Alyque directs his play cast in Kolkata from Mumbai!

Alyque directs his play cast in Kolkata from Mumbai!

    The cast of his latest play may be 2,000 kms away, but Alyque Padamsee can direct them from Mumbai, from the comfort of home.
    Calling it a “very exciting” experience, he’s indulging in this through the use of a popular video messaging app. He says, “It is almost like directing a movie. I can see my cast on the screen. They are literally on camera.”
    He feels that this is an interesting way of approaching theatre because travel time is reduced and there is a lot of cost-cutting, thanks to the internet.
    “The beauty of this whole thing is that I can record the rehearsal and revise it and take my notes, unlike an actual theatre rehearsal,” says the director, who is also acting in the play and visits Kolkata once a month for the live rehearsals.
    There are, of course, some hiccups that most ‘first-time’ projects face. In Alyque’s case, “there are times when the line isn’t steady, there are days when the sound is off,” he says. However, it is the cross-continental interaction utility in theatre on any other subject, that excites him.
    “The show must go on,” he says, adding, “I am in Kolkata now to interact with my cast, with a badly injured leg, thanks to an accident that occurred when I fell off the stage during my last play, after the first act.”

Alyque Padamsee