KOCHI: The image that is conjured in the mind of a person when he or she hears the term ‘play’, ‘skit’ or ‘drama’ is of a well-scripted stage performance presented by professional actors. However, theatre is not all about script and professional actors. Even novices can perform with a finesse. This is where improvisation theatre and Manoj Siva come in.
Siva, who is a lawyer by profession and a tabla player, has carved out a niche for himself in the London theatre circuit through his plays which most of the time don’t have any established actors.
“The plays were made up right at the moment. These plays don’t have a script but are arrived at via a series of games or dialogues,” he said.
“But the point to be noted is that even though the play develops right on the stage it does have a structure. A topic or theme is taken, a location is found out, characters are brought in, an issue is taken up, a conflict comes up and finally a solution is arrived at,” said Siva. Everything happens without a prescribed script.
“The improvisation theatre doesn’t need a huge cash inflow for production since neither sets are required nor you have any professional actors.
The group which presents the play comprises people from the different diaspora. So, you have people from different backgrounds coming together talking out the issues and mingling. The end result is a team that has achieved a comfortable personal relationship,” he said.
The only thing that affects this sort of theatre is lack of time. “Since the actors come in from different professions, time becomes a matter of constraint. And this, in turn, affects the frequency of production,” he said.
In this era, where conversations don’t happen and nearly everyone is under pressure, improvisation theatre can help a lot,” he said.
It has been used by psychologists to gain insight into a person’s thoughts, feelings and relationships.
“It can be used in classrooms as an educational tool and in businesses as a way to develop communication skills, creative problem solving and supportive team-work abilities. People develop a capacity to listen to others. Something which is lacking today,” he said. Siva said he is not aware of the presence of such form of a theatre in Kerala.
Manoj Sivan, who hails from a family that has been into theatre, will be conducting a workshop titled ‘Improvised Acting’ at Kannamoola Kalam in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm.