Organizational Q & A with Ranji David

This is the forum where Organizational Theatre Members get a chance to discuss about any queries related to Theatre or Art with Ranji David (RD). Today, 31st Jan 2018, we have two volunteers who will get their queries answered. 

Lets start with Tulsi Raj (TR)...

TR: What should I do to lose inhibition while working with new co-actors?

RD: Thank you for starting off Thulasi. This is a deep rooted question i won’t question you back to be
more precise since this is a discussion on a larger group.

Let’s look at this closely

What is inhibition:

When someone gets close to you n u feel uncomfortable

What are different types of inhibitions

Inhibition has 4 layers

Physical

Verbal

Mental

Emotional

It is a cementing of sorts,

Very often our upbringing to a large extent determines the root cause of each of them.
Triggered by a 3 layered texture.

Environment

Experience

Exposure

Hence when we start theatre work our inhibitions stare right into our face, we are exposed to ourselves
about our inhibitions.

Now the question is how to reduce or let go off it.

How much to lose

Inhibition amongst all dimensions has a very social aspect to it. Highly uninhibited individual can become an outcast in their own social circle. Hence the next step, mastery of choice

Once mastered we have to master the art of choice : to decide the what when where why and how much to
let go off.

how to lose:

It’s a step by step process, to let go off our inhibitions, we need a safe and healthy environment.
So that we aren’t mistaken for love, lust etc n other masala. Slowly but surely, if you are at it then you
loose them one by one. Slow is the key word here. Once lost it’s very difficult to get it back

TR: Since I am new to the field..what goals should I be setting for myself in the realm of theatre?

RD: Ranji Org Theatre: Very good question.

Very often the answer lies in why you joined the basic theatre workshop.

This is something that not everyone does in theatre and hence the journey is very blurred. We don’t know
why we are doing theatre and hence doing it just to satisfy some hidden dreams or desires or maybe just
to have friends or a social circle. These are fine.

It takes a good 3 years to just be in theatre n not have a goal. But after 3 years its important to understand
your path ( this is something that practitioners take ages )

But if you have a good mentored or coach or teacher then guidance helps you see your path, then it’s up to
you to take it.

Questions to ask yourself after 3 years

1. Do I want to be an actor/director/writer/technical/trainer.

2. Will i take theatre as a profession someday in my life, if yes then how do I reach there

3. What gives me great joy, hence can I redo that and so master more skills to help me get better and
better.

Theatre is like an relationship , the more you go deeper the more you learn enjoy.

If theatre is just an affair then you touch it on the surface then join guitar class, then salsa n so on.

I have noticed that your personality also decides the choices you make.

For you naturally therapy in theatre is your path.... that’s why I say 3 years because by then I might just
love performing, n not therapy. We can talk more on this personally.

But let your goals evolve from what you love and so dont predecide your path

TR: When on stage we were required to throw our voice so everyone could hear. This meant losing
some of the emotion expressed by me. What voice exercises  will help with this? Anything else we
can do?

RD: Excellent question.

Tough one to understand

Take time n Practice to implement

Stage is a place where everything must be larger including voice emotions expression physical..,all these
have to be projected.

How scream n yet be tender in a scene requires a lot of practice n experimenting. It’s a skill that’s tough to
master, in fact its among the difficult things to master in theatre.

One must play have fun with things that we find difficult for any onstage activities to do.

So practice play and experiment.

TR:  In real life my way of expressing a particular emotion may be very different from the kind we see on stage. What would be a good way to adapt? If I go with myself I may be more authentic but
it may not reach my audience. How can I work on this?

RD: Sometimes lines blur, after doing theatre / films for a long time actors suffer from a few diseases.

One being, losing naturalness in real life. This is most painful for those who have realised it or are getting
to realise it.

The other disease, is an unconscious one, the constant need to have an audience.

Basic theatre workshop  ( takes 5 Sunday’s for some , takes 5 years for some) should help one in just
becoming good at expressing well in real life. All other actor training’s after that is a complicated path, a
path where you lose yourself. After 25 years of theatre the Training for actors is to understand who is the
real me. Chances are, we may have lost it, in the quest for being a greater actor.

Realising that you have reached a stage of expressing freely is where your answer ends.

A good documentary to watch is Andy VS Jim Carry. This is a great lesson to understand... how we lose
ourselves because of acting

TR: What are some important habits to develop as an actor? Is there a daily routine one should
follow?

RD: Practice. Perform. Practice. Perform.

Practice regularly. Perform regularly

TR: Thank you so much Ranji. That was the last of my questions. Lots to think about and do. I really appreciate this opportunity. Would like a one to one discussion some day.

RD: Thank you so much for asking.
        Wonderful questions, I hope this sets the ball rolling for others too

Now its time for our next volunteer Reetesh (RT).

RT:  How to play character and leave your own character. because in most cases, what I

struggle, while playing a character there is something related to my own character that remains

there knowingly or unknowingly.

RD:

Nice, how much of me should remain in what I play, how much should I let go.

This is also, skill

There are 2 parts to this

1. How much of yourself can you let go off. This is ability and skills.

2. How much of yourself are you willing to let go to become somebody else. This is your internal choice. A spiritual dimension.

There is always an element of you left in a character very early on when you start theatre but slowly

as you master the art of becoming somebody else, you lose more and more of yourself.

The more and more you lose yourself the less and less you become yourself.

Technically this is also a scale called aesthetic distance. How further away from yourself have you

been able to get away from.

For many to play someone else n become someone else takes a lifetime. Some are able to let go off

themselves easily.

Yes Those who are

1. willing to take risks

2. Push themselves far

3. Are able jump into the unknown ocean

Practical ways to become some

Change Physically

Change vocally

Change emotionally

Change mentally

Takes time, practice and great patience with yourself.

It’s Very easy to play ourselves on stage. It’s Very difficult to become somebody. The time you have

started to become somebody onstage you have just begun your theatre journey, till then you just

wasted your skill, time, money, effort expressing.

RT: So, just a follow up question. If we adapt a new character and play it, sometimes it remains

even after the performance. Sometimes, that may affect your normal day to day life. So, how to

let go the character which you have played ? Because the more you are away from yourself, the

more you are closer to other character and the new character affects your life.

RD :

It’s a psycho-social question.

Have you experienced this or just a hypothetical question based on assumption or fear

RT: I have experienced it once. It was more because I was trying to understand the character.. And I

went deeper into it

RD : Can you please elaborate, for me to understand this better. Share more on this experience and

event( if u want to share)

RT : Ya.. So I was playing a character of sexually abused boy in a family. And then I tried to read on
Internet what all they go through. That whole story and there narrative was in my mind for much longer
period. And after performance also I had some sleepless nights.

RD : Sometimes extreme stories of abuse and trauma triggers a lot of our own trauma and also sympathy
leads to empathy leading to believe you are sexually abused when in reality you weren’t.

There are a few psychological experiments done on this “ where normal people began to believe they
were antisocial elements when in reality they were just normal people” it’s one of the most powerful
social experiment done on humans, this by Prof. Zimbardo. You can look up on Stanford prison
Experiment on the net to read more, if you want to.

This may go in a different direction, so let’s talk person to person when we meet next time, cos I have
some questions leading into different zones.

RT: when you play the same character again and again, how to keep it fresh.

RD: How do you keep yourself motivated to go to office again n again. Do a few things again.

How do you keep yourself motivated to go for a run again and again.

What motivates us in life to do things again and again. One answer lies here.

Find newness in the routine is a big journey

Newness in relationships

Newness at work

Newness in routine tasks

Newness in life.

For each of us it’s different. Sometimes the solutions of stage problems lies in how we deal with life,
this one includes that.

So you need to find what motivates you internally and externally to play the character again n again.
Do you need rewards

Do you need a partner to remind you

Do you want to get better n better at wat you

We all have anchors in life. Anchors are the REAL reasons why we do what we do, what is your anchor...
it differs from task to task. Ask yourself, you might finds some answers there

RT: According to you, how much time should we give to practice and rehearsal. Because, a failure
on stage will teach a lot more than might be 10-20 mistakes in practice. And lot of practice
sometimes  takes zeal of the character from you.

RD: Firstly let’s eliminate the word failure, let’s call ambiguity/ challenges.

In my view,

Theatre is all about dealing with constant challenges/ ambiguity on stage, handling those and making
sure it goes well through improvisations is what really makes a great experience.

For me The real ability of an actor comes alive when he/she has made mistakes on stages.

Just like in life we are always dealing with challenges no matter how much we prepare.

So it’s good to prepare on how to be spontaneous rather than how to be perfect. When a play goes well I
do things as a director which shocks or challenges the actors.

We are not in control of life. It will be great if we realise we are not in control of the final outcome.
Theatre should not teach us that everything can be controlled. It should teach us how to swim in an
uncontrolled environment.

I like it when actors constantly deal with ambiguity. What if your pants fall down onstage in front of 300
people. That excites me to see how you deal with it to give more meaning to the play and the story.

RT: While working on a larger group what all should we keep in our mind? Discipline is most
important thing (which we lack), but apart from that what else. What I understand, discipline is
important because if we lack that discipline then we are doing injustice to people who are really
committed. And this might affect others commitment and interests. But apart from discipline ..
what more ?

RD: Since you said Discipline. I will expand this further. I have lots of points to share but will expands
only on this 1 point

As an actor

1. Discipline:

Internal discipline:

i) being committed to your words/respecting your own words. when you say i am in this play then as a
director I expect you are Coming for every rehearsal and not visiting us once in a while. it’s terrible to see
coming from newcomers who are just 1 year or less in theatre.

ii) respecting your own time commitment. Coming on time, every time which means sacrifices must be
made.

This is very hurtful when we have non-Indian performers who visit us and get to taste this very Indian
masala of disrespect from us. We lose credibility as a country.

External Discipline:

i) Respecting people:

coming to theatre ONLY because you love theatre and not for some frivolous partner finding exercise just
because you want to do gymnastics with someone.  Theatre is not a place for this.

ii) Respect stage: it is sacred. People have given their whole lives just to keep theatre alive. You have got
a chance to be there where only a few reach. Theatre People have fought n lost lives because of which
today theatre is not an illegal / immoral practice.

Value what you have, before you lose what you have.

RD: Thank you so much for volunteering to ask questions Reteesh. You bought out the best in me.

RT: That's all from my side. I guess my turn is over. You took my questions wonderfully. Thank you Ranji and OT.

Hope you got some of your queries were also answered here. Leave your comments below and keep looking for this space for more such discussions.