“The play is not in the words. Its in you.” - Stella Adler
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players.”
- As You Like It (William Shakespeare)
Theatre has been one of the most influential escapes for me. An instant mood-lifter, performing for people has always been on the top of my list - be it stage plays or concerts. From being the ‘Draamebaaz’ in my family for almost over 20 years now, one thing is certain - I’m not going to let this actor in me die.
Raell Padamsee’s ACE Productions
Raell Padamsee is a vibrant, versatile, dynamic well- known theatre personality. She is well-reputed in the field of theatre production, design, and execution of mega-events. I was part of her company, Ace Productions Pvt. Ltd. which had done a Certificate-Course. Having performed in two plays and a few dance routines, this introduced me into the world of theatre and acting.
Following ACE, I auditioned and got selected in the rounds for several shows such as the first season of Zee TV’s India’s Best Draamebaaz, Launch of Channel Zee Q, an interactive children’s television channel, Disney’s International Presentation for Performers: iPOP, among others.
Sill Point Productions’ A World of Dreams
'A World of Dreams' was a musical extravaganza in song dance and action that was performed as part of the closing ceremony of St. Mary’s School ICSE’s 150 year celebration. The Chief guest for the event was renowned alumnus of the school and theatre actor, Kunal Vijaykar.
The musical was directed by theatre maker Meherzad Patel and combined elaborate sequences of dance and music from various theatre plays for children - it infused folklore into Disney stories, thus giving a visual spectacle to the viewers and audience membres. Disney to folklore.,
RAAHI - Theatre Club of SCMC
Before and during ACE, I had always performed on stage, be it in school dramatics, or normal school and college productions. Raahi, the official theatre club of SCMC introduced me to actually performing ‘Nukkad Nataks.’
Having workshops on various theatre activities like nukkad nataks, improv sessions, scripting, jingles, and most recently, digital theatre, RAAHI is now considered a part of home.
Having been a part of several performances for RAAHI, I was part of the contingent that won first place the Nukkad Naatak event at SYMPULSE 2020, an intercollegiate festival of Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies.
THESPO - A Youth Theatre Movement
Thespo is a youth theatre movement and a subsidary of Bombay Theatre Company and QTP Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. It was founded by Quasar Thakore Padamsee.
I have been associated with Thespo for over more than a year now, organizing the festival, working on social media and publicity, and screening plays for the festival, among other things.
This year, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Thespo went online and I played a significant role in organizing the festival as part of the core team of Thespo 22. You can view the after-movie of the festival here.
I have also designed various things like the Friends of Thespo Posts, The Thespo Ink, and the festival creatives, which can be found on Thespo’s Instagram.
Currently, I am working on Thespo’s Audio-torium: A one-of-a-kind audio play experience, now streaming on Spotify and Gaana! Tune in now!
Drama School Mumbai’s Intensive and Comprehensive Workshop in Performing and Theatre-Making
Drama School Mumbai is a leading theatre school in the country and being a part of such a reputed institution was one of the best things that I could do in theatre.
I was part of a 3 day intensive workshop where we learnt various things about devising, improv, body conditioning and voice conditioning. At the end we had to put up a performance which as graded by the faculty as part of the TML or ‘Theatre Making Lab’.
We were lucky to be taught by various people including Jehan Manekshaw (founder, Drama School, Mumbai), Madhura Jugade, Gerish K, Taha Ali, and Rohaan Uvale, who is a course advisor at the school.
You can view the performances and pictures from the workshop here, and the TML performances here.