Thespian Avery Singha Roy, currently seen in a few Bengali daily soaps like Phulki and Sohag Chand, started her journey as a theatre practitioner. Avery shares, “Post COVID-19, we really don’t get calls for shows anymore. Also, unlike other city theatres, the Bengal theatre scene is pretty disorganised. Many young actors cannot run their hearths depending solely upon theatre”. Avery, who also played prominent roles in a few web shows including Olokkhis in Goa and Natok Korish Na Toh, tells us about her upcoming play and more.
Your plans for 2024?
Kolkata Romroma, the theatre group I am a part of, is rehearsing for an upcoming play Masakali, written and directed by Kanyaka Bhattacharya, which was originally launched as an audio story during
the pandemic. I play a middle-aged woman who used to live together with her boyfriend only to get
separated later.
How did theatre happen to you?
When I was in class VI, my mother brought me to Kolkata from Burdwan (my hometown) and enrolled me at the late Ramaprasad Banik’s theatre and acting for children at Nehru Children’s Museum. (Ramaprasad) Sir had an interesting method of teaching. He used to teach a particular topic, and we used to write down what we understood, before he took the tests. For three years, we had to study the theoretical parts of the subjects, and we were not allowed to participate in any play. At the end of the third year if we qualified, we were allowed to act in a play. In 2009, I had my first stage performance in the play
Luxembourg er Lokkhi, written and directed by Banik himself.
You act in a few daily soaps in pivotal roles. How do you balance television and theatre?
Before signing I inform the serial-makers that they have to let me go if I have theatre shows. Both teams are extremely cooperative. Though there are challenges at times. For one of my recently staged plays, Bhogoban Jaane, I had to depend fully on night rehearsals. Since we do not shoot during Durga Puja, we had to work overtime for banking a few episodes. I used to shoot, return home, rehearse till 2-3 am with my teammates, and then go for shoots again.