Theatre Artists - Let Entertainment Be the Motto

There are certain people who are interest in Dramatics and take part in all their school skits and college plays; but feel they are stuck, when it comes to taking up acting as a profession as they do not want to be a part of the maddening crowd of the film industry. The solution for them is the theatre.

In the recent years, the theatre has gained lot of popularity in India. While earlier it was a concept only in the metropolitan cities, slowly and gradually more and more people from all kinds of cities and towns are gaining interest in it. Benefitting the most from this positive change in people’s attitudes are Theatre Artists.

A Theatre Artist is a professional actor who can be a part of one or more than one theatre group/s. the title is not limited to actors only. Any person who is involved in the process of enacting, rehearsing, conceptualizing, assisting in rehearsing, penning down, directing and staging a play for the theatre is referred to as a Theatre Artist.

Many movie actors also often venture into theatre acting. Some famous theatre personalities of India who have earned a great name for themselves through their immense talent and are known for delivering some outstanding performances are and are also very well-known film actors are Naseer- Ud- Din Shah, Shabana Azmi and Ratna Pathak.

The payoff from theatres in India is not very good. If you are a beginner, it poses an even bigger problem. Once you have earned a good name for yourself by giving some memorable performance, you start commanding a lot of respect and the returns see a lot of increase too. The problem of low returns is mostly confined to Hindi theatres. English, Gujarati and Marathi theatres are hugely popular and artists of the same earn quite good money. A theatre artist can make anything between 5,000 INR and 15,000 INR per show. Those involved in commercial theatres or those known for delivering very good performances make a lot more money. It basically depends on the scale at which the play is organized and the turn- out of the audience. Some theatre artists also make money by organizing theatre workshops in schools, colleges or independently.

For those interested into this territory, the must compulsory requisite is for them to not only be great at acting, but also having an undying passion for it. There are many groups like the Asmita Theatre Group, New Delhi that organize workshops to popularize this art form. These workshops are very helpful. Formal training also comes in handy. One can also become a part of an amateur theatre group to learn all the nuances and once the desired knowledge has been gained, they can switch to professional theatre groups.

The National School of Drama, New Delhi offers a three- year postgraduate diploma in Dramatics which proves to be an added advantage but to be eligible for this course, you should have been an active participant of the drama societies of your school and college. The Natsamrat Theatre Group, New Delhi also regularly organizes two-month acting workshops that prove to be very helpful.