A Jury Drama Devised By Chennai-based Theatre Company Dramact Will Unfold On A Zoom Screen This Weekend
The courtroom is in session over the Zoom app. Split screens pop up because the jury assembles to debate a case.
In an excellent world, the proceedings would have occurred on a stage, replete with an elaborate set. But now, Chennai-based Dramact’s Reasonable Doubt will take kind on the video conferencing platform, after which be live-streamed on YouTube to achieve a wider viewers. “It’s a jury drama. We have 12 characters, all perfectly delineated, in a jury room for 90 minutes,” says director Nilakantan N aka Nilu. “The story traces their fights and differences of opinion till they reach a common verdict,” he provides.
Though tweaked for a Zoom efficiency, the play has its personal justifiable share of physicality to it. Reasonable Doubt is a fast play. Terse dialogues and one-liners are its energy; this additionally makes it a viable play for this explicit medium.
The rehearsals have been additionally managed on-line. “It is difficult for the actors because they have to find a way to interact with each other without the physical presence,” says Nilu.
The forged of 12 joins from totally different elements of the world. “Two of the actors are from Bengaluru, one each from Hyderabad and Connoor, and one from Hong Kong,” he notes. They have additionally needed to work round time zones to understand the play, which made it fairly the primary time expertise for Nilu.
However, not being “geographically challenged”, Nilu remarks, helped him reunite with actors he had not labored with for lengthy. The catch right here is the blocking. Everything from eyelines to shifting positions in alignment to fellow actors matter. “Most of the time, the audience will see one person on the screen, or the character who is speaking,” says Nilu, including, “But this doesn’t mean that the characters don’t interact with each other. Their positioning has also been choreographed.”
