“We’ve all become Fausty characters,” says Manel Jagoda. It’s why she’s chosen Faust by the German poet and playwright Johann Wolfgang Geothe as her next production. “I think it belongs to this period rather than when he wrote it,” she explains adding that this dark comedy has a continuing and profound relevance to life as we know it.
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| Manel Jagoda |
But it’s not just her script that has her excited. She’s decided to throw open her casting by inviting actors both experienced and inexperienced to join her in a workshop where they will train, experiment and research the play, eventually adapting it for the stage. As an added incentive, the workshop itself is free.
Manel hopes to challenge her protégés, pushing them to explore themselves and the unique characteristics that could fuel their artistry. It’s also about discipline and commitment to the process. “To have acting talent is good but we also need to develop skills,” she says.
“The actor’s instrument is his/ her body, it is the canvas he or she will paint on. It needs preparation. The body has to be relaxed, flexible, full of energy and stamina, sensitive and vulnerable to all his thoughts and moods. This includes the voice too. He or she needs a mind which is clean and clear. Thoughts are the seeds of creativity. The mind is the place of creation.”
Manel herself is difficult to pigeonhole. She has won many international awards as a child artist and was a dancer in the Chitrasena Vajira dance ensemble. As a young woman, she morphed into a celebrated fashion designer and model.
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| Manel’s works of art are available at Barefoot |
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Later she would again collect awards as an actress (including best actress at the national Drama Festival) and costume designer. She would also teach movements and voice at the academy for Dramatic Arts.
The work she did with special children using the arts for learning won her the Bunka award for Drama from Japan. Incorporating the various arts, dance, drama, painting, clay work, puppetry and many other crafts, her programmess showed teachers and parents new ways of interacting and teaching them.
Manel has spent a lifetime studying her art, embracing not only Western approaches but Asian traditions as well.
She travelled much in India, observing and learning from their traditions of the theatre arts, dance and crafts.
Of particular note is her inclusion of Raja Yoga meditation techniques which she has studied for the past 22 years.
Her unique approach has also been shaped by her collaborations with many internationally reputed artists.
Her work with Actor-Director Brian Jones of U.K initiated probably the first intercultural exchange programme for actors, when a young group of actors from Crucible Theatre in Sheffield UK and the Sri Lankan theatre group Maya Shakti worked together exchanging working knowledge imparting something of their cultural heritage as well as performing together first in Sri Lanka and then in the UK.
All those interested in joining her newest production are welcome.
The process is expected to take up to six months. Both actors and non-actors from 18-50 years of age who love the theatre and are willing to commit some of their time to this process are very welcome. Email - maneljagoda@hotmail.com for more details. |
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