Sai Padmesh – Feedback on Level 1 Workshop (2024/1)
Email – saipadmesh@gmail.com
I joined Vishal Nayer’s acting workshop not in hopes of becoming a full time actor, but rather use theatre as a medium to get over my nervousness, stage fright and fear of judgement. And I gotta say, this was probably the best decision I’ve ever made. This workshop was truly a journey of self reflection while learning how much passion and effort goes into the art of acting, with the help of a great mentor like Vishal and the best set of batch mates I could have ever asked for.
Vishal as an instructor is phenomenal. Be it the insightful theory classes or the really fun activities, every single class he takes is sort of a theatre performance in itself and he grabs the audience’s attention like no one else can. He moves and speaks with such passion that it becomes contagious to anyone who is paying attention. With Vishal you don’t just get a great teacher, you get a friend, a brother who is there for you and guides you through your journey in the craft. This is complimented by his strict but sincere ethics and morals, his eagerness to understand every single student, and his adaptiveness, which all emphasize his character not just as a great teacher, but also a genuinely good human being.
He adapts and responds to every student’s needs, and also adapts to rectify minor issues of one class in the next. What more can a student ask for, than a teacher who respects you, and is willing to show vulnerability irrespective of age difference and experience level.
Of course I can’t talk about Vishal without thanking Mr. Ratan Thakore Grant, who we all lovingly call as Baba. Even though many of us have not seen him, his presence is always felt in the class. It is such a poetic example of how humans live through the art they create, and in this case, how Baba lives through all the people he has ever taught, especially Vishal. Baba is a major reason why Vishal conducts this workshop in its current form. The effort and time put into each iteration of the workshop is a key reason why the syllabus is well structured, easy to understand, and why it covers a wide range of topics related to acting all while feeling fun to learn and not boring.
The course starts with the absolute basics of acting, and then builds up on them iteratively as each week passes.
As the classes get more complex, the basics are never forgotten. This helps in creating a syllabus which is uncluttered and simple to understand and practice. The usage of fun activities, multiple improvisation sessions, and examples from movies reinforces the theory lessons in your head and personally, I will probably never forget some of the lessons I learnt here. The best lessons in my opinion were the ones which apply not just in acting, but also in real life. For example, in one class, we learnt how our voice and body language convey part of the character we’re playing. As a person with below average self esteem, my body language and voice usually convey low confidence. Learning and understanding that the key to play a good character is to be constantly aware of what you are conveying to the audience, is something I can use in real life scenarios to overcome my nervousness.
All the lessons I learnt as part of the workshop culminated to form the grading play in the last week of the workshop. The batch was split into groups of three or four, with a mentor assigned to each group who refined the plot and pushed …
every actor to create a character which is as well refined as possible in a week of rehearsals. More than the technicalities of theatre, in the last week I learnt the value of trust in acting. I learnt to trust my director past my self doubts, to push myself to create a ‘fun to watch’ character. I learnt to trust my co-actors to work with my flaws and cover up my mistakes by improvising, and also to trust me to do the same for them. And most importantly, I learnt to trust the process and not let my stage fear take over during the final play. It was emotionally touching to see the entire batch come together with the one single goal of making the play a success, which showed each and every actor’s teamworking spirit and dedication to the craft of acting.
More than just the workshop and its syllabus, Baba and Vishal have also managed to form a great community of actors, directors, teachers and people passionate about theatre, film and acting. Every senior member of the community is helpful, friendly and understanding. I had the opportunity to not just work with experts in the field, but also genuinely good natured people.
On that note, I also can’t express enough gratitude for my batch as a whole. Irrespective of why they want to pursue acting, their passion for the craft and their constant desire to improve was very inspiring to watch and be a part of. Each person in the batch has a unique talent related to acting, but throughout the workshop, they’ve worked their way to improve every aspect related to acting, without only relying on their existing talent. Just before the final play, when all students of the batch were getting into character, I was feeling a sense of pride in seeing how much the entire batch had grown through the workshop, and I was glad that I got to be part of this batch and this community.
Personally, the workshop has been an emotional and fulfilling journey. As I mentioned in the beginning, I joined the workshop with the hopes that it would help me with my self conscious behaviour, and it did. But it also did something more. It opened my mind and introduced it to this beautiful art form which I have become passionate towards. I may not become a full time actor, but as long as I do act, I will always work on doing justice to the craft. This community and this workshop has been a major reason for this new found respect and passion for the craft of acting, and I hope that the people with doubts about the workshop reading this review proceed to join without hesitation for the next L1 batch, so that they can experience this journey and become part of this beautiful community.