Ishwak Singh likes to stay connected to his theatre roots; calls the stage training ‘fodder’ for an artiste

Actor Ishwak Singh takes a break to reconnect with his theatre roots, stating that his journey on stage taught him discipline and helped him tackle different situations. He recently visited his Asmita Group in Delhi, where he received his first professional training in acting. Singh believes that being on stage is liberating and continues to look for opportunities to perform in front of a live audience. He also acknowledges the struggle traditional theatre faces in India due to a lack of auditoriums.

Recently, Ishwak Singh took a short break to reconnect with his theatre roots, and admits that his journey on the stage has taught him how to be a disciplined actor, and ensures he takes some time out to stay connected to it in some way.

Ishwak Singh recently reunited with his acting alma mater, Asmita group, a theatre group from Delhi

Last month, the actor took a break from his work schedule to go to Delhi and meet people from his Asmita Group, where his first set of professional training in acting started.

“Theatre is very important. The discipline that I have learnt and developed is from working on stage which was quite some time ago. Back in the day, when I was actively doing plays, I understood a lot of things about acting, which I continue to implement and practice. It has helped me tackle different situations, schedules and enabled me to collaborate with different directors,” Singh says.

Opening up about meeting his theatre group, he says, “Working on stage is a huge privilege and I did that for over 8 years. It’s where I found my voice. The group does meaningful plays, socio political theatre that gave me an insight into various aspects of performance, process and helped me get the discipline and mindset that an actor needs”.

In fact, he is always on a lookout for a chance to be back on stage performing in front of the live audience.

“Had the pandemic not happened, I would have definitely done a bunch of plays all this while, but I have been very busy with my shoots in the last two years. I like to reconnect with theatre. It is not just performance theatre but a discipline,” says the actor, who was last seen in the second season of Rocket Boys.

He feels being on stage is liberating, as he says, “There is something magical about performing in front of a live audience. There are opportunities to break the fourth wall and interact with the audience. Sometimes we forget about all those, sometimes we interact.. It teaches you to being completely solitary while you are surrounded by people, at the same time, captivating and engaging with all of them”.

Here, the actor asserts that the traditional theatre continues to struggle in India as “there are not too many auditoriums”. “Hats off to the groups who swim against the tide, find opportunities and way to perform and bring stories to audiences,” he signs off.