An Actor Expedition to Improvisation, Transformation and Realization of a Character...

Brecht says “seducing the audience in to believing they were watching real life. Actors wanted a balance between “being” their character on stage and “showing the audience that the character is being performed”, the use of quotable gesture”, the sudden shift from one behaviour to another to put the audience off-balance.”

As an actor I believe every character created must been existed or will exist or has a real-life resemblance. This writing is an experience of developing a character for the play Nagamandal written by Girish Kharnad , Designed and Directed By Noushad Muhammad Kunju.

• How a modern performer can portray a mythical or a spiritual body! The entire idea of developing Naga started from this curiosity.

• If a individual actor put himself in a fictional or symbolic or a space resembles mystical and ceremonial, how personal associations lead the actor to score gesture’s, movement’s, pattern’s, thought’s, emotion's, mood, etc. to develop the character.

Phase one: Developing Character - Improvising / Imitating Ritual (spiritual body)

The process started from realistic exploration. which actor improvised/ imitated the idea of worship / rituals; which he seen or influenced. The experience was very meditative in very sensitive nature, and vulnerable to watch. Kind of mental space were everything is aware but not bothering towards any consequence, everything is happening with immense belief and out of curiosity to understand where it will take me!

Phase Two: Developing Character - Personal / Individual Body to Performer Body

This was a whole experience as an actor. The goal for second stage was to recreate the experience I had from the realistic exploration, Negating all the ceremonial elements. And exploring Actor Body; in a empty space. I was Being Moved, there was this sensation in my body floating everywhere and my nerves system was moving along with it. a complete transformation, an expedition to a new existence with in me.

Phase Three: Realization (Character Body)

Finally playing the character was making me understand the power of theatre to liberate mankind in its true essence. the experience was both psychological and biological. Once i found the juxtapose between me as person, performer and the character every revelation after that become something new and exciting; every action, gesture, movement on stage become for not to show but rather its becoming the necessity of the individual. it was fascinating to experience that the nature or the environment, or a small plant, its flower and its smell becoming an actor metaphor to associate with the character and the play.

Finding a negotiation between the actor and the character through real performance, and recreating performance actions; On stage actor showing “being” which he experienced in real. Achieving a grounded per-formative body to enact the character; at the same time not away from the Individual Actor. Actor is playing himself and the character at a same time. The both actor body and character body inter playing. it was unpredictable some time to differentiate.

There is this general notion often says the actor should not be the spectator of himself and i totally reject this. Once i was really found the roots and wings of the character it was fun to allow this existence and its conscious as a character to play as it is , the character is crying, smiling having all its pain which is real, which means all this biologically i am experiencing. But there was this greater ego a divine sense observing and being aware and enjoying with in me. This was kind of split nature in me. kind of three individual conscious at one body at same time! believable or not , human experience goes sometime beyond normal notion.

Most of the time it's hard to convince someone about your experience. But we as a performer every time must go with full conviction. Allowing impulses moves us, giving trust our intuition will lead us. And we must believe in our own experiences. It's necessary and we all must be kind enough to allow each other to be vulnerable. It will feed your senses, and will open a new realm for creation and experience.

thank you...