THE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF A DRAMATIC PRACTICE
Drama is a human act of a planned action, scripted with verbal and non-verbal dialogue to be practised for staging it live on the stage or screen for the invited spectators in the best ever artistically composed chemistry of human's body, voice and mind with the believed space; the environment, to transfer the sentiment; the Rasa; the Bhava; the emotion, the purity, the nectar, the super taste. Drama is an ancient art which evolved with humans and developed with time in the world to serve the purpose of communication of the complex inner abstract world : experience, emotions, memories, history, the story of a man to another man or society with reference to the physical world; ecological, social, cultural and psychological dimensions. In the theatre, auditoriums, performance area, actors' arena, the sub-area, the location, the portion, the body, the parts, face, ears, lips, eyes all compose itself with a predictable, strong living, active dramatic structure along with the spectators, the sharing partner of the creative space, living every moment to move towards its objectives. The organic bodies mutually enjoy the abstract vibes generated and accelerated to finalise the true meaning as per the best available information. Theatre doesn't believe in the existence of absolute truth. It meant to investigate, reinvent, experience the said truth from a new perspective.
Theatre is an experimental medium which opts for a lined-up process to test the idea of living character/characters in the existing world. The journey of a character has to be ensured with engaging, entertaining elements practised well before sharing with spectators in the common space divided in two areas, the acting area/the stage and the passive area/the spectator sitting area. A theatrical journey for the creative crew starts with the idea of preparing a performance and culminates in a performance before the invited spectators to review. Space where we practice is just like a test tube space where the elements/ matter/substances are composed for a desired result. A performance is an experimental output to be made public. In the practice space, the creative crew; the playwright, director, actor, designer, the technical experts (set, costume, light, sceneographer, choreographer, music director and critic) all contribute to their roles as per final emotional desire. There are fundamental elements which are to be considered for mounting a live and emotive performance. A great Indian theatre treatise, Natyashastra, has formulated the elements of a dramatic art experimental practice.
It is believed that Natyashastra was compiled between 4th Century BCE to 3rd century CE by Bharata. Natyashastra has references to all living dramatic forms, elements and styles that existed in the Indian subcontinent; Jambu dweep. It is still relevant as an organic human practice book to create and achieve the high status of art in literature, fine and performing arts. Drama itself has concern for all subjects and knowledge systems existing in the world. There is nothing in this world beyond the concern of drama.
As per Natyashastra, any production, be it a drama or dance, there are 11 aspects that have to align together for the success of the production.
“Rasa bhavahya abhinayaha
Dharmi vritti pravrittyaha
Sidhi swarasthatha aathodhyam
Ganam rangascha sangrahaa”
Ie; when all these eleven elements; rasa: artistic joy, bhav : the physical expressions of emotions, acting (physical, vocal, the designed elements and psychological gestures), the true or the dramatic objectives, business or skills, nature, the auto of acts, the mastery of the elements. The orals: voices. The accompanists or the orchestra, the songs, the stage come together in harmony and the production will be a great success.
The simple layout of the experimental process to create a dramatic experience on a stage, in a Theatre, begins with the idea of selecting the final joy of the production. A script which may be comedy (feel happy) or tragedy (feel sad). The main sentiment (Rasa) of the play attract the practitioner to select for his creative venture. The writer or team create a character which will be in the state to express the feeling of the emotion in action, expression and dialogue which will be lived; acted by skilled actor. The actor will live his actions with his physical being, the body, its parts and the face, which will mirror/represent his inner self, the psychological being, with the use of communicable language and voices. The actor maintains the social, cultural and individual identity of the character by exploring his costume, props, makeup and properties, the environment, their body and, in their surroundings, location. The aaharya. The actor adapts a particular way to act a character which will be either realistic (like living a natural life) or stylish (living an imaginative formula life). Whatever the style, it must engage spectators. The actor practices to perfect (the siddhi/success). The character expressed with his tuned, clear and emotive voice and actions in a standard, urban or folk style. He should develop fine control over the vocal parts, breathing and reasonators; the inner base/scale within the body. An actor with fine control and use of his body and voice must be supported by the creative audio and visual environment using music and sound effects to enhance the effectiveness of the scene and the action. The music may be created, composed or played using stock creations. A live orchestra always supports the action on stage with its pattern, sound effects, rhythm, pace and speed. Using songs which may express the emotional state of the character, the social comment, the information, the comments on situation and circumstances, the seasonal beauty or the contrast, the change of location and the perspective, etc. You practice emoting the desired rasa (the sentiment) with a plot, a story, a character, an actor, in style, with dialogue and actions, the character and environment business, the orchestra, the music, the songs and the imaginative (realistic/symbolic/fragmented/box/unit/imaginative) as per scene. Whatever you do, do with full conviction, your own truth and emotion, dedicated to the characters' journey to achieve your objective, the final sentiment, through a logically, strongly structured story about science, history or any subject.
Explore the elements of dramatic art in practice and enjoy the success of a performance. It's practice living, practice living and practice living, keep experimenting, recheck....
