BENGALURU: Indian audience understand humour in the play better than the British audience, says theatre actor Robert Powman. Robert recalls staging the play in Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata and says, "I was in India 20 years ago to perform the play Comedy of Errors with the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was interesting to note that the Indian audience understood the language better than the audience in Britain."
In his upcoming play 'Diary of a Madman', Robert plays the role of a civil servant of Russian bureaucracy. "He's frustrated with his life as a low rank of civil servant. He falls in in love with someone out of his reach, socially. He starts fantasizing about a relationship with her, only to realise that in the desperate need to be with this girl, he stumbles upon the fact that he is the king of Spain," he says. The play is adapted from Nikolai Gogol's novel of the same name. The 54-year-old actor says he interacted with his friend who is suffering from bipolar disorder and a few groups that work with them in Wales. "The focus of the drama is not the mental illness but the situations in the life of this person. It's a nice experience to play him. It's like a roller coaster ride of the person who goes through various emotions in his life," he adds. Though he plays the role of a person with bipolar disorder, he says it has only helped him understand himself better. "It is making me more aware of my own behaviour. I know why I get upset so often. My friend saw the play in Edinburgh and asked how am I doing, I said I am fine." Once he is off the stage, he gets on with his life. "So, it hasn't affected me negatively."
Robert has been into theatre for more than three decades. He says, "Acting is like stand-up comedy. It lives and dies in the moment. If you are not being true to your act, the audience will know and you might lose them for a bit."
Diary of a Madman is directed by Sinead Rushe. Robert says, "Though the play was written in the 19th Century, it still holds relevance. We can relate to the concepts such as ambition, family and nepotism that exists even today." He adds that they have used a few techniques of Michael Chekhov, Russian-American actor, director, author, and theatre practitioner, in the adaptations.The play is being presented by QTP India and Living Pictures on November 26 at Rangashankara, JP Nagar at 3.30 and 7.30 pm.