META Perspectives: The Director, Actor and Writer – Akshayambara

Sharanya Ramprakash — director, actor and script witer of Akshayambara, shares her experience of theatre and META with us.

1. What is your backstage routine before you start a performance?
A. Before we preform, my co-performer Prasad takes about two hours to get ready with his ritual headgear and in the meantime I check the stage, all props on stage. So it takes about two and a half-hour before the performance to get into costume and to set the stage. And just before we begin, our team & performers do the Ganapathi puja which is meant in Yakshagana as seeking of permission from Ganapathi in the green room to go on stage.

2. What is the most rewarding experience for you during a performance?
A. I think that the most rewarding experience is post performance. During the performance both Prasad and I are involved in what we are doing on stage during that moment. But we experience the feeling of rewarding post our performance finishes. For me real rewarding is that when we feel we are not just preforming but it is all happening in real. We probably manage to do it in every show, forgetting that its a performance. And it really works for us.

3.What is the most memorable experience you had with your fan or audience?
A. The most rewarding experience had been in Lucknow were we performed for the audience with no idea about where we were on the map of India, far away from the language as the play is completely in Kannada, setup of Yakshagana and the idea in which it is deeply rooted in. And we performed in an open setup with traffic sound audible etc which was complete different from the setup we usually preform in. When we finished the performance we wondered what we should do as we dont have an elaborate curtain call. So I asked my colleague to just bow and leave the stage, meanwhile the whole audience got up for the standing ovation. We stayed for couple of hours when the performance got over with audience talking to us and giving their feedback about how they enjoyed the play. That was a very important moment for us.

4. What are you looking forward in META?
A. I am really looking forward to perform in Delhi. And we are not thinking about it as a competition, we think about it as a performance as I think that is the strength of the play and we have constantly approached it as a performance that is very close to us as we are trying to tell a story that is very personal and deep for me and Prasad. And I hope we are able to do that in Delhi as well. Really looking forward to perform.

5. What is the significance of META for you?
A. I feel very honored to be chosen amongst the 10 best plays in the country for this year (2016). This is huge, very beautiful, humbling and we are very grateful for it. While I am very happy that we will be able to perform at the festival but there is a part of me that is wondering how we will be participating to compete in a competition. That is something we will be able to find out once we are there for META 2016.

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