The Thumb

Last night, my friends and I went to a play that one of our super seniors was a part of. It was called “The Thumb.” It was about Dronacharya and Ekalavya - in a way. (I don’t want to spoil the play here.) This was the first play we were watching in a place like this. I’d seen some earlier, but not in a proper theatre. We were all pretty excited to experience this new thing.

The building itself was very quaint. It had a little cafe and a little bookshop that we checked out before the play. The auditorium was upstairs. As we walked in, I noticed a sign saying that the plays didn’t use microphones, but that the acoustics of the theatre itself were perfect.

My friends and I noticed that we were the only students there. Everyone else was definitely above 30, if not older. During the play, everyone watched with rapt attention. They had all chosen to spend their evening watching something that other people usually wouldn’t and they were proud of it.

I’m not a theatre reviewer, so I’m not going to try to do anything like that. It was art, and it was beautiful. I will make note of some things that interested me, though.

First of all, the actors were so so so into it. Their expressions never once faltered, and their voices didn’t fail. When they were ‘frozen’ on stage, I’m sure they might have had an itch or needed to sneeze, but they were so disciplined and didn’t move a muscle when they were in character. That, I think, is a sign of how much they have trained and how hard they worked for this play.

Second, their voices really did echo around the room, as the sign promised. Even during the most emotional, sad scene of the play, the actors made sure that their voices were thrown out and that everyone could hear them.

Third, the actors’ facial expressions and body gestures were exaggerated, which meant that even people in the last rows could see them clearly and empathize. It was like they had studied the rasas and embodied them one at a time. Their voices were so clear that there was never a chance of the audience misunderstanding or mishearing what they were saying.

Fourth, the actors really enjoyed their acting. It was clear by the way they stood and the way they moved. Everything was deliberate and planned. The background music, lighting, and the actions were perfectly coordinated. This kind of coordination and understanding couldn’t have happened without the actors’ love for acting and their dedication to the play.

Now, as I said before, I’m not a trained theatre artist, so I’m sure there were a lot of little things I didn’t notice. But with an untrained eye, I could see these nuances, and this play got me interested in watching more in the future.