META Perspectives: The Artiste – The Balcony

Rakesh Reghunath, an actor of The Balcony gives us his take on META and theatre performances.

1. What is your backstage routine before a performance?
A. Before the performance, after the make up, we do a small meditation session with the team. All the settings are done by our backstage supporters and we just go through the play internally before the play.

2. Have you had any memorable experience with any Fan/audience during your performances?
A. In this play, in the last scene, the main platform moves to the front with the Police Chief on it. One member of the audience commented that, he felt this movement like a Patton tank coming towards him. He shared the fear he sensed on that moment. It gave us a new idea and we have included that Patton tank sequence in the next performance.

3. What does META mean to you?
A. We know META is one of the best theatre awards in India because our team once attended and participated in Meta in 2013. So we are more than excited to realize we got a second chance in META. Our team members are also very happy because they do remember the nice experiences the got in the previous episode.

4. What are you looking forward at META this year?
A. We think we can perform better than the previous performance at home. We are doing some extra homework for META. We know, will face an audience with many prominent and famous dramatists from every corner of India and outside India, so we are very concerned about that for our performance.

5. What is the message you have for the upcoming actors and directors in theatre?
A. I am actually fond of applied theatre. In India, it has a huge scope. I believe, Theatre should not try to compete with movies. Drama has it’s own role in social transformation. Theatre could be used in many other fields. One should explore the potential. I am trying to make new forms of social drama in Kerala, in real life situations.

Watch the META plays from 6th-10th March! Click here to book tickets.