For Cyrus Sahukar, digital theatre is ‘another way of doing It’  

'If all the world's a stage, then where is the prompter?' In a rather humorous and contemporary take on the famous monologue from 'As You Like It', this line from Cyrus Sahukar opens Rajat Kapoor's creative rendition of the Shakespeare's classic. Although melancholic, Sahukar's character, who is part of a troupe of clowns trying to put up a play within the play itself, is delivered wonderfully by the actor and video jockey.

'I Don't Like It As You Like It', is director Rajat Kapoor's adaptation of the classic comedy by Shakespeare, and features a group of seven clowns - one of them being Cyrus Sahukar. The play has debuted its digital edition on Aadyam, and will be available to watch on screens via Insider's theatre platform on December 12 and 13.

Sahukar plays the character of Soso, a clown rehearsing to play Jaques from 'As You Like It', that is, until the director reverses the roles and awards him a female role. Brilliant as always, Sahukar also shines as the voice behind Toto, his hand puppet who is just as bold as Soso is diffident. According to Sahukar himself, the puppet is his character's "best form of communication of real emotions and confidence."

Asked about theatre going digital, he told IANSlife, "Theatre going digital is another way of doing it. Nothing will replace and match people coming to a specific place and performing in front of a live audience. Because the world we live in has come to a point where we can't do anything else, this is another innovation to it, and I hope it transfers well."

Speaking about how different VJing is from theatre, he shared: "It's completely, fundamentally a different art form. Even though I find there is a certain spontaneity that comes with VJing and hosting, that also exists in theatre - no one performance is exactly the same - but the way you perform or the way you present yourself is so different. One is an extension of yourself, which is VJing or hosting, and this one is trying to almost forget yourself and be someone else for that period of time on stage."

Finally, speaking about his beginnings on stage: "(it) started very early when I was in school, I joined Barry John, and did a few plays with him. Then I joined MTV and the connect with theatre disappeared, till I did a play much later with Atul Kumar, and then with Rajat (Kapoor), so it was a reconnection of sorts."

Tickets for 'I Don't Like It As You Like It' are available on Insider.