Pandemic times. Ban on going outdoors. Isolation.
Guddu sits playing in his balcony in a multi-storeyed tower, flying paper planes. He strikes up a conversation with a ‘friend’ across the balcony. Only to discover a great chasm between them. Undeterred, they chat across the divide, unravelling different worlds of perception. Superman ka Best Friend is a play about children not being mute witness to the outside world even if they remain unheard. The performance creates a space for both children and adults to deepen a conversation around “development” and reimagine a better world. One-Act (50-min) Play in Hindi Cast: Sobita Kudtarkar & Aditya Verma Script & Direction: Anju Uppal & Prabir Bose In an intimate theatre format, we plan to perform for small gatherings in alternative performing spaces, academic institutions, workplace, neighbourhoods and even people's homes. Would you like to host a performance? For more info, write to us at info at vikalpkriya dot in |
Conversations around a dilemmaAs theatre practitioners, Anju Uppal and Prabir Bose strongly feel the need to respond to the deepening social and political crisis.
There is a growing turmoil both within us and the outside. One is the mindless violence being perpetuated - be it communal strife locally, war between nations or witnessing millions of migrants forced to return to their villages and towns. The other is our failure to reimagine a collective future - and not just an anthropocentric one. Any regime that eyes the natural world and likes to name it as a "resource" is totalitarian. Its goal is commodification of all life. As such, it propagates the myth that exploiting natural resources is a necessity to ensure that no one is left behind. In reality, these natural resources then fuel unsustainable development for economic profit. In "Conversations around a dilemma", a short performance, Anju and Prabir explore the undercurrent dilemmas of communities that propose alternatives to a consumerist and anthropogenic way of life. The form is a dialogue between two characters who helplessly cling onto a woollen sweater as the yarn gets pulled and ripped apart. It was wonderful that “Conversations around a dilemma” was part of the Theatre from the Streets, a pilot project by New Perspectives Theatre Company in Palestine, Venezuela and India. The India segment was curated by Mallika Sarabhai. Would you like to host a performance?
Invite “Conversations around a dilemma” to your home, neighbourhood, a community space or even your workplace. Duration: 6 min, followed by a half or one-day workshop Language: Hindi and/or English. For more info, write to us at info@vikalpkriya.in Credits
Script & Performance Anju Uppal & Prabir Bose English translation Ganga Mukhi Video Savyasachi Anju Prabir |
Jal-Jungle-Zameen and the power of the Gram Sabha!
- an Image Theatre exercise |
Five-day Residential Workshop; December 3 to 7, 2021
Deolali, District Nashik, Maharashtra We couldn’t host our annual workshop last year. And in the given situation we weren’t quite sure about this year too. But one thing we were sure about - not shifting our residential, on-campus, physical workshop to an online platform. We kept our fingers crossed.
And what a rewarding experience! 14 of us from across the country spent the five days discussing a range of issues and provoking a rethink on “unsustainable” development. We practiced play-making with a diverse group, performed in different languages and stirred feelings too. It was indeed an enriching process! |
Course : Facilitating Community Theatre
School of Media & Cultural Studies (SMCS), TISS Mumbai |
Workshop : Sanjha Manch
Sambhaavnaa Institute of Public Policy & Politics Himachal Pradesh |