Gomathi Raveendran – Feedback on Level 1 Workshop (2023/2)
Email – raveendrangomathi@gmail.com
Walking into the interview for an acting workshop — I thought of everything from how it was probably a scam to what if I walked in and I’m immediately told to pretend to be some ridiculous thing and laughed at when I would inevitably do a poor job.
Fast forward to the end of the workshop, I was the one standing in a random shop frantically asking the shopkeeper for any dresses that I can wear that would make me look like an elementary school kid, much to their amusement.
But then, I had no time to care about what they would think.
Joining the acting workshop gave me a glimpse into things that I never got to experience after losing most of my college years to the pandemic.
Here were people, of all stages in life — losing themselves in the art of theatre. I saw polished reserved men bark like dogs, cry like babies and have their hands stuck to themselves by invisible bubblegums.
And I saw genuine people, people willing to go twice the distance out of their way just to make sure you reach home safely. People who swarm around you, hug and comfort you until you forget why you were sad.
At the core of theatre, I saw raw humanity. In the element of my character, I saw the purpose of myself — to let the world know them, to make myself invisible, and be the vessel to the essence of the person I am painting. To hide myself yet open myself up in the most vulnerable way possible to strangers.
You would think with the amount of poetry I’m waxing, that I played a profoundly complex character for an hour in front of proper strangers. However — all I did for the final play was act as a chaotic eight-year-old for about ten minutes in front of people who mostly already knew some of the actors.
Yet, my god was it liberating. I had been searching for this everywhere.
It started when I didn’t know where to begin.
I needed a way to heal myself. Standing at the very beginning of my twenties, I was and still am so terrified.
And I had no way to make sense of all the things moving so fast past my fingers.
I moved to Bangalore, and I signed up for classes after classes — on painting, writing, journaling, and on poetry. Yet this is the one that gave me a glimpse of what I was searching for.
I decided on a whim, that I needed to push myself. And the way I decided to push myself was to learn improv. Or that’s what I thought.
Having no idea about anything theatre or acting, I first stumbled into Vishal’s workshop with only one word in my head. Improv.
No clue what it meant, no clue what it needed. Just that improv is the magical tool that will make me extroverted, give me a sense of purpose and help me make friends.
I’m sure my calling the theatre workshop an improv class grated Vishal’s nerves to a great extent but hey, we all start somewhere right?
As the workshop unfolded, one week at a time, I began to realise this vast world of theatre and how painfully unaware of it I was. I’m sure anyone more aware of the art could tell you how structured the workshop is and how practical and effective it is.
But to me, it was more about how it slowly held my hand and pulled me out of this old clammy shell of insecurity, shame, and anxiety.
It wasn’t that all of those things magically vanished, but it was more that I was able to see myself separately from my fears. Somewhere by the end of the workshop I no longer limited myself within the four walls of what others would think of me.
The fear still existed, but I felt myself move anyways. I felt myself acknowledge the fear and hug them to silence. I was kind to myself.
The fear still existed, but I felt myself move anyways.
I felt myself acknowledge the fear and hug them to silence.
I was kind to myself.
I wanted to write something. In the times when I feel myself changing, where the planks of my being give way to new ones and I question myself as the Greeks did, I go back to writing.
The workshop did something for me that therapy was never able to give.
I feel a sense of fulfilment I’ve never felt for such a long time. The feeling of belonging. On the last day of the workshop, I was overwhelmed with gratitude, a sense of purpose I hadn’t felt in years.
I feel stupid in a way for feeling so many things for a workshop I attended but I no longer tell myself to shut up when I feel that way about things.
I initially began this piece as my review of the workshop, but I doubt this made much sense at all as a good review.
So here’s what I can say for anyone looking for an honest review:
If you’re someone wanting to pursue acting as a career, I don’t have anything to say except that you need to be in this workshop. It’s a hidden gem and if you found your way to it — then hold onto that opportunity of being a part of it. It has and will continue to shape up skilful actors with the meticulous way it is being taught.
It’s a hidden gem and if you found your way to it — then hold onto that opportunity of being a part of it. It has and will continue to shape up skilful actors with the meticulous way it is being taught.
If you are someone like me — introverted, and you want to push yourself and break inhibitions that you never knew you had?
Join a theatre workshop. Preferably Vishal’s because I firmly believe that more than half of the magic is that Vishal is very passionate about the art of acting and theatre, and he teaches it to you with such care that it’s hard to imagine that being the standard experience at any random theatre workshop.
I firmly believe that more than half of the magic is that Vishal is very passionate about the art of acting and theatre and he teaches it to you with such care that it’s hard to imagine that being the standard experience at any random theatre workshop.
Thank you Vishal and the wonderful people I met at this workshop. This was an experience I would keep close to me for years.