The Charisma behind Theatre …
Why is Theatre simple yet beautiful ?
Though we are one group who had started experimenting with theatre quite recently, still holding onto our jobs as we are the basic samosa winners of our family (yeah how long are we gonna call it “Bread and butter” … lets say it as Samosa and Chutney for a change), I must say the moment I think of Theatre, I just could not avoid an inevitable comparison with Cinema. For sure, I am not against that medium of expression. But still, I could not stop myself from the simplicity and liveliness offered by Theatre, as a medium of expression.
I thought of jotting down a few points :
-> Lights and colors can convey seasons, emotions, day and night and what not ?
-> A mild beat of percussion can convey war and peace
-> Actors can look into your eye and I feel thats the best part of relishing a theatre play, as you are considered a part of their world where it happens, Live, Flesh and blood !
-> Illusions are given a life, only in theatre. An actor, can simply water the plants by wobbling his fingers without a pot or water. Still, that conveys the message.
One strange fact to be noticed is, theatre personalities who had a chance to get into mainstream cinema, never really left theatre once for all, and ended up doing more of theatre than cinema.
The places where cinema really scores over theatre is, emphasis on more number of takes till the director gets the right cut. However in theatre its “once or never”. It is jus’ the MOMENT, which, as an actor has to Live it ! Otherwise, its dead..Simply. Ofcourse the power of cinema, as an expression, has more to do than theatre mainly in terms of production and effects that it can portray.
Still, theatre is preserved with its own originality, as it has its own set of audience and never really needs to commercialize itself in making it a markeatable medium.
I dont have to watch item numbers and racy OOP oriented songs (OOP – objects of pleasure) as part of accepting commercial family oriented mainstream cinema (*wink*) nor do I have to accept an evergreen bubbly optimistic hunk @ the age of 54 romancing a high school passout diva (*grin*).
So more of theatre coming soon ? Keep watching this space.
With Cheers ,
Bharath for Rebelz
| Print article | This entry was posted by Bharath on February 17, 2008 at 3:19 pm, and is filed under Rebel Talk. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 2 years ago
hey guyz… am not a regular blogger but i have been eyeing this space for quite some time…ofcourse quiet for most of the times.. but this particular blog of yours have kindled my nerves to oppose or rather defend the cinema’s scope.. and the reasons.. am myself a person with the cinema background(a technician though).
first of all i believe that your scribbling *wink* supports more of theatre/play.. just because you are part of it and not part of the big picture..
I am not discounting the efforts of theatre, but cinema has million/trillion things that a stage can never portray.. at times when i watch a stage play..i always get reminded of a puppet show.. at cinema you can not think of such skew things..
a simplest example is.. a cinema can get in to the actors eyes to show his expressions.. be it a tear or a happy eyes.. but a theatre can never portray it.. unless the actor wipes the tear off.. or choaks… this is a very simple thing to show how deep can a cinema.. and a camera go… than just talking out and playing music..
my idea is not to convey that theatre is a small thing.. but just because there is no “RETAKE” it will not make theatre big..
and about your comment that many theatre artists who had moved to the bigger frame.. had always maintained their stint in the stage as well.. i tell you there are only 20% of them who maintain both.. and those 20% are the supporting roles and not the main roles.. the amount of details that a cinema gives will not make them look back to theatre shows.. *laughter*
about 2 years ago
Gandhian Dude ?! Quite an interesting screen name.
Effect of Gandhigiri ? (Lage Raho Munnabhai) .. Lol.
Firstly I should really thank you for such a detailed comment, as that gives me the pleasure in making the post quite meaningful.
The technical nuances which real add up to the power of cinema is totally undebatable. I agree. My point is, what theatre, at its simplistic medium preserving its state of originality, can offer as a source of entertainment.
To answer your point, where in an actor cries, and cinema portraying that by zooming into the actors face or expressions, I would want you to watch, the same actor crying out in a theatre play. Have you seen it all flesh and blood by sitting in the first row ?
Watching the exaggerations, eccentricites and expressions of Theatre by reducing your proximity from the stage and getting as close as possible from an audience perspective is really so damn amazing an experience I must say !
I really cant imagine watching a movie sitting in the “first row” and giving rigorous exercises to my neck muscles looking out for wierd images on screen, doesnt matter how much ever the camera zooms into an actors expressions !
But it gives one a real privilege to watch theatre, or be it any stage performance, from the first row with the nearest viccinity. You get a feeling that some one out there is really popping their eyes out with impeccable voice modulation and body language to entertain you !
But where is the originality to voice or be it “on the fly” stunts or be it Music, when it comes to cinema quite recently ?
Cinema,especially Indian Cinema, portrays an evergreen 54(or whatever) year old hero flying in the air and a a high tech camera zooming into his eyez to show the new shades he is wearing ? (*wink*) ?
Yes, I do agree. There are numoerous films with spectacular effects aided by mammoth production houses adding upto wonderful, yet, fictitous movies.
Maybe Cinema is more dependant on technology and is becoming quite tech savvy. I even see an out and out “animation” film of a super star under production. But we can indeed go and ask his fans out there how they feel if the same super star waves his hands on stage ? They would feel delighted.
Well my friend, thats the same delight we take home by watching theatre !