A Note from Team Thespo
Thespo Ink is back this month after its last edition in November. Back then the festival was just a little over a week away and for most of the team pressure was mounting. Time has flown by and the seven days that formed a part of the festival have left us with memories to cherish. Although it’s now time to build the festival for this year, celebrating the year that has gone by and learning from it is imperative. We think there is no better way to do that than to share the journey of putting the festival together and the magic it culminated into. Besides that, we have a little note from Glenn Hayden for young theatre enthusiasts and five plays that he believes must be read, Ninad and Kalpak’s experience of being performers in ‘The Stranger’- a show that opened at Thespo 17. We would also like to add a BIG ‘THANK YOU’ to all our funders on Wishberry. Our crowd funding campaign successfully reached its target and we cannot be more thankful to all the people who shared with us the dream of putting together a good festival. We would love to know what you thought about it, write to us at thespo18@thespo.org. Happy Reading!
BUDDING ARTISTS : The Stranger
QUICK 8 : Rucha Apte
THESPO 17 FESTIVAL
THESPO RECOMMENDS : By Glenn Hayden
THESPO : WHAT’S ON
ABOUT US
Ninad Samaddar shares his experience of being a part of a unique play,
The Stranger December 2015 witnessed an exciting project in Mumbai. The performance consisted of only one audience member per show, who would embark upon a journey through the streets of Juhu, completely unaware of what was to happen next. In the course of the next hour and a half, the spectator would take a
The cast and crew of ‘The Stranger’ at Thespo 17
Devised & directed by Daniele Bartolini walk across 6 venues in the suburb and have close to a dozen interactions in the course of which he or she would crack up, get bullied, play football, take photos and often in the end, well up. Mind you, the audience member had no idea who the actors were. So from people telling you about their pregnant sister waiting
BUDDING ARTISTS at Prithvi Theatre to someone asking you to actually follow a person down the street, one was forced to believe them all! Cue action, cue drama and even a lot of screaming. This form of theatre is termed audience specific theatre, where ‘Exciting’ is just the beginning.
The project taught me a lot of things along its tenure but the haunting aftermath of it is that none of us fourteen performers will ever be able to walk down a lane in the same way ever again. Everything you see around you, ranging from a sneeze by the Pani-Puri vendor to an eccentric fellow dancing by the side of the road, seems to have a purpose- a story behind it. Walking amidst strangers and studying the little details and following them around had allowed us to become a part of their space and their lives which, of course, were a construct of our imagination. Each of our cities was suddenly filled with so many new stories and all we had to do was look a little closely and marvel at the little quirks of life. We took back with us a blessing; that of observing, wondering and appreciating the little things that life has to offer.
One comes across a lot of people who speak about new and better experiences in theatre. However, it is not often that one, especially an amateur theatre practitioner, gets to actually be a part of one such experience and that is exactly what we had the privilege of experiencing this winter. ‘The Stranger’ kicked off as a workshop two weeks before and culminated into a 4 day performance with over 40 shows during the festival. It was really a thrilling and new experience for me as a performer right from the first day when we were asked to take a stroll and seek inspiration from anyone and anything we see on the And did any of us ever find the stranger? streets to standing in the scorching heat on the beach awaiting our next audience member Maybe, maybe not. every half an hour.
Following are a few pictures that give you a glipmse of the journey of an audience member, representing the series of interaction proposed to them with the objective of questioning themselves and their identity...
The interactive experience blurs the lines between reality and fiction. It transforms the audience member into a performer.
Following these ambiguous characters...
...the audience member soon becomes the protagonist of his/her own story.
With the direct interaction between actor, audience and the surrounding environment, each performance is a completely unique experience.
Edited by Kalpak Bhave
He was once called a Thespo Enthu Cutlet and has sworn to never grow out of that description!
RUCHA APTE was a part of one of the Thespo 15 plays - Kabadi Uncut (Marathi, Pune). She was also a part of the play ‘Falls 2-11’, which was a commissioned project by Thespo 16 (2014) in collaboration with the UK based duo Rachel Clerk & Josephine Joy. Since May 2015, she has been working as a creative director with Snovel, a Pune based company that converts marathi literature into audio format. It has produced over 25 audio books with 40 more in progress.
QUICK 8
Rucha Apte’s
QUICK 8 1) What is your first memory of the stage? When I was in school, my parents would take me to watch plays by the Grip’s Theatre. That was my first rendezvous with the stage. 2) What, for you, has been the most challenging play to work on? Why? As a performer, it has been ‘Falls 2-11’. The play was written and directed by Clerke and Joy- a duo of two young women from the UK. The fact that they belonged to a different culture made it a harder process for me to internalise their writing. Add to that the fact that the show almost completely rested on my performance, made it doubly daunting! 3) A recent play you watched/read and loved? Why? Wada Chirebandi, a play written by Mahesh Elkunchwar. The feel of the play was something that stayed with me for a very long time.
4) What aspect of theatre do you enjoy more: Acting or Direction? Acting. Definitely. I have tried my hand at direction and have realised that it is not my cup of tea. 5) One word that you think well describes the youth theatre scene around you? Fearless. 6) What’s your dream role? That of a journalist or a detective. 7) Three things you aim to achieve in 2016? I. I want to act in a full-blown commercial play because I haven’t ever acted in one before. I think the experience will be a different one. II. I want to better explore Hindi and English theatre. III. Act in a play whose performance style is centred in dance. 8) If you could turn into your favorite prop, you would be? A lamp, because a beautiful lamp on the set or used as a prop always grabs the attention. It looks exquisite and adds beauty quotient to the visual. It says something. Interviewed by Kalpak Bhave
THESPO 17 FESTIVAL
CHIT THI
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THESPO RECOMMENDS
Recommends Plays to Read - By Glenn Hayden Glenn Hayden from Australia had first come to Thespo in 2009 during Thespo 11. Last year at Thespo 16 (2014), along with Kyla D’Souza, Glenn had conducted a workshop called ‘The Actor’s Toolbox’. This time round at Thespo 17 (2015) , Glenn directed a devised dramatisation of poetry and prose called ‘Stimulated Voices’, which opened the Thespo17 Awards Night. “To choose just 5 plays for a young writer to read is one of the hardest tasks I have ever been asked to do. Five plays after thousands of years of written theatre? Wow! Firstly, it must be remembered that I am an Australian Director and I would not presume to have the knowledge of the great works that have come from India. My training in the theatre as an actor was from a British perspective and my work over thirty years has been in English. I truly believe that the art of reading plays by actors has seen a decline over the past decade or so - certainly in Australia. With the fast paced lives we now lead, with the ideas of artistic success changing rapidly with the globalisation of the industry and with the increased opportunities in the arts attracting many young artists who want instant ‘fame’, many young actors, directors, writers and designers are forgetting to look back into the history of theatre to investigate what has existed so they can honestly diversify and innovate our craft. I believe anyone who is truly interested in learning and refining their craft benefit from, among many other things, reading at least one play per week....or at least per fortnight. I encourage everyone to
then take the time to think and make some notes on what they liked, disliked about the play and then ask the question why? It is also important to remember that plays are not written to be read inside our head and that to truly benefit from its rhythms, intentions and shape, they need to be heard. So grab some friends and have a dinner party and read!! These are five plays that I believe benefit any young theatre artist. They are from what we would regard as the classics cannon of the theatre. I have purposefully ignored the absurdist plays as part of my restraint to name no more than five plays and also many other periods of theatre that have been central to the development of the craft.�
AGAMEMNON by Aeschylus
Greek theatre is the root of the Western tradition and should be read by any theatre student and practitioner. Greek Classics are performed and adapted into a modern context all around the world and in many languages.They remain relevant in today’s world and are great investigations into politics and the human condition in theatrical form.
THE CHERRY ORCHARD by Anton Chekhov
Chekhov is one of the greatest playwrights of modern times.While his works reflect developments specific to Russia, their ongoing appeal lies in his talents for exploring universally human situations with grace and artistry. Often regarded as the king of subtext, his works are challenging and rewarding..
THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE by Bertolt Brecht
The Caucasian Chalk Circle is a wonderful epic theatre play by German modernist Bertolt Brecht. It’s the perfect example of Brecht’s epic theatre work.
EQUUS
by Peter Schaffer I include this play as my personal favourite play of all time. I love its theatricality; its form, character exposition and how it takes its issues and buries them underneath fine drama.
ANY SHAKESPEARE
but I suggest that the young artists start with the comedies! Shakespeare is THE most influential theatre and poetry writers in English and remains one of the most popular playwrights being performed around the world. Any one entering the craft of theatre needs to investigate Shakespeare’s works.
THESPO: WHAT’S ON
portunity a unique crowd funding op e to support youth theatr
In our twelfth year as Thespo geared up to finish an entire round on the clocks of theatre, a shortage of fund arose threatening to wind the time back. It was then that our friends came forward and helped us out, and thus Thespo struck back! So Friends Of Thespo was born, and with each year our circle of friends grows larger and stronger helping us keep the dream alive, the dream of a platform for young theatrewalas everywhere. Today, it is a community of theatre lovers, theatre-practioners, ex- Thespoans and above all, people who genuinely want to back the effort to give the youth platform to showcase and expand their skills. In 2015, Friends Of Thespo went online with Wishberry. Wishberry is a web based crowd funding platform that specialises in creative projects for films, music, theatre, dance, photography, art, design, comic and other publishing. It has successfully run campaigns for about 200 projects so far. While Thespo 17 created a dhamaka, we remain grateful to all our friends who have unfailingly had our back and helped us spark the drama once again, and for the last five years of our theatrical journey.
AARTHI BALLI
MAHARANA RAY
UDAY SHETTY
ABHISHEK MAJUMDAR
MANEESH VERMA
VIJAY NAIR
ABHISHEK GOEL ADITI RAVI
ADITYA KULKARNI ADVAIT GUPT
AISHWARYA MAHESH AKARSH KHURANA AKASH MOHIMEN ALAN TWEEDIE
AMATULA ZAKIR
AMANDA CARDOZ
ANIRUDH DHANDHANIA ANSELM MATYRES ANTHONY BLACK ANU WAKHLU
APURV KULKARNI ARVIND SAXENA
BHAGIRATHI RAMAN BHAVNA PANI
BIJOY IDICHERIAH
CHATURBHUJ G.KALRO DARIUS SUNAWALA DENA ROSENBERG DINESH MEHTA
DIVYANG THAKKAR
DR. HARSHUL KUSHWAHA HARISHRI BABUJI
JAGDISHWAR RAO SANGAM JAINA KUMAR
JENNIFER FORNELLI KASHIN SHETTY
KAVITA PURI ARORA
MALLIKARJUN MANDOLIKA MEENAKSHI THIRUKODE MICHELLE SAMUEL MITHILA PALKAR
MOHIT TAKALKAR
NARAYANAN RAMACHANDRAN NASEEM JAUHAR NEIL BALTHAZAR NEYSA MENDES
NILOUFER SAGAR
NIRANJAN KALLAMUNDKUR NIRMALA RAO
NIISHNA MEHTA
PADMANABH SHETTY PREETIKA CHAWLA
PRISCILLA ROXBURGH PRITI BAKALKAR
RADHIKA PALKAR ROHIT SATHE
RUCHIRA DAS
SAATVIKA KANTAMNENI SANDEEP SANAPUJI SANJAY GORADIA
SCHERAZADE KAIKOBAD SHIV KUMAR
SHRUTI SHRIDHARAN
SUKHADA CHAUDARY SUHAAS AHUJA SUMIT NANDI
TASNEEM FATEHI TERENCE LEWIS
VAISHNAVI IYER VIKAS MEKA
VIKESH KHARE
VIKRANT DHOTE
offline funders:
amanda ‘mandi’ padamsee AMRITA PURI
ANIRUDDHA PATANKAR ANMOL AHUJA
anurag khanna astad deboo
avantika akerkar DEEPA PUNJANI
divyesh vijaykar ESMIE JACOBS
faezah jalali
GANESH KSHIRSAGAR KARTIK BANGLORE KUNAL GANDHI maia katrak
PRAGNA PUJARA pritesh sodha
RAVIKANTH MISHRA
ravikiran kantamneni sameera iyengar SHAILI SATHYU sheetal garg
SIDDHARTH SIVA
VIKRAM KAMATH
VISHAL DHANDHIA
Thespo’s quest to promote youth theatre has been greatly aided since Thespo began its collaboration with Prithvi Theatre in 2007. Thanks to this development, Thespo now curates performances by young theatre practioners and workshops, which Prithvi lends us space for. ‘Thespo at Prithvi’ or TAP thus also gives Thespo a chance to be a part of the theatre lover’s life all year round.
esent r p e w , h c r a This M O R E H s ' e n u P Ranga pm 9 , y a d s e u T : 16 9pm & m p 6 1st March 20 , y a d s edne W : 6 1 0 2 h c r 2nd Ma Hero is a comic drama about a boy who is wooing a girl, but the girl wants to marry a man like Amitabh Bachchan. He starts impersonating the 'angry young man' but is caught in a dilemma when his fan following in the village grows but the girl is not easily impressed. What ensues is a story of coming-of-age against the desire to be larger than life.
To book tickets click here
ABOUT THESPO
Thespo is a platform for any and every young person under 25 who is interested in any and all aspects of theatre. Except for the age limit, Thespo firmly believes in including youth from all parts of the world, all fields, all language groups and all art forms who share a love for theatre.Over the last sixteen years it has grown from a one-evening event to a year round movement comprising of an annual Festival, monthly shows at Prithvi Theatre, theatre training programmes, workshops, site-specific performances and much more for young theatre enthusiasts. Theatre Group Bombay - (Established in 1944) is one of India’s oldest English language theatre groups whose members (Alyque Padamsee, Sabira Merchant, Gerson Da Cunha, among others) have gone on to become legends in theatre, radio and television. QTP - (Established in 1999) is a dynamic young theatre group dedicated to promoting and facilitating theatre in the public consciousness through socially relevant plays, workshops, readings, news-letters and much more.
Connect with us thespo18@thespo.org www.thespo.org
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Designed by : Spriha Nakhare Edited by : Prachi Bhagwat
Celebrate the Future of Theatre 2016