different characters teaches about how we can be that person, or how we can create the person according to our ideas. As we grow older, we will definitely meet people who are different in many ways, and since we are in the PET, using their 'styles' will have a great effect in whatever character we are playing!
The Beauty of Drama
by Hariraam
What is drama? To me, drama means learning to bring out your feelings through an act. It is about learning many things like improvisation, response and getting into the core of a character. By learning and exploring these aspects and applying them into our lives, we can or will become better people. To me, i think this is because we eventually learn to control or show certain feelings.... i have also learnt that when we our mind, heart and soul come together as one, we form the CHARACTER... the true or the real person... the one who is not 'me' but 'I'...
Throughout these past few years, i have been keeping so much inside of me that i did not know how to show or tell people that i was 'being torn between life and understanding'... i was a loner, a boy who did not understand many aspects of life and yet i helped those who were feeling the same as me... i had only a 'mask' which i would use in front of those close to me... a fake me at that point of time....until today am i the same.... ask any of my friends, and they'll tell you that "the Hari i knew was never like this".... i think, although i don't want such things to happen.
Only through drama was i able to let go of my fears, my anger, my sorrow, my pain. When i wanted to bring my heart, mind and soul together did i let go. Improvisation, playing the character differently and not the correct way... Appa had given us this task so that we could discover or explore new ways to play that particular character... it struck me that it was time i should play my character the way i had always been living.... a Person who was stuck in the corner, who wanted to come out but did not know how.... a person who would worry about other people and not himself, who would worry about what people would say... When i had done it, i was still in my 'character' ......it took me awhile to get out...and then BOOM....i broke out...that was bad i was feeling inside.......i could not hold it any longer............i wanted to fly away into the night, to get away from everything, to be free..........just like my dreams...
Well, in a nutshell, i am grateful to my parents, who have showed me many interesting things, who have taught me to be strong and confident, to my friends who have heard me out... and of course to Swamiji...
'Deep in the heart's core, there was a boy who was being torn between life, understanding and love. Why?, he asked himself and to all those listening to him. And then it struck him that, he was going through LIFE, UNDERSTANDING and LOVE'.....
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Playing SideShow Bob
by Kamalesh Thurairajah
Kaadhalin Shakti was a 3 piece drama presentation that was slated to be performed at a wedding reception. The first 2 plays were comedy while the last one had a more serious story. Here, I featured in the last piece which was given the name Savitri and Satyavaan. I am unsure if this is a correct name for the play, as the story was about Savitri and the many men that she came across in her life and not just Satyavaan. Here, I played the narrator, and all other male characters involved in the story, while my co-actor played the role of Savitri and the narrator. Among the roles I played in this short 15 minute drama was the narrator, Aswapati (Ruler of Madra/ Savitri’s father), Dyumatsena (Satyavaan’s blind father), Satyavaan, Yama (Lord of Death), and a few other smaller roles such as the Aswapati’s minister, and Dyumatsena’s minister.
To me, acting various roles in one play was a very difficult task. As a novice actor, I feel that I don’t have the strength as an actor YET to pull this off. At first, looking at the script it seemed to be a very interesting play to me, but when I slowly started to get into it, I realized that it was rather difficult. The most difficult task for me was to develop each character's emotions. Taking Dyumatsena regaining his sight for an example, I had to develop the emotional outburst of a blind person regaining his sight within a few seconds, and mind you, this had to be done a few seconds after I played Satyavaan regaining his life. In all my previous work*, I have played single characters thus having a build up in emotions. But in this case, I was changing characters so quickly that I feel I did not strike the right notes at the right time. The only character I felt had some flow was Yama as I was allowed to try to become Yama over a few minutes. To say the truth, my mind was always preoccupied on stage thinking about things like “Who am I going to be next”, “Don’t forget to change the tone of your voice, Kamalesh”, "Don’t forget to change your posture”, “Are you speaking with the right tone right now?”. All these thoughts did definitely have an effect on me and I feel like I was not able to explore all the characters properly.
Maybe, I am not ready for this or I am too comfortable with the previous (one role) plays I have done. Or maybe I just need more time and practice. I do enjoy doing single roles where I can build up emotions within me and have climaxes and anti climaxes with my own emotions. Back to the example of Dyumatsena, the blind King; had I played the role of Dyumatsena throughout the play, on stage, I would have been able to explore the feelings and emotions of a blind person and regaining my sight would have been an ecstatic feeling for me.
However, I also wish to explain that playing multiple roles does have many interesting facets to it. The actor gets a chance to feel the story from various emotional points of view. And it really can be very challenging in an interesting way for the actor to have conversations with himself (between 2 characters). In this play, I actually did enjoy the short conversation between Dyumatsena and Aswapati. On a deeper more philosophical note, playing many characters, can be taken as a metaphor depicting the essential oneness of all existence. It is a portrayal of the same (me the actor) taking various forms in the body, mind and soul of different characters. However, this discussion is not in the scope of the report and I will not bore you further.
As an actor, it is also very important to capture and keep the audience attention during presentation, moreover when it’s a serious story. This would actually help the actor absorb energy from the audience and project it back to them through his acting. To me, there is nothing better than performing to an appreciative audience. To do so, the actor has to know the story thoroughly and be as intense as possible even at the least intense moments. As an actor I don’t know if I have achieved that, but I know I did try.
In a nutshell, I would say Savitri/ Satyavaan was a very interesting experience for me. I did not only learn many new things as an actor but the play also did teach me many new things as a person. However, I feel I did not achieve the climax or the feeling ( I cannot describe in words) when acting in this play. I believe I need more practice and experience as an actor before I can pursue such a task of playing many roles again. Maybe a more apt name for the drama would have been Savitri and Sideshow Bob.
*Kamalesh played multiple roles in Pancatantra's first project of William Buck's Ramayana in November 2003 presented to Swamiji. He essayed Dasaratha, Viswakarma, Vishnu and others in the highly exciting ensemble work of dramatising Buck's text.
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LOVE, How Did It Find Me?
[written by Ashwyn Kumar]
Love,
How did it find me?
How does it work?
How is it at times so divine and pure
And, at others, so raw
Why does it at times make me feel guilty?
And, at other times, so happy?
When will I ever know?...
[written during an improvisation class Jan 2007]
IS IT OUR HEART OR OUR MIND?
[a poem by Muthukumaran Paranjothy]
Is it our heart or our mind
That guides us along a path
As we meet different people
As we are put in different situations
As we face different problems
is it our heart or our mind
That guides us as we experience
Life's endless journey
[written during an improvisation class Jan 2007]
Labels: poem
LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND
[written by Lam Ghooi-Ket]
2 Scenes for 4 actors.
[Enter Mangai with a cup of coffee for her husband, Radha. She sits, and begins to mop her sweat. Radha enters with a newspaper, whistling the song “Khaadalan Roja”. He does not see Mangai. He sits next to her and she lets out a sigh. He brings his newspaper down, sees her, smiles, and notices the cup of coffee. He sings the song to Mangai… then he breaks off to tell the audience…]
Radha: It’s love that makes the world go round. Some people think it is money that spins it but really, it’s love that makes the world go round. You fall in love with a girl, then you have to buy her things to show that you love her. Then if she accepts your gifts, you have to marry her, then your parents, your brothers and sisters, your uncles and aunties, your grandfathers and grandmothers have to get in on the shopping spree to get the wedding going….
Mangai: Then you have to buy a car, buy a house, buy furniture, buy more clothes, buy more food, have babies, buy baby food, buy pampers, buy Johnson and Johnson baby products, buy, buy, buy… and goodbye to your peace of mind… and your world is going round and round, and your head is spinning round and round and round…. Phew! Until you meet Swamiji….. ah then you begin to get another type of love, another kind of peace of mind…. And then, and then, your head begins to spin and spin and spin… there’s no running away, it’s love that makes the world go round…
Radha: Mangai my sweet, isn’t it wonderful that Manju is finally getting married? She has grown into a beautiful young woman…(sob sob sob)
Mangai: Yes Radha, and Hari is a good boy. It’s a good match. O Radha, I know you are crying because you are happy…
Radha: Yes, I am so happy because at last I don’t have to fight with her over watching Vaanavil or One Tree Hill…
Mangai: Yes, and she’ll get to decorate her own home and her own house, and I will get to redecorate our house my way, and cook the dishes I like…
Radha: Mangai, all of a sudden, when I look at you, I remember how we used to be…
Mangai: Yes, Radha, me, too… you were so young, so suave, so handsome…
Radha: You were so sweet, so beautiful, so….strong. You reminded me of Zhu Yingtai…
Mangai: And you were like Liang Shanbo…
Radha: You were like Shakuntala…
Mangai: And you, Dushyanta…
[Radha sings "Khaadalan roja" and chases Mangai… exeunt]
ENTER MANJU AND HARI
Hari: Ah, the full moon is up… just right for a scene from Romeo and Juliet. [handphone rings… he answers.]
Manju [on the handphone]: are you ready?
Hari: Yes, Manju… [she poses a la Juliet, and Hari comes out from a tree, sees her, the moon shines on her]
Hari: But soft, what light through yonder window breaks
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun… no… and Manju is the sun
Arise fair sun, and kill the envious moon
For she is sick and pale with grief
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she
Be not her maid
For you are my bright angel… she speaks!
Manju: O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
O Hari, Hari, wherefore art thou, Hari?
Don’t stay so long at your squash game…
Give up your doctoring and hurry back to me
You swore you would love me
And you would go to the ends of the world for me
Hari: Shall I hear more or shall I run away now?
Manju: What’s so great about Perth? Klang is better!
Australian or Malaysian, you will always be my Hari
And I will always be your Manju
What’s in a place? That which you call a home by any other
Name – Perth or Klang – will always be a home with me around
O Hari, forget about Perth, and if you love me, as you say you do
Make your home with me, and since I am the woman
I choose Klang, and for that, I will give you all of myself
Hari: I take thee at thy word!
Actually, can I think about it?
Manju: What man art thou that stumbles upon my own conversation
In the middle of the night? Are you Romeo, and a Montague”
Hari: No!
Manju: How camest thou hither, tell me and wherefore?
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb
And the place is death if my parents know you are here…
Hari: I drove… I am not Romeo… I just walked in the door
Your parents begged me to marry you
Manju: Ah! Now I know my Romeo loves me not
Thank god it is night for a maiden blush doth paint my cheek
Dost thou now prove false, O Romeo
To one who has given her heart and soul to thee?
Hari: Look thou but sweet, my darling, I will be reminded
Thou art my Mumtaz and I your Shah Jehan
Manju: O pronounce those words faithfully, Hari
In truth I am too fond, and am at a loss for words
Thinking of all the things we will buy after our wedding here
And the honeymoon we will have in Paris
And the two sports cars you will give me – one for the weekday
For going to the office and one for the weekend
For our picnics in lake gardens -
You agree we will live in Klang, not Perth
Though for Christmas, we can stay a week in Perth -
O I am at a loss for words
We can just shop and shop and shop till we drop [sigh]
What bliss awaits us…
Hari: I swear by the moon that…
Manju: O swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon
Lest your love prove likewise
Hari: I think I have to get her out of this mood
I think I will have to talk to Swamiji about this
I think I better say goodnight – goodnight, Manju
Manju: O sweet goodnight! I know you will have to rush to the airport
But it is only twenty minutes from here… your flight is at 11:30
It is now 9:45… you will make it
O gentle Romeo, gentle Hari, parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say goodnight till it be tomorrow
Hari: I got to go!
Manju: Go, my love, take my love with you
And hurry back, my love, a minute without you is like a day
And a day without you is a year
You gone from me, it will be like a thousand years
Before you come… and I will be too old to be married
Hari: I got to go, darling
Manju; Yes, go my love, but hurry back
Hurry hurry hurry home love hurry back to Manju –a
To crazy Klang in Malaysia
Hurry home to me
I know I know you have to go
Please hurry back home love
Hurry home to me
Hari: yes, darling! Bye!
Manju: don’t forget to bring me my things from my apartment
There are so many things I need, please darling
Things I need for our wedding, tomorrow…
Did you hear me, Hari?
Hari [offstage]: yes!
[This was first presented with additions and amendments on Jan 18th, 2007 at the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields on the occasion of a wedding dinner. It was subsequently presented again at the Temple of Fine Arts on Feb 3rd, 2007 to a highly appreciative audience.]
Labels: script
