6 things I learnt from my recent live stage performance

It was far beyond what I thought I can do. But my recent experimentation with acting on the stage along with professionals taught me a heap of things to be cherished forever.

1.      There is more to life than work

There is always more to life than the usual 9-5 job. Of late, I am dabbling with a few hobbies including poetry, writing books, scribbling my random thoughts in my personal blog and also singing. In all of these, I find great opportunities to destress and unwind. With these, I am expanding my sphere of knowledge in different dimensions and gain an understanding of things beyond my everyday world. Also, I find these hobbies helping greatly in many other ways in my professional life too for example, making a PowerPoint presentation interesting; engaging with the audience using humor while speaking at a conference etc.

2.      Comfort zone sucks

Comfort zone is an amazingly blissful and absolutely peaceful place to be sans surprises, questions and anything unusual. But there, nothing exciting can emerge or thrive. The feeling of butterflies fluttering in my stomach when I try something completely outside of my comfort zone, keeps me on my toes and it gives me an opportunity to experience new things that I would normally avoid. But the rush of adrenaline and the new experiences are priceless.

Age is just a number. It's never too late to try and explore new things in life.

3.      Team play is exciting

Belongingness is a great feeling. It gives us great opportunities to learn from others. My team comprised of some really interesting and capable artists from whom I learnt quite a lot in terms of using the stage space well, pronunciation, body language, using pauses during dialog delivery etc. We did a few of mistakes on the stage while performing but as a team, we managed to support each other and keep the audience interested and engaged.

4.      Being the first choice vs the best choice?

I learnt that I wasn’t the first choice for both the characters I played. And it didn't matter at all. The first character (in the short film) was a chieftain of a gang who brainwashes innocent youth eventually turning them into anti-social elements. The second one was an Aghori (a saint) as we enacted a chapter from an ancient Hindu literature. I did not care whether or not I was the first choice to don these characters. But I wanted to be the “best choice” at the end of the day by contributing my best efforts and I believe I succeeded in creating a lasting impression not only among my team mates but the audience as well.

5.      Winning or losing doesn’t matter

I used to take part in many skits and dramas during my college days but this one was completely different. We, a bunch of impassioned amateurs, were competing with the trained and experienced professionals and theatre artists. Even though our team did not win any prizes, for me it was a matter of personal satisfaction and cherishing an opportunity to explore the unexplored. Participating in the competition itself was a memorable thing for me.

The fact that none in the auditorium was able to recognize me after I removed my Aghori make-up was the most satisfying thing to me.

I felt I got my award when peoples’ eyebrows went up in surprise after learning that it was indeed, me. 

6.      Up my ante, continuously

By competing with the trained professionals and theatre artists, I personally felt the need for improvement for me in all aspects of performing on the stage live. Despite being an amateur, it certainly kindled my passion and interest to learn more and up the ante personally. After all, one must constantly invest in improving his/her knowledge and skills.

Overall, it was an opportunity to reinvent myself in a new form and I wish the journey into unchartered territories continues...