Fadjr Workshop- Sreejith Ramanan on "Contemporary Performance Methods"

Sreejith Ramanan is an Indian contemporary theatre director, actor, theatre maker, researcher and theatre-trainer who has been described by the media as "a versatile Indian contemporary theatre actor". Over the course of his wide-ranging career, he has also worked as a choreographer, stage designer, theatre technical director ,Sound and Lighting designer. He is best known for his collaborations with cross-cultural theatrical adventures with notable numerous artists, theatre directors, including Hiroshi Koike,Dr Phillip B Zarrilli, Uichiro Fueda,Ram Gopal Bajaj, S.Ramanujam, Abhilash Pillai, Leela Alaniz, Kok Heng Leunand  and Terence Crawford.

 

Hamed Zhamatkesh, an actor and theater director, and Marjan Agha Nouri, an actress, were among the participants in the Indian director's masterclass.

                                                           

Indian actor and director explained a little about his activities. Then he asked the participants to put on their rehearsal clothes and come on stage.

 

He spoke about the importance of taking off your shoes and putting away your personal belongings before starting rehearsals and attending performance studios:“When you take off your shoes when you enter a theater rehearsal hall, you are not just taking off your shoes, you are leaving everything that belongs to your identity behind the door because it may distract you. When we do this; we take off our regular clothes and put on our costume, this helps us become better performers and actors. In the next three hours, I am going to share with you exercises from the Chinese Tai Chi style of acting and then the Japanese Suzuki method acting, and this is a brief of my thirty years of theater experience.

 

The artist asked the participants to do an rehearsal similar to a traditional Iranian game, and at the end, he explained why he did it: When you give something to someone, it is important to give it to them with your whole being, looking them in the eye, rather than giving it to someone else in a casual way, without paying attention to the other person. The most important thing in acting and performing is to be present in the moment. At this point, as an actor, your whole body should be doing the work.

Ramanan emphasized: You should not pretend. This theater rehearsal should be done without pretending. The beauty of acting is being present in the moment. In acting, there is no past or future, only the present. In acting, you must always be ready and willing to be alert. You must be ready to receive a signal at any moment and at that moment, be able to give that signal to another person. This is the beauty of acting. As an actor, you must live every moment and not just show it. The most important tool of an actor is the eyes, so use them properly.

Referring to the topic of concentration, he praised the acting of several actors in Amir Dejakam's "Caucasian Chalk Circle" and stated: "When an actor is looking at a specific point, he must be aware of everything around him. Several actors in Amir Dejakam's Caucasian Chalk Circle played exceptionally well. They had extraordinary acting skills. They knew the moment; they knew how to manage the entire scene and bring it under their control. We must create and strengthen these extraordinary skills in ourselves.”
Then he practiced slow motion with the students.

Presided over by writer and director Kheyrollah Taghyanipour, the 43rd Fadjr International Theater Festival is underway in Tehran until February 1,2025. For further information, please visit our website at www.fitf.theater.ir