As curtains rise and lights dim, audiences are transported into worlds of imagination, laughter, and reflection, reminding us of the enduring power of live performance to inspire, provoke, and unite communities. This ability of theatre to transcend boundaries, languages, and ideologies, getting people together from diverse backgrounds in a shared experience, is being celebrated today (March 27).

World Theatre Day reminds us of the universal human need for storytelling, empathy, and connection, emphasizing the enduring relevance of live performance in an increasingly digital world. We got together actor-theatre director Lillette Dubey, actor-director-playwright Makarand Deshpande, and actor Pratik Gandhi over to Prithvi Theatre, for a candid conversation all about stagecraft.

Lillette: I started staging plays when I was in school, and was reminded of that by my old neighbour, whom I met on a plane recently. She told me that I’d hold these solo shows, with music et al, when I was 9 or 10! Our house in Delhi’s South Extension had a big terrace, where I’d call neighbourhood children to watch. This lady also told me that I used to take 10 paisa or 20 paisa fee (laughing!) for the show. I’d make my siblings hold a white sheet like a curtain. I was a clever producer-actor (laughs!) even as a kid!

Makarand: As a young boy I remember watching my brother on stage. It was a folk musical and when it would come to an end, mujhe lagta thaa ki yeh kabhie khatam nahi hona chahiye! I loved it. As a child, theatre was full of happy memories, when I grew up and saw theatre is about tragedies, I was shocked!

Pratik: My first ever memory of theatre was when I stepped on stage in school, in the 4th -5th standard. Once a month, the whole school would meet at the auditorium, and you were supposed to perform. I made a skit of five minutes and the moment I performed; people laughed at the right places where I was wanting them to. And that was magic for me. Maine kisi to bola nahi tha kahan hasna hai. That was my first strongest memory – theatre is magic. And ever since that day, I always wanted to be on stage.

Lillette: I’ve done theatre now for, even though it makes me sound like a fossil, more than 50 years. I’ve learned to strike back and not get thrown off by extremes – whether there is extreme laughter, extreme responses, extreme chatting, or extreme silence by a detached audience. I’ve learnt to deal with them. But even the most experienced actor would be lying if he said that audience response means nothing to them. I may not react to it and may have learned to override it with experience, but audience response does make a difference. Without an audience there is no theatre. Since it is a shared experience, the energy interflow is crucial. Only an actor on stage will know what it is and why is it so heady. It is also the reason why some of us mad people still keep doing theatre despite the limitations!

Makarand: It's deceptive. A 6 o’clock show gets a standing ovation, but the 9 o’clock show, with the same everything, gets nothing. And then the doubt comes in, ‘Am I not performing well?’ So yes, audience response definitely affects your performance immediately. Priming the audience can help to get better responses, so I talk to them before I begin. There are also some audiences who behave in a particular manner. You will get guffaws in Mumbai, but a Pune audience might just smirk at the same lines.

Pratik: In cinema, the teaser, trailer, poster does all the work of priming the audience, but theatre doesn’t have that. It is one place where the constant reaction of the audience helps you to overcome your own ego. I thought I’d get audience laughter here, I got it for 25 shows, why didn’t I get that for this show? Theatre over a period of time teaches you to overcome your ego. It is about playing second by second. If an accident of one second lingers on, you can ruin the whole play. That discipline, the ego fight is what you deal with on stage. Over the years, audience reaction stops bothering you too much as you learn how to gauge them.

Makarand: My guru late Mahendra Joshi contributed immensely to Gujarati theatre. And when I started directing, he came for my first show. He saw that my lightman wasn’t there and offered to do them. I was overwhelmed. During the show he saw us improvising on stage and said, ‘Mac, improvise karega na toh main blackout kar doonga’. Only he could say that, and he actually did it! I feel so good remembering him. Once Gulzar saab came searching for me backstage and just gave me a long hug. That was enough. 

Lillette: Making Jaya! I revived it after 26 years, a rock musical on the Mahabharat, with kathak and kalarippayattu. It’s a fond memory because it is one of my most difficult and challenging plays. Secondly, I was scared because Mahabharat toh sab jaante hai. But one of the biggest compliments I received for it came from people who knew the Mahabharat. They said, “Wow. This is such a different way of looking at it because it's contemporary, English, and has a rock band.”

Pratik: I tend to think objectively about my performance, and I become my own audience. The continuous thought in my mind is that whatever I am performing is it reaching my audience, in what best possible way should I reach out to them with this line or dialogue. I know that the one word I said, I will get a pay off in 15 minutes. Dimag mein yeh chalta hain ki yeh audience ko clearly pata chale. At that point there are two people inside me – the character I am playing and me. On stage though it is all one unit.

Lillette: Everyone’s nightmare is only one – what if I forget my lines and go blank, what will I do? At such times, you need experience to find a way to come back. The other nightmare is your co-actor also forgetting his lines. People have forgotten their lines and gone to Act 2 in the middle of a scene of Act 1. The whole play of the first half is gone. That again has to do with the craziness of that theatre - the live aspect of it. It is one of the scariest live performing arts mediums.

Makarand: I feel that going blank on stage is not as scary as going off-timing. Theatre is not like stand up comedy, here you have situations, and the timing is crucial.

Lillette: A lot! Not just as a fraternity, but because theatre is still acknowledged as an important part of our cultural landscape, especially with the emergence of multiple forms of entertainment and storytelling around us. It is still valued as one of the most important parts of the performing arts. Days like this highlight the fact that theatre is an integral part of our culture, about our being, the need to tell stories and share experiences. It is a huge part of being human. Togetherness is the foundation of it. Theatre brings joy, it sometimes reveals things we have not thought about. The most beautiful thing about theatre is the collective experience. And by celebrating World Theatre Day, you are putting the spotlight on the significance of theatre in our lives. And it is very important to us that the world acknowledges this.

Pratik: The thought that theatre ek gareeb medium hai should change. I feel that in this world of technology, the value of the real world will increase. If you are buying a 500 rs ka ticket for a film today, mujhe nahi lagta hai ki who din door hai jab aap 2500 ki ticket deke, live theatre dekhne aaoge. When you buy an artisanal chocolate, you pay hundreds more – theatre has to be that exclusive because only theatre and this live medium can give you that exclusive experience. In films everything is virtual, there is AI. Watching theatre once a week can be way more enriching.

Makarand: One day is not enough. Every week we should have one theatre day. The valuation of this real, live performance has to go up.

Lillette: In cinema, the director's vision is clear only to the director. It's not democratic. We don't sit and discuss. Nowadays, we do have readings, but only the director knows the tone of the film, the sur, the look of it, the sensibility of it. And you are just one part of the project, unaware of the whole picture. That is why even good actors sometimes don’t perform well in a film. Because they don't know and can't judge the entire picture.

Makarand: In cinema, the actor has no control. You are probably giving the best performance of your life when you hear a ‘cut’ from the director because maybe the camera angle was wrong or a picture in the background was not straight! In cinema the actor only gets to see the married print (audio and video is together). But in theatre there is a grand rehearsal where the actor knows when the music beings, when the light switches off and when another actor comes in. In cinema you don’t know anything when shooting. We are totally in the hands of too many processes. I feel a theatre actor is far more literate than anyone. Theatre and cinema cannot be compared. Theatre is thousands of years old and cinema is too young a medium to compete. Yes, the technology can compete but not the essence of theatre.

Pratik: A theatre actor can stand at a place and say this is England and people will believe it. Theatre make-belief ka sabse strongest medium hai. As actors, we don’t have much control when it comes to films and TV. Theatre with all the kind of freedom it gives an artiste, it also makes you ready, for that responsibility. I know that I have no one to stop me once I am on stage, but I should know when to stop, know how much to do. Bahut taaliya mil rahi hai par mujhe behna nahi hai. Script ka daayra manna hai. If any actor gets this discipline, he can add a lot of value to all other mediums. Even if I am performing the same play for the 25th time, the freshness, the punch, should remain intact, theoretically.