BY MANSI MOTWANI
LOS ANGELES, CA - Every year in December, since the last five years, L.A’s critically renowned classical repertory theatre company, ‘A Noise Within’ brings to life Charles Dickens’ classic novella, ‘A Christmas Carol.’ This December, it’s back for its sixth year, upholding the tradition of being a holiday affair that children,
LOS ANGELES, CA - Every year in December, since the last five years, L.A’s critically renowned classical repertory theatre company, ‘A Noise Within’ brings to life Charles Dickens’ classic novella, ‘A Christmas Carol.’ This December, it’s back for its sixth year, upholding the tradition of being a holiday affair that children,
students and families alike look forward to attending!
This year, a new face joins the cast; actor Roshni Shukla from Los Angeles plays the role of Belle, Ebenezer Scrooge’s ex-fiancée, whom he is reminded of when the Ghost of Christmas Past haunts him. In the story, Belle leaves Scrooge as he begins to prioritize money over everything in his life, including her.
In an exclusive interview with IJ, Shukla says she loves playing Belle. “In my mind, she breaks his (Scrooge’s) heart by leaving him. She is strong enough to know that it’s not the kind of life she wants - one driven by finances,” she said of her character. “I’ve seen several theatrical adaptations of A Christmas Carol, but they’ve been nothing like A Noise Within’s dreamlike production. The cast is lovely, and we have such an adorable Tiny Tim!” she exclaimed.
Originally from Sacramento, Shukla holds a Bachelor of Science in International Business, which she received from the University of San Francisco. She then attended the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and obtained a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Theatre.
when asked about this switch in the academic fields, she said me that it was planned all along. “Growing up in a family that comes from a business background, getting a degree in business made sense, but I knew I wanted to pursue theatre professionally since I was fifteen,” she said. Content with how things worked out, she added, “A lot of people believe that theatre is art, and while that’s true, theatre is also business. Running a production requires business knowledge and my degree has helped me understand that.”
While the first ever play she saw was in India as a 13-year-old, she started to become familiar with theatre on school field trips here. “It’s funny but I remember watching ‘A Christmas Carol’ on one of the trips,” she said. Shukla’s first professional job came to her when she was just 15; she worked for a theatre company in Sacramento as a dancer for the play ‘Arranged Marriage’, written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. She later returned to the production as the play’s lead actress and even made her Canadian debut as the same in May 2016. When asked what exactly it was about theatre that captivated her, she said, “I saw it as a community-based art form, where everybody including the audience got to participate. In theatre, language, movement, music, everything tells a story! I come from a family of storytellers; my dad is always telling stories. I think if it weren’t for his MBA degree, he too, would have pursued some form of art.. I also think that the culture we come from is quite bold when it comes to our forms of entertainment. We use bright, striking colours and costumes for our dances and movies, and are theatrical people at heart.”
A year and a half ago Shukla founded The Southland Company with three of her fellow UCLA graduate students, who decided to build a non-profit company and launch an outreach initiative known as “Literacy through Theatre.” This aims to promote an appreciation for theatre especially among the youth. “We run some shows specifically for students, which are free for them to attend. This is mainly for those who aren’t very exposed to theatre. We want the youth to recognize theatre for what it is - open, warm and welcoming,” said Shukla. So far, The Southland Company has produced three shows - ‘The Gita and the Gun’, written by Shukla , ‘Queen of Calisas’, which she acted in and ‘As You Like It’, which she produced.
Asked if she uses her art as a medium to discuss contemporary issues, and she said, “I don’t. I believe in creating work which poses questions instead. Most of our plays this year have been female centric and I think it’s relevant because in the US, women haven’t broken the glass ceiling yet. We don’t have a female president. After a play, I want my audience to leave with a question which in turn makes them question the kind of society and world they are living in.”
When she isn’t writing, producing or acting in plays, Shukla teaches Voice and Speech to 3rd-year students at the Theatre of Arts’ College in Los Angeles.`` I would love to see Indian classical stories like the Mahabharata come to life on stage. Who knows, maybe I’ll produce one someday.” On what she thinks of Bollywood films, Roshni answered, “I think big-budgeted Bollywood films aren’t very different from Hollywood films. I enjoy watching old Bollywood films with my mum.’’
On the difference between films and theatre, she said, “The difference lies in the way we experience the two. Theatre is meant to be watched live, it is an in-the-moment experience, whereas films, if you think about it, once made remain immortal. There’s a beauty in both of them; one does not supercede the other in any way.”
This year, a new face joins the cast; actor Roshni Shukla from Los Angeles plays the role of Belle, Ebenezer Scrooge’s ex-fiancée, whom he is reminded of when the Ghost of Christmas Past haunts him. In the story, Belle leaves Scrooge as he begins to prioritize money over everything in his life, including her.
In an exclusive interview with IJ, Shukla says she loves playing Belle. “In my mind, she breaks his (Scrooge’s) heart by leaving him. She is strong enough to know that it’s not the kind of life she wants - one driven by finances,” she said of her character. “I’ve seen several theatrical adaptations of A Christmas Carol, but they’ve been nothing like A Noise Within’s dreamlike production. The cast is lovely, and we have such an adorable Tiny Tim!” she exclaimed.
Originally from Sacramento, Shukla holds a Bachelor of Science in International Business, which she received from the University of San Francisco. She then attended the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and obtained a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Theatre.
when asked about this switch in the academic fields, she said me that it was planned all along. “Growing up in a family that comes from a business background, getting a degree in business made sense, but I knew I wanted to pursue theatre professionally since I was fifteen,” she said. Content with how things worked out, she added, “A lot of people believe that theatre is art, and while that’s true, theatre is also business. Running a production requires business knowledge and my degree has helped me understand that.”
While the first ever play she saw was in India as a 13-year-old, she started to become familiar with theatre on school field trips here. “It’s funny but I remember watching ‘A Christmas Carol’ on one of the trips,” she said. Shukla’s first professional job came to her when she was just 15; she worked for a theatre company in Sacramento as a dancer for the play ‘Arranged Marriage’, written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. She later returned to the production as the play’s lead actress and even made her Canadian debut as the same in May 2016. When asked what exactly it was about theatre that captivated her, she said, “I saw it as a community-based art form, where everybody including the audience got to participate. In theatre, language, movement, music, everything tells a story! I come from a family of storytellers; my dad is always telling stories. I think if it weren’t for his MBA degree, he too, would have pursued some form of art.. I also think that the culture we come from is quite bold when it comes to our forms of entertainment. We use bright, striking colours and costumes for our dances and movies, and are theatrical people at heart.”
A year and a half ago Shukla founded The Southland Company with three of her fellow UCLA graduate students, who decided to build a non-profit company and launch an outreach initiative known as “Literacy through Theatre.” This aims to promote an appreciation for theatre especially among the youth. “We run some shows specifically for students, which are free for them to attend. This is mainly for those who aren’t very exposed to theatre. We want the youth to recognize theatre for what it is - open, warm and welcoming,” said Shukla. So far, The Southland Company has produced three shows - ‘The Gita and the Gun’, written by Shukla , ‘Queen of Calisas’, which she acted in and ‘As You Like It’, which she produced.
Asked if she uses her art as a medium to discuss contemporary issues, and she said, “I don’t. I believe in creating work which poses questions instead. Most of our plays this year have been female centric and I think it’s relevant because in the US, women haven’t broken the glass ceiling yet. We don’t have a female president. After a play, I want my audience to leave with a question which in turn makes them question the kind of society and world they are living in.”
When she isn’t writing, producing or acting in plays, Shukla teaches Voice and Speech to 3rd-year students at the Theatre of Arts’ College in Los Angeles.`` I would love to see Indian classical stories like the Mahabharata come to life on stage. Who knows, maybe I’ll produce one someday.” On what she thinks of Bollywood films, Roshni answered, “I think big-budgeted Bollywood films aren’t very different from Hollywood films. I enjoy watching old Bollywood films with my mum.’’
On the difference between films and theatre, she said, “The difference lies in the way we experience the two. Theatre is meant to be watched live, it is an in-the-moment experience, whereas films, if you think about it, once made remain immortal. There’s a beauty in both of them; one does not supercede the other in any way.”
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