Immerse in this theatre workshop in Mumbai to learn the intricacies of acting on stage

Mita Vashisht guides actors during a rehearsal of the play Three Sisters at the National School of Drama Delhi. PICS COURTESY/Mita Vashisht

At some point during the conversation, it strikes this writer that Mita Vashisht's description of the human body as a tool of expression sounds familiar. She clarifies, "Through history, artists, performers, poets, and painters have studied the human body to push their expression to the limits." On August 16, the National School of Drama (NSD) alumni will guide participants through The Process, a workshop about acting that extends beyond simply stage craft.

It was in 1990 that she first participated in hosting an acting workshop alongside NSD alumni. "This is the first time I am doing it myself, although I have been hosting workshops for the last 30 odd years," she admits. What sets the actress' approach apart is her refusal to limit these workshops to actors or theatre practitioners. "For instance, if National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) students never thought twice about the way people should look, beyond a stereotypical form, it limits their own ability to create beyond high-end fashion design," she says.

This understanding was developed quite early in her journey. Having studied at the NSD, and Department of Indian Theatre, Chandigarh, and with Mohan Maharishi, she wound up working with the auteur filmmaker Mani Kaul in Siddeshwari (1989). "Kaul's take on actors was very different. I had to throw away the theories we had learnt, and relook at them in precision. Then, I realised that the façade of disliking trained actors is to push you deeper into the self of the human being you seek to represent," she recalls. She explored this idea in her documentary, Mani Kaul and That Thing Called The Actor (2024).

Mita Vashisht in Agnipankh. PIC COURTESY/YOUTUBE

The ‘journey into the self', as she calls it, is almost therapeutic in nature. "Theatre, scientifically taught and learnt, is an enormous tool for processing the self. It allows you to learn what you are, who you are, and what affects you. It is about body, mind, breath, muscle, and memory," Vashisht expands.

No surprise then, that among the first sign-ups for the upcoming workshop are two performing vocalists, and an artist. After all, the vocal muscles are just as connected with the ‘ecosystem' of the body as anything else. "Your body is a massive geographical terrain that you have no idea about.

There are things growing that you have no idea, from thoughts, ideas, experiences that have grown there. Some of those plants you would want to weed them out. Others will be beautiful plants that you wish to nurture," she concludes. Talk about therapy.

ON August 16 to 22; 10 am to 2 pm
AT The Third Bell Studios, Bungalow 22, Aram Nagar Part 1, Versova, Andheri West.
LOG ON TO @mitavasisht on Instagram (to register)

Theatre landmarks

>> Tughlaq - 1987
>> Lal Ded - 2004
>> Agnipankh - 2023
>> Three Sisters - 2025