HYDERABAD: History has records of artists losing their mind or committing suicide. We have classic examples of Vincent Van Gogh and Virginia Woolf. But now with the pressure to perform on stage several artistes feel the immense pressure to give their best and despite their comfort level to be in front of a crowd they continuously feel that each time has to be their best time. Does that mean that the best is the enemy of good? Or has a commercially-oriented audience is so demanding that it fails to accept an artiste as a human?
It was shocking to see comedian Manjunath Naidu aka Mango die on stage during a stand-up performance in Dubai a few days ago. This has sparked debates given the artiste of Indian origin died of cardiac arrest.
A few months ago, in London a 60-year-old comedian Ian Cognito died on the stage joking about death. Mindru Katz, 52, a classical pianist of Romanian-Israeli origin, collapsed on stage while he was playing Beethoven’s Sonata No. 17. Magician PC Sorcar Sr., aged 57, died of heart attack after he finished performing to a live audience in Hokkaido, Japan. What makes Manju’s death more shocking that he was just 36 years old. One international publication goes on debating that people from the Subcontinent are more prone to heart diseases citing certain reports blaming it on sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy eating habits, lack of exercise and overdose of stress.
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While these factors can’t be overlooked, there’s more to an artiste dying so young that also while performing, a vocation that defined him. Says Alick Bailey, a 33-year-old artiste in Hyderabad who travels extensively for his shows, “There are two aspects to it. 1. the pressure to deliver your best all the time, 2. good artistes are always depressed. When artistes go on the stage they get a high kick of adrenaline, which is an emergency hormone.” To this adds Dr. Padmavati, clinical psychologist in the city, “Too much of this hormone exposes the mind and body to higher risks and isn’t good for overall health.”
Coming to the second part of his argument Alick, adds, “If you look at the history of the lives of artists, many of them have led depressed lives, have died early or committed suicide.” But is it related to performance arts only? Replies Alick, who is also a poet, “Not necessarily. Given the changing times even writers have to come on the stage for talks/panel discussions/debates live interviews or just to read from their books. This results in immense pressure as those in the creative fields deal with higher levels of stress given they are too self-critical.” And no he’s not talking about the ones who come on stage just to hog the limelight. Manju had performances which were brilliant and it could be a possibility that the constant critic inside the artiste told him that ‘this’ show is good but not that great. To this Subhash Gupta, a senior theatre actor and play director, adds, “Sometimes lifestyle changes also get affected due to success which can include drinking and keeping late nights. If one hasn’t slept well, definitely it shows up the next day and affects the performance. Another factor is that it’s a new audience each time you perform in a new city and you can’t expect their reactions to be the same what you received the last time. An artiste has to handle himself/herself carefully to survive life and carry forward the art.”
The writer can be contacted at saima@newindianexpress
Twitter- @Sfreen