It is World Theatre Day today and writer Augusto Boal’s words, we must all do theatre to find out who we are, and to discover who we could become, truly bring out the emotions of millions of theatre artists across the world.

The theatre personalities that the world associates Indian Theatre with are Naseerudin Shah, Vijay Tendulkar, Rathna Pathak, Seema Dattani… and the list goes on. But ask the contemporary directors, Rajat Kapoor, Atul Kumar, Sunil Shanbaug, and they’ll introduce you to the young theatre talent that India houses. One amongst whom is actor-singer Mansi Multani, who has done over 550 shows on stage.

Known for plays like Piya Behrupiya, Stories in a Song, and What is Done is Done, for Mansi, it is hard to differentiate theatre as a vocation or job, as she says it has been far too intimately enmeshed in her journey as a human being.

In an article for The Quint, Mansi wrote, “Theatre has influenced my thought process, my interaction with the world at large and my belief in modes of expression being the most powerful vehicles for change. It has allowed me to dig deeper in order to understand human nature, why we do what we do and how to view those doings with as little judgement as possible. In a nutshell, theatre has given me a window into community living, community loving and community learning.”

Recalling the rehearsals of Piyu Behrupiya, a Bollywood-meets-Shakespeare musical adaption of Twelfth Night, which was directed by Atul Kumar, Mansi expressed, “One afternoon during our first few days of Piya, I remember our director Atul Kumar telling us, “If you don’t find synergy and chemistry and fun amongst yourselves, how will it ever permeate the audience?” We were nine actors and three musicians, all relatively unknown to each other. After the audition rounds in Bombay had finished and we had been selected, we were made to take a dive into a month-long residency at his space in Kamshet.”

A first of its kind of an experience for Mansi, she referred to it as daunting. “Atul’s prowess as a director lies in tangential explorations outside of the script and here we were, tackling the master himself – William Shakespeare and his Twelfth Night. I remember with each passing day, I was slowly starting to let down my guard and understanding the lack of shame it requires to truly experiment through trial and error. There is no place for egos, and the fear of making a fool of yourself must be dispensed with right from the beginning, or there will be no moving forward.”

And speaking of the one evening when she’d almost come close to a breakdown, she quoted Atul’s words, “this anxiety you are carrying – it’s fabulous. Something will come out of it”. Looking at the actors who had graduated from NSD, she had been feeling like she had just joined school. “I remember often indulging in self-flagellation whilst watching them find their characters much before I did. But from then on, I learnt how to make failure and anxiety my friends. And most importantly I looked up to those around me who were constantly at it and so I too, relentlessly kept at it. And suddenly, after accepting the push and pull it was going to take, it happened. I found my clown.”

But it made her understand the beauty of a rehearsal process, and of its dynamic nature. Describing that feeling of tangible change within, she said, “I can still never point a finger on what exactly it was other than a culmination of it all. However, this experience holds greater gravitas for me when I look back at it because it undid me in all other aspects of my life.”

For Mansi, the experience of watching a good play is equitable to the feeling of a hug. “Finding an authenticity in an emotion on stage connects me to my inner authenticity, in life. Knowing that we can invoke truth together as a cast helps me reach for it in my relationships. And if a mistake on stage can lead to a spontaneous new reaction, it helps me embrace mistakes in life as a means to growth rather than terming them as failed attempts. Key word here being ‘helps’. These are all difficult things to achieve but having a profession that provides such direction is such a source of light.” Saying yes during an improvisation has taught the young artist to say yes to life.

H/T : The Quint