The season's most popular play came and went, but Mid Day decided to catch up with the protagonists
The season's most popular play came and went, but Mid Day decided to catch up with the protagonistsIt's not too often that we catch up with the performers of a play that's in town, but MiD DAY decided to do just that and caught up with the duo behind Happy Days. The play was quite a success, but the interview reveals so much more. Maybe it is indeed, all about the performers.
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Perfectly in place: Patty Gallagher as Winnie |
Patty Gallagher and Joe McGrath are two American actors with very different professional backgrounds. Patty has credentials in physical theatre, Balinese dance, mime and circus. She is an Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of California, and director in residence for the Clown Conservatory at the San Francisco School of Circus Arts. Joe on the other hand, has a more classically trained background. He is a graduate of the Julliard School of Drama and has plenty of experience in classical theatre, focusing particularly on Shakespeare.
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So, how did these two brilliant artists come together? Well, they performed together in the play Happy Days that was staged in the city on December 12 and 13 at Rangashankara
In the play that was written by Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett, we see Patty as Winnie, an extreme optimist who spends the entire play literally 'stuck in the mud' buried from the waist down in an inescapable mound of earth with no more than her handbag and her husband Willie (Joe) scuffling helplessly around underneath her. During the performance Winnie is the almost the sole speaker and the only person that the audience can see. Now how many of us have seen a performance like that?
Although the pair comes from different backgrounds they both draw from their experience and from each other to fulfill their roles. Patty draws from her experience with physical theatre and circus to capture the comedy in her role. Winnie smiles eternally in the face of the difficult situation she is in. Through her actions and expressions Patty brings out the humor and compassion that endears the audience towards her character, just as a clown does. Joe, meanwhile, takes the simplicity of his role as essential to the play as any small part in classical or modern theatre, and treats the role of Willy with seriousness and humor.
Patty, herself, also appears the extreme optimist. Loving the part and flowing with insight and experience in theatre, teaching, and beyond, she tells us of how she initially began with straightforward acting, before being inspired by the American actor and clown Bill Irwin. She then moved into the field of clown and circus acting and has hence stuck on. The simplicity of the clown, she says, is important in simplifying the complexity of many situations. With a simple prop, like the objects in Winnie's handbag, she brings out the means with which to carry the themes and draw the audience towards the performance. Even her background in Balinese dance has found a place in her performance. The use of eye movement and facial expression become extremely important in the second act of the play as she is suddenly buried up to her neck, with only her head visible.
Although Joe is hardly seen or heard during the play, he finds his role to be one of the most fascinating. He believes Willie's presence is as essential as that of Winnie's in the play. Although his part is less spoken of or seen than that of hers, he feels that her character is left hollow without her unseen husband to converse tou00a0-- if not always with.
When asked whether they felt the play should have been adapted to the Indian audience, Joe said, "It's hard to adapt a haiku." He felt the play was practically perfect in its original English form as it covers universal themes that can be understood by any audience. He relates that the experience of growing old is similar to themes expressed in the playu00a0-- you can't go back. "You find yourself in a situation that you find difficult to get out of and may regret events that occurred in the past, but you must always press forward. You cannot change what has already happened," he adds. He further relates the idea of 'not going back' to his own personal life. He feels that keeping old possessions restricts him and can trap him in the past.
What most excited the pair, particularly Patty, about the play was the 'Talk-Back' session that took place following the performance on Saturday night, in which the audience discussed various aspects of the play with each other and the actors. She says that acting can often be unrewarding, with few chances to converse or properly interact with the audience. She finds such an opportunity as an exciting and brilliant learning experience and the best way of unwinding following a long performance.
This being their first time in India, the pair was very excited of being in a strange land. Patty is now traveling with her husband and seems quite comfortable with being here despite her suggestions of a huge culture shock. Joe McGrath enjoyed India while he couldu00a0-- he is currently working between various projects and left the country soon after the play wrapped up.
