Remembering Anil Chopra
We are saddened to have to report the recent death of Anil Chopra - a well-known character and much loved member. Paul Whiting remembers him.
Anil, in my opinion, embodied what the Questors means to me. You may not have known Anil personally, but if you have been to any Questors shows you almost certainly have heard him. Anil was the person who, when watching a show, would often provide what we now refer to as the 'Director's commentary feature' now popularised on DVDs.
When at University training to be a Dentist, he was unfortunately involved in a serious car accident, which changed his life completely. It left him with a permanent disability severe enough to end his hoped for career. One of the manifestations of his disability was a tendency to vocalise his immediate thoughts wherever he was at the time. If you were ever in a show and heard a voice from the auditorium, it would almost invariably be Anil. During one show when one of the actors caught a ball on stage, the voice of Anil came storming out from the auditorium with a 'good catch'.
Anil tried to attend every show that he could and was frequently to be seen chatting to people in the bar, ticket in hand waiting to go into the studio or the playhouse.
He was also a frequent and much cherished visitor to the Acting for All class. I myself was
responsible for teaching him for two years, but those two years weren't his first participation in that class. One of the most poignant moments in class for me, was an improvisation that he participated in based around the car crash that he'd been in earlier in his life. It was quite an amazing piece and I shall always remember that scene.
I could see a lot of potential in Anil and though the occasional 'director's commentary' would get in the way of my teaching, he could often drop in a comment which would turn my babble into sense for the rest of the class.
Anil was a much loved member of the theatre. A poet with a lust for life which was infectious, and someone who just seemed to love people. I feel that he made the Questors a little better with his presence and that the theatre is a little poorer for no longer having him around.
Paul Whiting