THEATRE : Writers’ Bloc Showcase celebrates original Indian plays at British Council, 17, Kasturba Gandhi Marg > 16th & 17th December 2016

Time : 
16th and 17th December : 6:30 pm Add to Calendar 16/12/2016 18:30 17/12/2016 20:00 Asia/Kolkata THEATRE : Writers’ Bloc Showcase celebrates original Indian plays Event Page : http://www.delhievents.com/2016/12/theatre-writers-bloc-showcase.html British Council, 17, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi-110001 DD/MM/YYYY - plays
17th December : 10:00 am - 1:00 pm Add to Calendar 17/12/2016 10:00 17/12/2016 13:00 Asia/Kolkata THEATRE : Workshop as part of Writers’ Bloc Showcase celebrates original Indian plays Event Page : http://www.delhievents.com/2016/12/theatre-writers-bloc-showcase.html British Council, 17, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi-110001 DD/MM/YYYY - Workshop 

Entry : Free

Venue : British Council, 17, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi-110001
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Stations - 'Janpath(Violet Line)'  & 'Barakhamba Road(Blue Line)' & 'Rajiv Chowk Exit Gate - 5 (Yellow Line)' 
Area : Kasturba Gandhi Marg Event

Event Description : THEATRE : Writers’ Bloc Showcase celebrates original Indian plays

The British Council, in association with Rage Productions Mumbai and Royal Court Theatre London, brings to you a specially curated showcase of original plays written by playwrights from Writers’ Bloc. This unique skills development programme has trained over 50 young Indian playwrights and premiered 41 plays over the last 15 years.
Between December 2016 and March 2017, the British Council will present staged readings of plays from the Writers’ Bloc collection at the nine British Council offices around India. Each city will present two staged readings, interactions with playwrights, and a workshop for emerging playwrights conducted by Writers’ Bloc alumni. The showcase, which opened in Mumbai, continues in Delhi with English and Hindi Play Ok, Tata, Bye Bye on 16 December; Hindi play Mahua and a workshop on playwriting by Purva Naresh on 17 December. These plays will be performed at the British Council office. Alan Gemmell OBE, Director, British Council, India, said, “It has been an incredible journey for all of us – the playwrights, Rage, Royal Court Theatre and the British Council. It is a privilege to be part of the success of these playwrights. I am really pleased that we continue with this celebration of the wealth of India’s diversity and tradition through these plays in Delhi. I would urge people to come and support the work of these talented writers and in the process be touched by the power of the arts.”
Shernaz Patel, founder-partner of Rage Productions, said, : “For 15 years, Writers’ Bloc has championed the burning need for new stories and new plays written by our own young playwrights…in their words, in their language…stories about the India we live in today. Partnering us through all these years has been the British Council and Royal Court Theatre, London. As part of the celebration of this amazing journey,
we bring you this showcase of plays in multiple languages; diverse stories that traverse the length and breadth of our country. Come and learn the art and craft of writing for theatre. Come and enjoy these incredible plays.”

Schedule : 

STAGED READING OF ENGLISH PLAY “OK, TATA, BYE BYE”
FRIDAY 16 DECEMBER 2016
Time: 6.30 pm
Written by Purva Naresh, Directed by Rabijita Gogoi
Synopsis: Pooja and Mitch come to India to make a documentary on caste-based prostitution, but it’s not as easy as they hoped. Seema, the sex worker, is uneducated, but intelligent enough to make them run around in circles. Rupa’s shy, but keen to explore the world outside. There is a trucker who thinks he is smart but always gets dumped by the girls. A village full of sex workers where nobody and nobody comes for free…a price has to be paid eventually.

WORKSHOP ON PLAYWRITING BY PURVA NARESH
SATURDAY, 17 DECEMBER 2016
Time: 10.00 am to 1.00 pm
Purva is a playwright and theatre producer. A recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puruskar from the illustrious Sangeet Natak Akademi, Purva’s other award winning play is Aaj Rang Hai for which she received 15 nominations at the prestigious META Awards in 2011.

STAGED READING OF HINDI PLAY “MAHUA”
SATURDAY, 17 DECEMBER 2016
Time: 6.30 pm
Written by Akash Mohimen, Directed by Rajit Kapur
Synopsis: The tribal village of Bihabund is being displaced by machines, by mines, by industrialization.
Birsa struggles to fight for his land. But his hunting expedition goes awfully wrong, bringing two neighboring villages to the brink of a major conflict. He now has to face a rather unique punishment. His only support is an ailing grandmother, who was once the village head; a new bride, who is still the curse of the village and – MAHUA.
The staged readings will be followed by a discussion with the playwright and the director.

What is Writers’ Bloc?
Writers’ Bloc is an initiative to discover, train and introduce exciting new playwrights to Indian audiences. 
Since its inception, forty one Indian playwrights have premiered plays through our festivals…playwrights from all over India…commenting, in their individual styles and languages, on the world we live in today. 
From life in a hustling metro to a tiny village in Manipur, from a war torn Kashmir to a middle class man facing redundancy at the work place, from hilarious political spoofs to bitter-sweet tales, thrillers to complex human dramas…the plays have enthralled audiences and led to almost all of our playwrights moving on to even bigger projects. The process is at once simple and complex - playwrights from around the country are selected by a panel of theatre practitioners, the prestigious Royal Court Theatre, London and then put through intensive training workshops. The scripts that emerge are then staged at the Writers’ Bloc Festival which is a collaboration between the British Council, Royal Court Theatre (UK), Jindal South West Foundation, the Bajaj Group and Rage.

Related Links : Theatre | Workshops