I had an interesting conversation with young theatre actors who had come to Pondicherry from France at the beginning of 2024. They were here on a project of collaboration which is part of their course. This is how they spent some time working with the actors of Adishakti Theatre group based in Pondicherry.
I had the good fortune to have an on-stage dialogue with them. This event was held at the Alliance Fran?aise of Pondicherry. I am just going to write down what I learnt about them.
They have come from a very reputed institution which is called ENSATT (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Theâtre). This Theatre School teaches all the different aspects of theatre, not only acting and directing but also the technical skills of lighting, costumes, sound and set design. Students are accepted into this institution only if they have already done two years of work in their line of specialization. Also the selection is made on the basis of a public competition. It means that each candidate is graded according his or her position among those who have participated.
This also means that once they are in the ENSATT they only work on their specialization. For example a student who has come to learn acting will not be given training in lighting or sound or costume or set design. He should have already learnt about it before coming.
The technical team said that their work is in high demand so they have no difficulty in finding work once they complete their training at the ENSATT. Those who go to see plays often don’t notice the work of those who are not seen on the stage, but their work is the framework on which the actors’ performance stands. Not all who are passionate about theatre want to be seen.
Their project at Adishakti was to create a play together, learning and taking from each other’s skills. Adishakti has a very particular way of acting because they mix dance and music into it whereas the French actors who had come are trained more to work on the text and the subtext. This made it something of a new experience for them.
My first question to them was, “What is the future of theatre?”
Their answer was that it will continue to exist because there is something special which theatre can offer which other forms of entertainment can’t. The main attraction of theatre is the physical presence of the performers. “Theatre brings people together in the same physical space,” said one of the actresses. That perhaps adds a new meaning now more than ever when meetings can be virtual. One can communicate and even see each other without being in the same place. A Theatre then becomes a meeting place.
I told them that most Indians who join theatre schools or even come to participate in workshops do it because they ultimately want to work in films. I asked the team from ENSATT if the actors who were now learning acting were doing it to be able to get roles in films. They admitted that most actors of theatre would be willing to work in cinema but their main aim will always be theatre. Evidently, cinema is better paid but it isn’t as satisfying as theatre for an actor trained for acting on stage. The two techniques are different.
They all believed that theater will continue to exist the way painting had continued to exist even though photography came along. There are many amateur theatre groups who perform regularly while the actors all have a day job. This shows that there is a strong theatre going culture in France. It is so much a part of life that most of the actors said that their passion for the stage started in childhood when their parents took them to watch plays.
The conversation was very interesting and full of information.
