Theatre Productions
The Accidental Screenwriters
Synopsis: Two flatmates, Joginder and Chandar, who work 9 to 5 jobs and have never penned a single story before, find themselves developing a story to participate in a film writing competition.
The Exonerated
'The Exonerated`, which is presented as a dramatised reading, tells the true story of five American men and one American woman who were convicted and sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. Between them these six people spent over one hundred years on death row before the criminal justice system finally corrected its errors and freed them.
The play opened on 11th March 2023 at the G5A to two full house shows.
They say timing is everything. The Indian producers of this play are convinced that it is time, given the current global climate of intolerance to give this play breath in India. However, they are not hoping to gain anything political or provide a platform of dissent, they merely want to encourage open dialogue and debate around the themes of justice and human rights - sorely diminishing globally.
Although the play is written with a US audience in mind, there is a great parallel with such cases here in India.
"Vishnu will be released soon. We are waiting for the formal release order. It is unfortunate had to be in jail for two decades for a crime he never committed"
- Senior Superintendent, Agra Central Jail, 2021
"14 eminent retired judges wrote to the President, pointing out that the Supreme Court had erroneously given the death penalty to 15 people since 1996"
- The Telegraph India, 2012
Presented by Shilpa Lakshminarayan
Written by Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen
Directed by Raveesh Jaiswal
Co-Produced by Avantika Akerkar
Cast: Joy Fernandes, Meher Acharia Dar, Asif Ali Beg, Suresh Venkat, Nizwar Karanj, Sandeep Jayaram, Avantika Akerkar, Zervaan Bunshah & U-Jay
Light Design by Yael Crishna
Sound Design by Varrunn Bangera
Sound Operator: Sachin Jagtap
Production Manager: Aditya Bansod
Marketing Team: Pankhudi Malhotra
Production Team: Prachi Sharma, Nandan Majumdar, Viddesh Gharpure, Khushboo Gurbani
Special Thanks: Rachit Khetan
The Bored Room
Written by Digvijay Savant
Directed by Raveesh Jaiswal
Cast: Nandan Majumdar & Digvijay Savant
Production Design by Prachi Sharma
13th Oct - 6 & 8:30pm @ Creative Adda, Versova
14th Oct - 6 & 8:30pm @ Veda Factory, Versova
15th Oct - 6 & 8:30pm @ Si Bambai, Fort
Synopsis:
‘The Bored Room’ is a slice of corporate life that compels two individuals from different generations to deal with each other. Amid larger issues within the company, an incident needs to be resolved by setting aside differences and connecting at a human level. It is an engaging, contemporary piece that balances between power play, office politics, and survival instincts, with a touch of dark humour.
PS: Suitable for everyone, not just corporate employees ;)
The play was received warmly by the audiences and the South Mumbai shows were declared sold out!
Prominent theatre and film personalities including Akarsh Khurana, Abhishek Chaubey attended the play and loved the performances.
BTC Shorts - Life and the After Life
A curation of four short plays from different walks of life and after, this featured artists from Mumbai & Bangalore.
The curation consists of plays that depict characters responding to real daily life situations and also a 'real' post-life situation. All these plays were staged in 2020 on Instagram Live to rave reviews from the audiences and now were adapted for the stage.
Play 1: The Artist
Written by Akshita Vohra
Performed by Tirthanka Chatterjee & Ashwin Pramod
Play 2: Exiting
Written by Alex Broun
Performed by Nandan Majumdar & Raveesh Jaiswal
Play 3: I Did it
Written by Berges Santok & Muskaan Chowdhry
Performed by Sinchana Hegde & Rishabh Joshi
Play 4: Main Narak Se Bol Raha Hu (Hindi)
Written by Harishankar Parsai
Performed by Nitish Chandra
Date: 26th and 27th March 2022
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: St Andrew's Centre for Philosophy & Performing Arts, Bandra, Mumbai
The 6pm Struggler
'The 6pm Struggler' is our first physical play which was conceived in April 2020 but was staged in December 2021 due to the pandemic and the series of lockdowns which the country saw. The play immediately struck a chord once it opened in Mumbai and people found the play to be very relatable and something that left them with a lot of self-reflecting questions. The play tackles the theme of Passion vs. Profession and narrates the story of a corporate professional trying to juggle his full-time job with his passion for theatre.
Concept by Prachi Sharma
Written, Directed & Performed by Raveesh Jaiswal
Music Design by Trish Thakur
Light Design by Nandan Majumdar
The play was first staged on 11th and 12th Dec 2021 at Veda Factory Art Studio, Versova, Mumbai
The Theatre Project 2020
We were supposed to stage our first theatre production in April 2020 in Mumbai. But unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we couldn’t. We then migrated to an online platform & chose to do quick 10 minute live theatre productions on our Instagram page. Our first theatre production was watched LIVE by over 60 people and then by over 2500 people on IGTV. The plays were well received by audiences and they loved the snackable 10 minute format of entertainment. We also started receiving a lot of requests for collaboration. Keeping that in mind and also with the aim of providing a creative outlet to artists, we launched a collaborative theatre initiative – ‘The Theatre Project 2020’
We received audition clips from over 175 actors and play scripts from over 70 English playwrights. Finally, 20 actors and 10 plays were shortlisted. Every weekend, starting from 11th Oct 2020, the plays were staged LIVE on our Instagram page till 13th Dec 2020.
The shortlisted 30 theatre enthusiasts came from diverse backgrounds and from 17 cities; from metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai to cities like Haridwar, Patna, Nagpur, Mysore, Guwahati, Dehradun, Andaman & Nicobar to Melbourne. It was a mix of working professionals, students and full-time theatre professionals. Some of them were alumni of FTII Pune, Whistling Woods Mumbai, New York Film Academy USA & RMIT University Australia.
This collaborative initiative was a great success and garnered a lot of media interest. The total views for all the 10 plays stand at around 25,000 and had an audience base across to globe from the US to Dubai and from India to Australia.
Testimonials
“BTC is a place overflowing with love, support and kind words. The best place to hone one's skills and showcase one's talents, no one could possibly ask for more. I would like to sincerely thank everyone involved in the project for showing me such a wonderful time!”
Udita Mukherjee, Kolkata
Playwright, Appendix
“BTC reunited me with my love of writing and theatre in a year that was mentally exhausting. A much needed relief in these turbulent times.”
Padmashree Pande, Pune
Playwright, Mothers Know Best
“Working with BTC was a wonderful experience. Very kind and humble people to work with who are very supportive and helpful. My experience as an actor has been very enriching. I feel more comfortable than before on the digital medium, especially Live!”
Raunaq Anand, Kolkata
Actor, The Unmasking
“It's been a pleasure working with Bombay Theatre Company and I hope we collaborate more. I think the best thing about BTC is that they have a vision and they think we all are a part of it. They have been very generous enough to give us this platform and show our skills in front of so many people.”
Ashwin Pramod, Mumbai
Actor, The Artist
“It was an Unforgettable Experience!”
Muskaan Chowdhury, Navi Mumbai
Playwright, I Did It