Dipna Patel on #WorldTheatreDay: Theatre requires talent and credibility, its teamwork and there is no ego

Dipna Patel started her acting career in Mumbai with theatre. The actor has been performing experimental plays as well as commercial plays in English, Hindi and Gujarati for about seven years now.

“In theatre, you require memory, discipline and practice. Theatre also prepares you to work on your character in every show and get better and better. I enjoy doing the acts at one go on stage as it helps me stay natural and in the emotion for long. Theatre also gives actors the freedom to be spontaneous, improvise based on the audiences’ reaction in that particular moment and also in the story. On stage you have to perform during breaks and cuts so you have to be quick in producing instant emotions on action even in the absence of your co-actor. But once you shoot something it’s for posterity. Theatre requires talent and credibility, its teamwork and there is no ego. All are equal on stage,” she adds.

The advent of OTT and the pandemic has heavily impacted theatre. There is a fear among many that the art form is at risk of losing its relevance.

“I feel both theatre and screen have their own challenges. Theatre has already begun to thrive like before. I just performed in a show yesterday and have three more shows lined up for the weekend. Live performance has its own charm where you can feel the energy, pain, happiness to another extent and there is a give and take between the audience and actors. Touch and smell are two senses that are a part of theatre along with hearing and seeing, like someone cutting an onion or a cake on stage or getting the audience involved in a live show. But, when you are watching a film only two senses are involved,” says the actor, adding that the last play she watched was Catch 22 by Tpot production in Prithvi in 2021.

“I saw a play ‘That Goes Wrong’ while I was in New York, which I liked. There is another production titled Stories In a song, by Sunil Shanbaug and Doll, – directed by Makarand Deshpande that I also enjoyed,” she shares.

Veteran theatre actors like Ashish Vidhyarthi, Shabana Azmi, Anupam Kher are still doing plays, but, according to some, most of the current actors have no interest in doing theatre.

“Current actors might not be interested in plays because they want instant results. You shoot for an ad for a day and it’s done. You shoot for a film for 30 days and it’s done and you move on to the next project. But in theatre, you need more time. It is only about honing your skills and becoming a better performer and requires way more effort, hard work and consistency to put up the opening show and requires rehearsals before every show. It’s a beautiful journey where you get to develop your character over a period of five years or more and you change as a person and performer and bring in more and more to that character. It requires patience and commitment. It also helps in better understanding of literature and studying a script and character in depth. On a set if you aren’t available sometimes they use your body double but on stage, you have to be present or the show can’t happen. There are no cuts in theatre, you don’t get to rest unless everything is over,” she explains.

Dipna’s play MayDay, which has been running since 2016, has a show soon. She plays the role of a pilot in it. It’s a farcical musical based on a true incident of a Mh17 being shot down on the Ukraine border.

“The second play in the offing is a monologue performance called ‘Khushiya’ where I play the character of a prostitute and narrating the story of another prostitute while getting ready on stage. It’s written by Saadat Hasan Manto. The third one is a children’s play called ‘Exchange Student’ that in coming May has two shows in NCPA, I play the character of a mother and a Marathi Hawaldar in it. Also, in April I am performing in ” Ballad of Desires”- Mayur Puri’s production- Story circus

Theatre is enjoyable because with every show you can feel the difference as a performer. You are in control when you are performing and make small changes according to the audience reaction unlike a TV show or film. I also sing and dance in my plays along with acting, which I really enjoy and completely get immersed in the emotion,” she says.