World Theatre Day: Sumeet Vyas on Key Differences Between Directing for Screen and Stage

World Theatre Day: On World Theatre Day, Sumeet Vyas shares what pulls him back to the stage even after screen success, and the difference in directing on screen and on stage.

Actor Sumeet Vyas believes that, while the world became aware of him in 2014 after the online series Permanent Roommates, he had been performing since 2000, and theatre provided him with a sense of belonging in the acting industry.

On World Theatre Day today, Sumeet Vyas says, “Theatre is essentially an actor's medium. Everybody is important in a play, but essentially, once the actor starts performing on stage, he's pretty much running the show, as opposed to cinema, where the actor comes and does their job but then it eventually depends on how you edit the film and how you present it. You get much more time to indulge in your craft. In cinema, you don't have that much time to explore. So that's why me and perhaps most actors who've done stage, are so attached to this medium.”

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Sumeet is one of those actors who have gone back to theatre even after getting recognition on screen. Ask him why the number of such actors is less, and he says, “A lot of actors who've done stage and then start working in cinema, it's much more lucrative and the exposure is huge. The fame and money is attractive. Then to come back to a medium which will pay you nothing as compared to what you can make in cinema, it probably looks less lucrative. But for me, it's where I grew up.”

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Not just acting, but Sumeet has tried his hand in directing in theatre too. Ask him how it is different from directing on screen and he says, “It's lighter because there's less people to deal with. You're essentially only working on the text and your actors, whereas for screen, you have to work on a lot of things as it's a visual medium. Bahut taam-jhaam hai usme and the payback for it, you come to know very later. But whereas in theatre, you direct something and soon enough, you have a show, and you immediately get a reaction if it is landing or not, and then you also have the ability to tweak it.”

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