Weekend Exclusive | Its a rush I need and want again and again: Spandhan Mishra

Leo Burnett's Brand Planner, Spandhan Mishra is presenting "Past Forward", a double bill of two plays back to back on one evening. Scripted, directed and enacted by this young Burnetter, the plays would be performed at Godrej Dance Academy, NCPA, Mumbai on June 25 and 26, 7:00 pm onwards.

The opening play, Douglas Hill's Roulette, is a supernatural romantic comedy about a young couple, on the verge of divorce, who find themselves stuck in a never-ending road trip from Bombay to Goa. Directed by Spandan Mishra, the play is a contemporary "in the bedroom' peek into the lives of a married couple who seem so wrong together, it's almost right that they constantly fight. Interestingly, the cast consists of just two actors, Mishra himself and his wife Sohini.

The second play, Scarborough Fair is an original experimental written and directed by newcomer Yudhishthir Agrawal. Set to the music of Simon and Garfunkel, this is the coming of age story of a young man who has to choose between his two first loves - his girl and his writing. Yudhisthir actually wrote the play while he was at Cornell University doing an MBA. With a cast full of eclectic working professionals from media, advertising, films, marketing and dance, Scarborough Fair promises to be a never-seen-before perspective at the classic coming of age story of youngsters today.

Adgully caught up with Mishra himself, to know more about his inclination towards theater.

Talking about his love for plays and theater, Mishra says, "I love theatre in it entirety. The rehearsals, the bonding, the character growth, the way lights and sounds transform the stage, the brilliance of multiple creative talents coming together and of course the magic of performance. Controlling the audience and finally getting that applause. Its a rush I need and want again and again."

He further says that managing the rehearsals with an ever so demanding career in advertising was indeed difficult. "Well, its very tough. We usually start only by 8:30, have dinner during rehearsals and go on till 11:30 or so before heading to our homes from the rehearsal point. So it gets quite taxing," Mishra adds.

He further adds with an air of humility that he is quite nervous as the show date has arrived. "Very very nervous. But thats me, my co-director Yudhishthir plays off positive energy. The show is called "Past Forward" and its a double bill - as in, an evening of two plays back to back. Both plays are brand new, and should offer a very different experience to Mumbai's eager theatre crowd," he adds.

Mishra is looking at promoting his play through online media, newspaper PR and personal contacts. "I think for all new groups, the way to go is to be nice and call everyone you know twice over to get them to see you. Thats your patron crowd," he adds.

Talking about the importance of the right mix to market a play, Mishra says, "Audiences expect it. Today movie marketing is a full fledged business because it directly impacts box office. Theatre is just the same. We realized during the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival this year, that social networking works big time in creating a buzz in our circles, but only if you're offering a freebie. Paid tickets are usually subject to stronger filters so we realized we needed professional help for PR and reviews."

Mishra speaks about the necessity to adapt to technology as he signs off by saying, "Depends on what you're trying to do really. For Scarborough Fair, our second play we're using projections and videos actively during the show, whereas for another play we did last year, we only used live music. I think technology is vital for improving production quality like using 3D set design, light control and sound editing." | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]