Event Collections

Three Men, three benches, and a Park, located just about anywhere. An inevitable squabble for the choicest of seats. Each man's claim seems to be the most fundamental and, as always, there's never enough room for everyone. On the face of it, Park is a comedy  about three men in a park fighting for their individual space. However, the playful banter soon turns into a serious fight as questions of space, territory and ownership become fraught with tension. Park takes a light-hearted look at issues of identity and belonging that plague our day to day life.Read More

It is a rainy evening. A woman calls her brother to her farmhouse in the outskirts. She wants him to help her pack up a house. The tenant has just left and some new tenants are coming to check the place out. There is very apparent tension between this brother sister duo – not just from a class perspective (he is a carpenter and she is the Head of the Department of Literature at a prestigious college) but also in their lifestyles, philosophies and values. The evening progresses with both of them taking jibes at each other and making below the belt remarks to each other. Little by little they (and we) start discovering secrets and hidden aspects of their personalities. This is a play that’s refreshingly non sugar coated – it is sharp, fast paced and before you know it there’s a couple of sucker punches there that could knock you out.Read More

The Fate Of A Cockroach transports the audiences from a bathroom floor where Cockroaches rule, to a hard-working, middle class couple’s morning ritual. When the husband relates to a cockroach’s struggle, neither wife nor family doctor can liberate him from his pact. He proves to be the Playwright’s personified Cockroach . In the cockroach kingdom, there are self appointed officials, so called “gurus” of science and politics, who fail to come up with solutions to pressing problems. The king Cockroach declares, “In the whole of the cockroach kingdom, there is no cockroach that feeds another, everyone strives for their own daily bread.” Sound familiar? Have we become like cockroaches? The Playwright draws parallels between the two worlds. In both the worlds the women seem to be stronger, even though they are of the “weaker sex.” A thought provoking play.Read More

Natallia & Liudmila will play compositions by Russian romantic composers Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky, who were each at the pinnacle of two very different schools of thought, about the future of music. The Piano Duo will start the evening with Tchaikovsky's "The Nutkracker " suite for 4 hands, followed by Natallia's solo rendition of October and Dumka. In the second half of program, audience will be presented with Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" (piano solo). The concert will be accompanied by visual images, designed by Iryna Oksiuk, which will complement the musical part of the program.   Liudmila Alizarchyk Liudmila has been playing piano from the age of 7 years. She conducted studies in Minsk (Belarus Academy of Music). Liudmila is the founding member and arranger of Trio Belissimo, and was playing as Pianist in the Korean and Western fusion music band for many years. She has been performing classical music in various groups in Belarus, Korea and India, including The Majestic Orchestra and Wind Stream Brass Orchestra (Seoul, Korea), and various chamber ensembles. Liudmila lives in Bangalore where she works as a Music Professor, Piano and Vocal.   Natallia K Kapylova Natallia has been hailed as a concert pianist of exceptional, brilliant and dazzling ability. Her career is unique in spanning a huge range of musical settings. Breathtaking displays of classical and jazz masterpieces are stirred with love and passion. Exploration of different genres of music, old and new, is her forte. She commenced her piano training at the age of seven and was under the tutelage of Prof. Yushkevitch at the Belarus State Conservatory where she obtained a highest degree in Classical Piano Performance, Artist of Chamber Ensemble and Concertmaster Diploma. Natallia has worked as a Concertmaster at the Belarus Academy of Music and as a piano teacher at the Belarus College of Arts. She contributes generously of her time and talent to these institutes and the Concert Brigade of Belarus Society of Blind. Ever since she moved to India in 2002 , she has been working with select group of students to prepare them for the various programs, competitions and music examinations such as ABRSM, Trinity Guildhall and LCM , to name a few.Read More

“After missing his train from Howrah Station, a man decides to board it en route from one of the suburban stations of Kolkata. However, by the time he reaches the Platform#3, the train passes him by. In the middle of night, the platform is dark and deserted until he is joined by a mysterious old man and later, a young girl. Their divergent personalities, thoughts and interactions create a lot of firework in an unlikely place. The dark night is unprecedented for each one of them. One thing is for sure that after this encounter their lives are going to change forever. But all 3 of them have a secret and none of them really are as they appear to be.”Read More

Rukmini Vijayakumar will present a Bharatanatyam Maargam. A classical Margam is the traditional Bharatanatyam sequence of Bharatanatyam choreography set to Carnatic music, following a progression of complexity in music, rhythm and expression. It usually begins with an offering of flowers to the Gods, develops into a purely movement based piece, then it is followed by a Varnam which is the central elaborate piece of a bharatanatyam recital. This concludes the first half of the performance. After this there are one or two pieces that are expressive through “abhinaya”, and the performance ends with a tillana. Rukmini's performance will have a similar structure to the evening. The individual pieces of the evening however are chosen and choreographed a little differently from the traditional format.Read More

PEN NADAN is a drama based upon both personal and theatrical life of Papputty  Asan, a well known actor who was specialized in transvestite roles in Malayalam Drama during a period when females were reluctant to come on stage. The play puts light on the agony of a similar artist named Ochira Velukutty Asan who was also well versed for his transvestite roles. There were many who took such characters. But these two actors not only raised to the horizon of acting, but inspired both men and women with their elegance and charm.  Read More

‘Akshayambara’ is an experimental Kannada play that uses both modern theatrical tools and the dance drama form of Yakshagana to create a contemporary narrative that raises questions on female representation and male ownership. The play was developed through the INLAKS Scholarship ’14, supported by the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) and premiered at the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival ’15. The play won the best original script and best actor (male) at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) '16. The play explores the representation of the feminine within the male-dominated practice of Yakshagana. What happens when a woman enters the professional space of a form performed by men for the last 800 years? Drawing from research and personal experience, the performance imagines a reversal of roles in the popular Yakshagana plot of ‘Draupadi Vastrapaharana’. A male artist in streevesha plays the virtuous Draupadi and espouses the cause of a woman, while in a tradition defying move, a woman is cast as the Pradhana Purusha vesha of a Kaurava who is driven by lust and power. What happens to the interpretation of gender when a man plays the streevesha and the purusha vesha is played by a woman? Who is the real woman and who is the real man? When tradition can accept a man as a streevesha can that same tradition accept a woman as a purushavesha?  This project is made possible by a grant from India Foundation for the Arts with part support from Voltas Limited.Read More

ABOUT THE PLAY - I HAD A DREAM Can you handle a play that demands not leaving your brains at home? Following the footsteps of masterminds like Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco, we’ve dared to create a space that can swing you between laughter and sorrow, all at the same time. A magic potion that delves into the inner conflicts of a man in these modern times. This remarkable piece revives the 'Theatre of the Absurd', it is surreal and it is bold in experimenting with conventions of theatre, pushing the boundaries of storytelling. Like music, it is an expression that can only be experienced, rather than explained. It will leave you mesmerized by your own thoughts (and how rare is that!)The play is uncompromised entertainment, a spectacular blend of sounds, lights, emotions and performances. The spectators will transcend, from watching a show on stage to being a part of one in life, and ultimately, I HAD A DREAM will leave them with thoughts they will take back home, neatly wrapped in an existential wisdom. Consider that as our return gift to you! Statutory Warning: Not for the weak minded! BRIEF NOTE ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT & DIRECTOR Shaurya Singh – He has been a writer, poet and director since almost 10 years and worked closely with number of eminent movie and theatre personalities. A trained film maker, enthusiastic director, fine actor, an intelligent writer and co-founder of Saarthak, Shaurya lives a dream of creating a community of people who will passionately build an alternative lifestyle based on emerging new-age principles. Shaurya has a keen eye for detailing and shares is his own set of emotions with theatre and stage and has been writing in English and Hindi languages.  Read More

The play is a comedy about the lead up to a wedding between two families, the Shankars and the Kumars. For the week before the wedding, the Shankars, who are from Bombay, are staying with the Kumars in Bangalore. A death in the extended family of the Shankar' leads them to an outburst of grief that somehow ends in a decision to mourn the passing by putting both families under house arrest. The play addresses the changing morality of India and assesses the state of love and marriage in our everyday lives.Read More