( 2017)
5 months of devising | 45 actors | 24 technical crew | 1 Director
The Festival of 8's
"......If your work is not creatively shocking then you better stop doing theatre or any art form; enough of safe work, now is the time to be creatively unsafe...." ~ Ranji David.
( 2013 - 2015 )
2013: The Nuisance of Hamlet:.An interactive theatre play for children done in simultaneous dramaturgy style, is 100% Shadow theatre. for children and young audience. The play takes the audience through an audio visual poetic journey. This adaptation of William Shakespeare`s story takes place in Bangalore, and looks deeper into the lives of three children. Their stories revolve around aspirations and dreams. The play moves in and out of Hamlet and real life stories in an interactive format. The play is paused at crucial points and the audience is invited to reflect on possible solutions and suggestions on how these real life situations could have been handled. The 3 stories are about bullying, being sensitive to others dreams and how cheating can lead to complications in life.
2014: Corporate Politics of Macbeth:A play for Adults only is 75% shadow and 25% visible to the audience. This is an interactive shadow performance. Back-biting, dirty power plays, harassment in the office and crushed ambitions are just some of the things that we to talk about in this new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Contemporary office-goers will find resonance in the underhanded way the struggle for power plays out in the over 400-year-old play. The contemporary adaptation is based on the true life stories - we received an overwhelming response from employees in corporate firms when we started a facebook campaign back in September 2013 about experiences of harassment and back-stabbing in the office. The play draws parallels between Macbeth and the current office situations in the Indian organizations.
2015: The Masks of Romeo and Juliet: A play for all ages is 50% Shaodow and 50% visible to the audience. Two lovers secretly wed despite the sworn contempt their families hold for each another. It is not long, however, before a chain of fateful events changes the lives of both families forever. In this adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy play, the story revolves around the Shakespearean version done in shadows and intertwined with a story of 2 lovers caught in each others cage of love. The play shifts through these two worlds.
( 2023)
( 2015)
Plays directed by Ranji over the years
2021: When the world was engulfed into the space of unknown from 2020, initially
we were unsure of what to expect. Like someone rightly said, " creativity is giving yourself the permission to make mistakes, Art is deciding which ones to keep "
When Life on zoom became a norm, our artistic director & founder decided to test one and all with his ever challenging ideas, Rome and Juliet on zoom with artists from across the globe.
Tragedy of Macbeth
Romeo & Juliet on Zoom
2014: A large scale devised theatre production with 75 actors on the story of Macbeth.
This 3-month long journey took the actors through a theatre workshop intensive, followed by a theatre production
Using the aspects of physical theatre, this large scale extravagance was with an all inclusive cast and crew who worked tirelessly through to make this dream come true.
2023:
To Be or Not To be is a theatre production inspired by Hamlet`s soliloquy, presented in a metaphorical physical language.
This production is an abstract musical with minimal dialogues.
This visual extravaganza, follows the story of 3 characters caught in a large city, their dreams, aspirations and desires, along with the of people in a city who are constantly running a meaningless rat race and a never ending desire to reach their materialistic goald.
This mega theatre production consists of 31 Actors and 6 Tech Crew.
This play is completely devised with actors over a period of 6 months.
Shakespeare Trilogy
( 2021)
Workshop performance by participants
Post the basic theatre workshop, participants are given time to explore stories, characters, performance abilities Every workshop has a series of stories which are directed by our internal directors and written by our own playwrights. These performances are staged at public spaces where participants get a perfect platform to kickstart their theatre career and also get a good insight into how a theatre performance work and the different back-end preparations to lead to a show.
The show is a series of
Eight Plays performed by
Eight Actors in
Eight minutes with
Eight Dialogues directed by
Eight Directors written by
Eight Playwrights
A unique experience for theatre lovers to watch Eight plays come alive. Try and catch these uniquely designed plays
2017: The entire journey of Amrita Sher-Gil is an excellent case study of personal journey of the director, the team, actors, who worked on the historical data analysis, interpretation and narratives; leading into something eventful.
".... If we really be true to our journeys, if we push our boundaries and dare to learn something new, if we identify new unexplored areas and be ready to become a student again, learn an absolutely new art form, skill and philosophy with an empty cup; what comes out is a new direction, a new way of thinking, a new self.... my greatest challenge was not ideating or even devising but managing the larger team with its own set of challenges. I was dealing with actors of 2017, their priorities, anxieties, goal and work-life balance. I learnt that when I truly let go off my....... says Ranji David, Director of the play "
D I S S O L V E
2016: A show where actors paint and perform impromptu on stories shared by the audiences For the first time in India, be a part of this social improv theatre performance where actors take stories and responses from audiences which will be then performed impromptu by our actors on the spot and also the actors would paint each other and on a canvas on which the performance will take place.
A Theatre performance which integrates Playback Theatre, a social improvisational theatre style and action painting under abstract expressionsim. Actors who also paint will be a part of this show along with improvised music. The performance will happen on stage on an empty canvas which is also the backdrop for the evenings. Stories of the audiences will turn into colors and performance on the canvas.
The choice of colors and styles of painting and performance will depend on the reactions and stories given by the audience to the actors.
( 2019)
To Be or Not To Be - 2023
Rome and Juliet on Zoom - 2021
MF.Husain -2019
Amrita Sher-Gil - 2017
Sinderella - 2016
The Masks of Romeo and Juliet - 2015
The Tragedy of Othello - 2015
The Corporate Politics of Macbeth 2014
The Tragedy of Macbeth - 2014
The Legend of Havel 2014
Wave:Women Against Violent Experiences - 2014
The Nuisance of Hamlet - 2013
Common Man Ver2.0 - 2010
Bhagwaan Dhoondo - 2009
Common Man - 2008
Shanti Nilaya - 2007
Purple Roses - 2007
30 years Later - 2003
The Park - 2003
The Lone Tusker - 2000
2015 :A devised clown theatre performance where 6 clowns come together and make a complete foolery of the classic Sinderella. This devised theatre performance pokes fun at the classic yet at moments pauses and makes the audience reflect back into moments of our life; moments of injustice, moments of bias, moments of dealing with aloneness; and how in every person there is a flame, a flame of hope and goodness.
This particular performance was devised for over 9 months, after which the play was done in several NGOs, polished into a performance of what it has become today. Even today moments from the show are improvized by the actors, rekindling that spirit of an inner child.
This red nose clowning piece looks for tender moments, seeks to touch a flower, heal physical and mental wounds of the audience with a feather.
Sinderella always brings smile on the faces of audiences no matter how small or big they are. No matter which region, religion, race, or country they belong to. It seeks to unite all people and animals under a single roof of tenderness and compassion, never losing sight of hope that we all so dearly cling on to, sometimes in the show nipping that very rope of of hope.
3 years of Research | 9 months of devising | 36 actors | 24 technical crew | 1 Director
M.F. Husain
4 months of devising | 44 Artists | 5 Directors | 11 Countries
ORGANIZATIONAL
THEATRE
To Be or Not To Be
2019: The whole idea and philosophy to focus exclusively on the lives of 3 distinguished painters from India dawned on us as a team. Here was MF Husain, who broke all the barriers into what was considered as creative and ground breaking. We stayed true to presenting the artists life without adding our colour into the mind of a genius who was far ahead of his time and profoundly mis-understood by a large part of India
".... We needed to go deeper into the personality of Husain to understand his journey, his life choices and his ability to be a rebel and stand guard in spite of all the challenges that were constantly presented to him. We are talking about a painter who won the Padma Sri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhusan; India's highest honour given to any citizen. This is a classic rags to riches story yet a story of what most individuals go through as Humans, but the choices Husain made and the kind of outcome towards the end of his life was absolutely tragic... and that's where we end this play. We were threatened by various right wingers, but the police commissioner of Bangalore supported us by giving the play protection from any untoward incidents and for that we are grateful and thankful as artists to Mr. Bhaskar Rao ...... says Ranji David, Director of the play "
( 2014)
An insight into theatre work of Ranji David since 2000
Sin-derella
6 months of devising | 35 actors | 10 technical crew | 1 Director
( 2016)
Amrita Sher-Gil