Thrill of stage beckons prodigious performer Divya Seth Shah
A chance to work abroad would definitely shake up things a bit, push me out of a familiar groove—absolutely necessary for growth, says Shah
It’s a chilly, but cheerful morning at the Watford Palace Theatre in Watford, England—a pleasant time of the year. Divya Seth Shah cuts a chic figure in her gorgeous woollies—along with the rest of the cast—an eclectic mix of British Asian actors—rehearsing for their forthcoming play “Happy Birthday Sunita”.
“Tickets for opening night are sold out,” she exhales amidst sips of hot coffee, her beautiful brown eyes sparkling. “Talk about actively manifesting dreams!”
To go back just a little bit in time—New Year’s Eve 2022—Divya had a clear bucket list of what she wanted to achieve in 2023. “I had just wrapped up the shoot for “Vaccine Wars” and was ready for something new, something more,” she shares. “I have been working for 40 years. Been there, done that…so, a chance to work abroad would definitely shake up things a bit, push me out of a familiar groove—absolutely necessary for growth.”
Less than a month later, she had been heard. “Two friends of mine, Nandini Srikent and Karan Mally—casting agents both—called me up to inform me that there was a play being put up by the UK-based theatre company Rifco,” she smiles.
“The operative verb being inform—for they didn’t really think I would be willing to leave Pune to work and live abroad for three months...I was like waitaminute! Says who??”
Before anyone knew it, everything fell in place—“like ducks in a row”—and there she was—all packed and set to go. “What makes things all the more exciting is that it is a beautifully written play with highs and lows that engage the viewers. I play Tejpal a member of a big fat Punjabi family with its own share of secrets. The part is exciting and what’s even more so, is that theatre in the UK is approached ever so professionally,” she says.
“Happy Birthday Sunita” is directed by Pravesh Kumar, produced by George Warren and presented by Rifco. “After our performance in Watford, we are in for a hectic two-month tour of the UK,” she says. “And it’s not just the Asian audiences who come in, but the whites as well.” Clearly, there’s much to be said for the wide embrace of a well-produced play.
So how does this experience compare with her experiences in theatre thus far?
“The theatre scene back home has some distance to travel. Not in terms of the stories or the music or the pageantry—oh no—we have a veritable treasure trove of beautiful and diverse theatrical traditions to choose from,” she says thoughtfully. “But, it must be approached more professionally in terms of paying all those involved from the playwright to the production manager and the actors. Promoting art becomes that much more meaningful when artistes are paid decently for their time and talent…and today, it is possible to accord the stage its due respect. There are lovely casting agents out there to help put things together, plus there is awareness about what goes into a live performance without retakes.” Best of all, there’s the exhilaration of the instantaneous feedback from the audience—the ultimate high for an actor.
Growing up as the celebrated actor Sushma Seth’s daughter, acting was a passion she discovered early. “I never wanted to be anything else other than an actor,” she reminisces. “As a child, I would be busy crying in front of the mirror to see how I looked--the inherent curiosity of the budding actor, so to speak. It helped that my mother had a theatre group called Children’s Creative Theatre.”
Goes without saying, the stage was an important part of her world.
However, despite being rooted in the theatre of singular icons such as Pearl Padamsee and Barry John’s Theatre Action Group aka TAG, Divya’s break from theatre would be long.
As many know, her first forays on TV go back to the iconic 1984 Doordarshan serial “Hum Log” where she memorably played the middle sister of the family—Majhli.
With the TV scene taking off in the early 90s—to say nothing of Divya making a mark with wonderfully enacted parts in serials like “Banegi Apni Baat” and “Daraar”—there was just no way she could make time for theatre. “I mean, have you seen the Mumbai traffic? By the time you get to rehearsal at the end of a hard day’s shoot, you are dead. I had signed for Alyque Padamsee’s play, but was forced to drop out,” she says. “So, yes, it’s been a while indeed. My last outing on stage was with Pearl Padamsee’s “Small Family Business”.
While it’s going to be an eventful year for Divya with Nagesh Kumar’s “City of Dreams”, Zee 5’s “Duranga” and Vivek Agnihotri’s “Vaccine Wars” ready for release, she hopes “Happy Birthday Sunita” shall open up some exciting new doors.
Manifesting dreams, anyone?