• Dr. Sanjay S. Patil
Head & Associate prof.
Detp of Dramatics
INDIAN METHOD IN ACTING
Prasanna
• A Game of Falsehood.
• Theater is not real.
• Nothing that happens on the stage is real.
• In this sense theater is unreal.
• Perception on stage and reality off stage have no
connection whatsoever.
• Every thing on stage is made up, make-belief.
BECAUSE THEATER IS A GAME
• Theater is an extraordinary, unique game that
used falsehood as its base.
• However falsehood is not its intent. That is the
beauty of the game.
• The intention of theme is indeed the opposite of
falsehood. it is a search for truth.
• The false base is a technique employed in theater.
If you do not use a false base, the truth will not
come out.
• The aim of even realistic theater is to realize truth.
A delightful game of duplicity
• Theater is a game
• If it is played by rules – if it is performed on
the stage before an audience
• Theater is the opposite of real life.
• Theater is a game to be played and enjoyed.
Like a Lotus Flower
• Relationship between theater and falsehood – it is similar to
the relationship between a lotus flower and the slush from
which it rises. While the lotus flower is beautiful, the slush
is dirty. Ad yet they are inseparably connected to each other.
• Just as the lotus flower is the pinnacle of glory for the lotus
plant, so is the realization of truth the pinnacle of a glory
for a stage performance.
• You could say, truthful communication is the basic purpose
of theater.
• The fundamental purpose of theater is simply to
communicate truthfully, and that too in a playful manner.
Truth and Reality
• Reality is not truth, it is, in fact the main obstacle to
understand the truth. The problem with reality is that it
does not let us see beyond it. Reality and truth are
closely related but are not the same.
• Truth is not tangible, where as reality is. Reality can be
felt, touched and experienced . It can be measured. So
much so that we think we understand the truth of
matter. But we understand matter only as a matter. And
that too, partially. The Perception of reality is always
partial.
• Truth is like the moon; it can not be fully realized in
reality alone.
A transcendental process
• We cannot easily transcend the real world in
theater, we create an unreal world on stage; we
create a story. As actors, we occupy a fictional
world as fictional characters and thus attempt to
indirectly realize the true nature of this world.
That is theater.
• Theater is transcendental – just like experiencing
god is transcendental.
• Theater when it is done well, definitely has a
transcendental quality.