Stage a play, spread joy

The impression of a play created on the audience is due to the total effect of several factors which one would do well to know.

Annual days in schools are  an eagerly-awaited occasion for most students. That is the time for drama enthusiasts to stage plays and spread joy. What a great day it is for the actors! What fun for the beholders! What great pleasure for all when the play is on and over! How happy everyone is as one wends one returns  home!

Such joyous occasions are no doubt few and far between. But these  few become memorable because of the excellent role each actor has played. Each playing one’s part to the best of one’s ability. All performing  with  team spirit. All actuated by one desire— to make a good impression, to make the play a success. The success that comes from planned effort and sincere performance. And a host of other factors.

What are the points that one should remember to make a play successful. First comes the selection of a theme. Choose a story which all or most of the performers know. A story that  appeals to most of the members of the troupe. That will considerably help in presenting the sequence correctly. 

A story with an Indian locale or one based on the works of Indian writers would have wider appeal than  Western works. Particularly for youngsters, Indian stories would be easier to put on the boards than foreign ones.

Having chosen the story— be it from the epics like the Ramayana or the Mahabharata or the various Puranas or Indian history or folklore — the next thing to do is to  prepare  the scenario and the script. This is a job that calls for much imagination and literary talent. Breaking down the story into various scenes and writing the dialogues of the characters and stage directions to build up the effect of the dialogues need special talent.

All are not good dramatists. If there are no good writers among the group that  presents the play the help of outside talent has to be availed of. School students  can get help  from parents or teachers with talent in theatre. The guidance of elders in scenario and script writing, in settings and costumes and make-up, is necessary for children to make their play appealing. And in cities, the dramatic societies and theatre groups can be approached for assistance.

Next comes casting —assigning roles to the children who will be acting in the play. This is the job of the producer/director. Here the criterion is who is best suited for which role. Individual preferences and choices can be considered only in relation to suitability. 

All cannot play the part of kings and queens, nor of ministers and commanders-in-chief: some have to act as servants and soldiers, some as villains and demons. Irrespective of the role one is assigned one should play one’s part well. When all the participants perform their respective roles well the play proves to be a success.

To do one’s role well, one must not only have talent in acting but must know one’s part well. One must be natural in one’s delivery of dialogue and action or facial expression. That means one must feel one’s part. An actor commands appeal by evoking the emotional response of the audience.

In ancient India drama was highly disciplined. The emotions were classified under nine labels, the nava rasa’s. And rasa dominated drama. Strict rules were laid for staging of plays as well as for writing them (dramaturgy). Bharata, the celebrated author of the work Natya Sastra, is believed to be the first grammarian of the performing arts of dance, drama and music.

 The rigorous discipline of Sanskrit drama had its counterpart in the Greek drama of those days. The joy of living that cultured people had in olden days is mirrored in classical drama. And it is the same spirit that  motivates us to enact plays.

Colour contributed much to their joy of living. And India has rightly been called  the land of colour. It is the colours in costume and make-up that enhances the appeal of an actor’s performance. So we have the green-room experts  who look after the make-up which should be in conformity with the times and characters of the play. Never overdress. Nor be gaudy to a fault. Remember that clothes too play a part — in evoking the right atmosphere.

The first impression on the audience is visual in which costumes and settings make an impact. Dialogue and action begins  after the visual effect is made on the beholders. If the first visual effect is good the audience will follow the dialogues and action with greater interest than if it were other-wise.

 So the several elements that go to grip the attention of the audience have to be in harmony. One faux pas, one slip in one can mar the effect of the other. For a play pleases one due to the total effect of several factors. To know them well is essential for every stage  enthusiast. Then only can one spread joy through plays.