Article - Actor on the Lights - Parshathy J Nath

How is it for an actor to work in the lights department and what transforms when one stops looking at the person as an 'operator', but a 'performer'? This is first of a three part series of my experience being mentored for a year at Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research in Puducherry through the Inlaks Theatre Award scholarship.

Lights and performance, two words entwined with each other. Yet so different in their execution. But one cannot do without the other. Lights need a performer's body to find its subject. And the actor needs the lights to reveal herself. So, what happens when an actor turns into a lights performer? When I stepped into Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research for a year-long mentorship in Theatre Training through the Inlaks Theatre Scholarship award, I never imagined I would be doing the lights. That's a world I had never stepped into in my performance journey. But, little did I know that it will be a transformative journey for me under the mentorship of Vinay Kumar, the artistic director of the institution, by viewing lights and performance in a holistic way.

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