BENGALURU: What if you saw a situation from your life on stage? Would you view it with the same lens or would it give you a new perspective? Rajesh PI, founder of The Actors Collective, would say both can happen. Now, you can experience this on May 31, when the online version of ‘Playback Diaries’ is held. “It’s an intimate theatre setting where an audience-member shares a real-life incident and chooses a set of trained actors to play themselves and the other crucial parts in their story,” says Rajesh about the 90-minute session which will be held on Zoom. Audience members can unmute, share their stories and then sit back and watch it come to life through theatre that is “spontaneous and gripping”.
He adds, “And as your story is performed for you, you get to watch it from a different perspective and thereby draw more empowering lessons from this re-enactment.” The four actors are Anshul Jhambani, Deepika Murthy, Jatin Vakharia and Siddarth Chaitanya. Honey Raza will handle the function of the Zoom as host, while Rajesh will conduct the performance.
While you would imagine that a session like this will bring up stories on coronavirus and its consequences, Rajesh points out that this was the case when they started the series at the beginning of the lockdown. However, people have now started sharing ‘everyday stories’. “Initially, it was all about being trapped and a fear of losing personal power. But down, it’s sometimes lighter daily scenarios or some personal issues,” he says.
Rajesh, who was one of the pioneers in the city to practise this form of theatre in early 2000s, was fascinated by the form, when he was trained by those from Australia and New Zealand. “The idea of no costumes, no costs, no script was in contrast to mainstream theatre. There’s also no three-month preparation and learning of dialogues. Here, it’s spontaneous with the audience deciding the character you will play – the protagonist or the villain,” he says, adding that he understands that this form of theatre is not everyone’s cup of tea.
While Rajesh was initially hesitant to go the digital way, although it was suggested to him years ago, the lockdown necessitated this action. “Something like this requires a human connect. After all, they are stories of real people,” he says. The 90-minute performance, in association with Lahe Lahe, will be held on May 31. Tickets available on Insider, Townscript or DM 9886294444. Upon registering you will receive the Zoom ID and password.