The stage play Pathala Bhairavi in Ravindra Bharati on Tuesday evening enthralled the audience. The stage artists exhibited superb acting captivating the audience in the theater.
The stage plays in the State are fighting hard to survive if not thrive. The dying art is just flickering and trying to make its presence felt now and then. There is a lot of difference between Cinema and a Stage Show. But stage plays groom artists. Compared to Cinema acting on stage is more difficult because of the constraints.
A stage has a limited place. Time is fixed and only one chance is given to perform. That means a single take without further chance to repeat the shot. Actors should be thorough in the dialogues and follow the story to know their role in that particular moment. Along with their portion, they should also remember the other actors’ portions with whom they interact on the stage so that they will not leave a gap making it a blank stage. Actors should deliver their dialogues clearly at only once. No correction is allowed. Backspace button is removed!
Assistants should be alert to raise and drop the curtain at the right moment also some times when a problem arises. Prompting assistants should be ready with the script behind the screen to follow the play and correct the artists if they go wrong of if they forget a dialogue. Spot lights and lighting effects are to be done at the particular moment for which the supervisors should be ready. As the gap between scenes should not spoil the interest of the audience, stage settings should be kept ready for the next scene and arrange them fast.
Cooperation to the maximum can be witnessed in a stage play. If an actor or actress gets confused on the stage, the actors present on the stage cover it and try to make up with their actions. An actor’s success depends on the interaction of other actors on the stage. It is a real team work with a single aim common to all the actors- that is success of the play. Success of overall play is more important than individual success. But every actor should attempt to excel others so that the play will get a rich production value.
There are many more issues like lack of close up shots and sound. Background music has to be given on spot. No audio mixing is possible. All these constraints and much more than discussed here make it very hard for a stage play to get success. The production cost is a lot cheaper than a movie but very rich in the artistic value.
Pathala Bhairavi a stage show with a known story was performed to captivate the audience in Ravindra Bharati Hyderabad on Tuesday.
-SriJa
