u The Indian Ensemble
Founded by Abhishek Majumdar and Sandeep Shikhar, this Bengaluru-based group has consistently told new and interesting stories. Atul Kumar of The Company Theatre says: “Abhishek’s relentless work towards not only creating exciting narratives, but also towards creating a whole new generation of young writers in theatre is unmatched and priceless.”
u Natak Company
Questions—sometimes hard-hitting and sometimes hilarious—are at the centre of Natak Company plays. What would children do if there were no parents to hold them back? What are the limitations of language and dreams? The Pune-based Marathi theatre group asks questions that go to the root of what it is to be young in India today.
u Aasakta Kalamanch
Most theatre people we spoke to for this list named Aasakta Kalamanch, led by Mohit Takalkar, as a not-to-miss. Why? Sanjoy Roy of Teamwork Arts, which organizes the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards, says Aasakta’s directors have “exhibited immense potential in working with a strong visual language of performance”.
u The Tadpole Repertory
This New Delhi-based group does a great job of writing and directing experimental stories that are entertaining, yes, but the repertory is also gaining a reputation for pushing the envelope on where you can stage a play and how. Anuradha Kapur, a former director of the National School of Drama (NSD), says it’s an excellent example of theatre groups that are turning to alternative performance venues and devising plays to suit these “non-formal spaces”.
u Gillo Theatre Repertory
The Mumbai-based children’s theatre group has staged some amazing shows in the last five years. For example, Taoos Chaman Ki Myna, based on an Urdu short story by Naiyer Masud, draws on elements of dastangoi storytelling and tackles difficult topics like the parent-child relationship in a way that young audiences can understand.
Quasar Thakore Padamsee, a theatre director and one of the organizers of the Thespo@Prithvi festival, says the group is exceptional because it doesn’t talk down to children.
u The Patchwork Ensemble
Started last year by Sheena Khalid and Puja Sarup, The Patchwork Ensemble is just one play old. Ila, which premiered in December, is a take on The Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattanaik.
Kumar says: “The directors are both very different and probably think and create in opposite ways and aesthetics. And yet there is a fabulous synergy between them.”
® Perch Collective
The Chennai-based Perch Collective is perhaps best known for its refreshing take on stories by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer in plays such as Under The Mangosteen Tree. Padamsee says it is also impressive that they often collaborate with other theatre groups to produce stunning work—for example, How To Skin A Giraffe was made in collaboration with Rafiki.
u allmytea
A young and energetic group, allmytea raises important questions about censorship, freedom of expression, art and morality in Under The Chestnut Tree and about gay love in Cock, but they also have a really fun side: Cycle Wallah Michael, adapted from Vijay Tendulkar’s Safar, speaks to the audience’s sense of adventure and the exploration of new possibilities.
u Oxygen Theatre Company
Artistic director Deepan Sivaraman’s productions have some incredible stage designs. His take on the Henrik Ibsen classic Peer Gynt, for example, uses actors and puppets, and has interesting use of lighting. His talent for telling stories through stage sets is evident in his work as scenographer with theatre directors such as Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry (on Bitter Fruit) and Kapur (on Virasat and, more recently, 409 Ramkinkars).
After graduating from NSD in 2009, founder Praveen Kumar Gunjan returned to his hometown, Begusarai in Bihar. He has since been staging plays in Bhojpuri and Hindi, adapting stories by local writers like Bhikhari Thakur and introducing elements of song and dance from local traditions into his productions. Chowdhry says Gunjan is “the big guy on the block”. “It’s amazing to see how he (Gunjan) has metamorphosed Begusarai into a centre for theatre,” she says.
To read a story on artiste Jyoti Dogra’s work, click here, and for a story on Chennai-based theatre group Koothu-P-Pattarai, click here.
