By the time we arrive for our interview with stage managers Antonia Collins and Avafrin Mistry at NCPA’s Little Theatre, we learn that director Bruce Guthrie, also Head of Theatre, NCPA, is unwell, and hence rehearsals have been called off. “We have all the time,” chuckles Collins as she and Mistry seat themselves in back-to-back rows for our chat after their photo shoot. “We got all dressed up,” they both exclaim. The bonhomie is evident, and so is the pride of having put together a stellar production —  Every Good Boy Deserves Favour — which returns to Mumbai for a second run later this week. 

Scene 1: The beginning

For Leicester girl, Collins, her profession was always her vocation. In her mid-teens, she entered a theatre for the first time, and by the time she was 17 years old, she was off to drama school to study stage management. “Unlike in India, it [the course] is structured in the UK because of the economics and the training,” she explains.