Curtain Call: Fondest memory of theatre experience as an audience
Usually, I remember plays (in theatres) based on their performance. But this was the first time I remembered it for the experience. The discipline that was followed, along with such care for the art made it really special!
With theatres and cinema halls reopening, I hope that the culture of going to watch something resumes as well. Though it is wishful thinking, I hope the culture is much more disciplined. By that, I don’t mean just following Covid protocols (which should be followed by the way) but following certain practices which are even more basic.
Apart from a few venues in India, almost every theatre allows a late entry of audience. Even if it is a disturbance for everyone, especially the live performers. In fact, while directing plays at the commercial level, it is a common practice to not have anything important during the first five minutes of the play and after the interval too because that time is given for the audience to “settle down”! I have always laughed at these suggestions and even tried to restrict entry to latecomers. But so far, it hasn’t worked as the venues don’t follow that policy. I experienced a way around this, and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise!
Two weekends earlier, I had written about the experience of performing at a venue in London’s coveted Westend. We were going to be there for nearly eight days and had some technical and managerial work a few days before the actual show. After a few hours of work, the rest of the day used to be free. I had decided to watch as many plays as I can and had kept a schedule of all the running productions and the venues. My wife had accompanied and we watched a comedy together first, titled “The play that goes wrong”. It was a hilarious play and both of us enjoyed a lot. Fortunately, she agreed to watch more plays too. That approval was important because watching plays there is a very expensive affair, especially because of the exchange rate! And we decided to spend most of our money on plays instead of buying things.
We made a list of plays and ranked them in order of preference. Some were sold out months back, some were too expensive. But we had decided to watch one play daily, come what may and we thoroughly enjoyed watching new plays like “The curious incident of the dog in the night-time” to all-time classics like “The Lion King”.
We had kept the day on which we had our own performance free, of course. Our performance went smoothly. We helped in packing and loading of the set and later, went and had lunch and met with audience members for an informal meet and greet. After all that, we looked at the time and realised that there was a slight possibility that we could watch one more play before coming back to India! I quickly scanned through the nearby theatres and zeroed in on a production of “The comedy about a bank robbery”.
It was being performed by the same group that had performed “The play that goes wrong” and we had heard that even this was a superb comedy. The venue was a kilometre away and we only had a few minutes. We rushed through the crowds, almost running at some points and reached the theatre huffing and puffing. Usually, we used to pre-book the tickets, but for this play we had decided to purchase directly at the box-office.
When we reached, the person at the box-office informed us that the performance had already begun and we were late by three minutes. We cursed our luck and decided to just roam about when the person noticed our disappointment and offered two tickets. But he told us that we will only be able to enter after the first scene gets over, during the blackout.
We agreed, and it seemed fair. To make the experience even sweeter, the person gave us the best seats in the house at half-price! He then gave us brochures of the play which explained what the play is and who the characters are so that we had a fair idea of what must have happened in the first scene.
We were assigned an usher who took us to the door. The usher loved plays too and seeing that we were reading our brochures diligently, he took it upon himself to explain what the first scene is! So, at the door, in a very low voice, he narrated the story of the entire first scene, while we could hear the sounds of the dialogues and the audience laughter from inside. It was a wonderful experience and he was very good at it! He then heard some music and audience applauding and immediately opened the door. He knew the venue really well and guided us to our seats in a flash. He ensured we were comfortable and before the stage lights came on, he had disappeared! The second scene started and it felt like we hadn’t missed anything.
This remains one of my fondest theatre experiences as an audience member. Usually, I remember plays based on their performance. But this was the first time I remembered it for the experience. The discipline that was followed, along with such care for the art made it really special!
Nipun Dharmadhikari is a storyteller and looks forward to telling them on stage, in front of the camera or in person