It’s an exciting time of the year owing to the ongoing festivities and the stage is abuzz with a fantastic line-up of presentations. The NCPA’s theatre genre is dedicated towards creating, presenting and hosting world-class theatrical experiences that entertain, challenge and inspire.
Our goal is to reach a wide and diverse audience and offer our range of spaces with a blend of live and screened events in both regional and foreign languages. Our programming ranges from classic plays to new writing, live and streamed broadcasts, and classic cinema created and performed by the leading local, national and international artistes.
COMING UP IN APRIL :
Short Film Corner An NCPA Presentation in collaboration with White Wall Screenings
What: Short Film Screenings When: Little Theatre
Where: Wednesday, 3 April – 6:30 pm Entry: on a first-come-first-served basis
#Scenes from a Pandemic
Language: Hindi Duration: 21 min About the film: A young ambitious woman moves to Mumbai for her first job right out of college. Three months after her move is the onset of the pandemic and her life changes forever.
Spanning two years, Scenes from a Pandemic is the story of a young woman’s relationships with her mother, her best friend, and her career during a tumultuous phase of life. Writer-Director – Tanmaya Shekhar
#Guddi Maasi
Language: Hindi Duration: 10 mins About the film: Guddi Maasi, A matchmaker from Varanasi arranges child marriages with older men and is a part of shady money deals. Is she?
Directed by Janvi Madabusi
#Nazariya
Language: Hindi Duration: 17m 15s
Purane Chawal – पुरानेचावल – An NCPA Presentation in collaboration with D For Drama production
What: Play Where: Tata Theatre When: Sunday, 7th April – 7.00 pm Language: Hindi Duration: 1 Hr 40 mins
About the play: Set in contemporary Mumbai, this Hindi adaptation of Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys delves into the world of two retired comedy geniuses who are brought together to reprise their iconic comedy act after 12 years for the biggest festival of comedy in the country. The only problem is they can’t stand each other. Will they be able to put aside their differences and create the same magic?
Adaptation of The Sunshine Boys by Neil Simon
Directed by Sumeet Vyas
Adapted by Farrukh Seyer and Avinash Gautam
Cast: Kumud Mishra, Shubhrajyoti Barat, Ghanshyam Lalsa/Ishar Sunya, Ayesha Raza , Kirti V.A., Divyendu Saurav, Prashant Pandey
All Stars Comedy –An NCPA Off-Stage Presentation in collaboration with The Habitat
What: Stand-up Comedy Where: Godrej Dance Theatre When: Sunday, 7th April – 5.00 pm & 7.30 pm Duration: 90 mins Language: English/Hindi Age Suitability: 18+ About the show: A star-studded comedy line-up from The Habitat’s daily All Star Stand-up Comedy show now at an auditorium near you. Here is the perfect opportunity to experience laughter like never before. Performed by: Shreeja Chaturvedi, Mohd Hussain, Shashwat Maheshwari, Sumit Sourav, Siddharth Dudeja
Reality Check – Ayena MirrorAn NCPA Presentation in collaboration with Cinema Collective
What: Documentary Film Screening Where: Little Theatre When: Thursday, 11th April – 6.30 pm
About Reality Check: NCPA has revived the Reality Check film series, which was started in 2014, to promote and encourage documentary filmmakers in India, whose work reflects life and culture in the country today in a provocative blend of creativity and integrity. Language: Hindi/Urdu with English subtitles Duration: 1 Hr 10 mins Entry: on a first-come-first-served basis
About documentary film screening: A momentary act of revenge transformed the lives of two young Indian women forever. After surviving an acid attack while carrying the scars of human brutality on their face, both Ritu and Faraha now have to navigate a sea of odd currents daily. Strangely enough, Ritu’s scars also brought her fame. She occasionally finds herself talking on television, modelling at fashion events, or even featuring in a Bollywood film. Still, she often feels lonely. She wants to be loved and embraces an ambiguous relationship with a fellow female acid attack survivor. Faraha, on the other hand, has come to terms with her post-attack singlehood and her new lease of life. As she begins to enjoy freedom and independence, a desire to become a mother slowly brews inside her.
The Siddhus of Upper Juhu – An NCPA Presentation in collaboration with Rage Productions
What: Play When: Saturday, 13th April – 7.00 pmWhere: Tata TheatreLanguage: EnglishDuration: 90 mins
About the play: Balvinder Siddhu, also known as Bubbles, a 50-year-old well-paid financial executive, and his loyal Parsi wife, Behroze, live on the 14th floor of a typical modern Upper Juhu high-rise called Sea View Towers. In spite of having poured their life savings into this 2.5 BHK flat in Mumbai, everything civil and civic seems to go wrong. Directed by Rahul da CunhaCast: Rajit Kapur, Shernaz Patel, Meera Khurana, Kajli Sharma & Shishir Sharma
Qisse aur Kavitaayein – An NCPA Off-Stage PresentationWhere: Tata Gardens
When: Saturday, 13th April – 7 pm Language: HindiDuration: 1 Hr 30 mins Age Suitability: 15+
About the show: We bring to you a unique amalgamation of poetry infused with music. Stories about life, love and laughter are sure to move you and bring you an experience to remember amidst nature at the beautiful Tata Gardens at the NCPA. Boasting of a line-up that includes country’s most popular poets and storytellers such as Helly Shah, Mehak Mirza Prabhu, Rakesh Tiwari, Ishpreet Balbir and the newest voice on the circuit Aanchal Anita Dhara, we bring to you an eclectic mix of your all-time favourites and fresh voices.
Curated by Priya Malik
Chanakya – An NCPA Presentation in collaboration with Dharmajam Production
What: Play Where: Tata Theatre When: Sunday, 14th April – 7.00 PMLanguage: HindiDuration: 2 hrs 30 Mins
About the play: Chanakya was the greatest statesman, a visionary and arguably the first patriot of the country, who single-handedly carved India (as we know it today) out of the chaos of infighting and exploitation by the regional kings of the time. Love for one’s society and nation is the greatest virtue, nationalism elevates an individual from his mundane existence and improves his quality of life. Patriotism binds an individual to his society and inspires the strong to work towards the betterment of the weak. The play Chanakya brings the man who advocated these sayings to life once again, but in the modern context.
Written by Mihir Bhuta Directed by Manoj Joshi Cast: Manoj Joshi, Sanjay Bhatia, Bhuvanesh Shetty, Kavita Rathod Rana and others
Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar Hoon – An NCPA Presentation in collaboration with The Hoshruba Repertory & Art for Causes
What: Hindustani Play Where: Tata Theatre When: Saturday, 20th April – 7.00 pmDuration: 2 Hrs
About the play: A play is based on the life of Sahir Ludhianvi. Sahir Ludhianvi was one of the iconic poets & lyricists of Urdu literature and Hindi cinema respectively in the 20th century. Hoshruba Repertory in collaboration with the Art for Causes bring alive his life in a semi-autobiographical theatrical presentation. The play attempts to bring a 360-degree perspective on his life interspersed with some of his iconic songs and poems. Co-written by Ali Husain Mir (Writer of the film Mee Raqsam, and Himanshu Bajpai, the well-known. “Aao Ke Koi Khwaab Bunein” Composed by Aneesh Pradhan First Sung by Shubha Mudgal
Writers: Mir Ali Husain & Himanshu Bajpai Director: Danish Husain
Actors: Danish Husain, Vrinda Vaid ‘Hayat’, Shantanu Herlekar, Srijonee Bhattacharjee, Siddarth N. Padiyar & Donald Krist
Dekh Behen Part Two – An NCPA Presentation in collaboration with Akvarious Productions
What: Play Where: Experimental Theatre When: Saturday, 20th April – 5 pm & 7.30 pm
Duration: 1 Hr 20 Mins Language: English/HindiAge Suitability: 18+
About the play: Five years have passed since the events of the first play, and Kanupriya aka Kannu is getting married in Jaipur. It is a vegetarian, alcohol free wedding, filled with orthodox in-laws and judgmental guests. But the gang of girls is back and committed to having a good time. They’re older, but probably not wiser. Retaining all the fun of the first, and dealing with new and pertinent issues, this sequel to the Akvarious superhit is another crazy celebration of female friendship.Featuring Astha Arora, Dilshad Edibam, Garima Yajnik, Lisha Bajaj, Prerna Chawla, Shikha Talsania, Tahira Nath, and others
Written by Dilshad Edibam and Tahira Nath Directed by Prerna Chawla and Shikha Talsania
Stand up with D Girls
An NCPA Off-Stage Presentation in collaboration with Being Association.Where: Godrej Dance Theatre
When: Saturday, 20th April – 7.30 pm
Langauge: Hindi and EnglishDuration: 1 Hr 25 min
About the show: In today’s time, when standing up for an issue and even doing stand”-up comedy is difficult, this solo is a satirical take on both situations. We have always been told that our behavior decides what type of girl we are. It’s very important to know the type because that decides our fate. Everything is already decided for us, yet you get to watch shocking news about us every day! Why! How!
This solo is a journey through those types, exploring great literature and poems in between, which tell us a tale of “D’ girls.
Written, directed & performed by Rasika AgasheBy intertwining the shadows and lights, hope and hopelessness in Ritu and Faraha’s life, Ayena becomes a mirror where we can also see our own reflections.Producer & Director: Siddhant Sarin (The Films) The film screenings will be followed by a post-film discussion.
Cast Off All ShameAn NCPA Presentation in collaboration with Story CircusWhat: Play
Where: Godrej Dance Theatre When: Sunday, 21st April – 6.00 pmLanguage: English & Hindi Duration: 80 mins
About the play: Cast Off All Shame begins with the spirit of a Bhakti poet Janabai coming alive and taking over a radio show as an RJ. She then talks to various women callers who reach out to her with their everyday issues of gender and patriarchy. Thus the solo theatre piece consists of a series of vignettes – some hilarious, some gut-wrenching about Indian women from a variety of classes and settings. Their situations are illuminated by women Bhakti poets- Janabai, Lal Ded, Akka Mahadevi, Avvaiyyar, Soyarabai- whose poems appear as ‘characters’ in this show.
Punctuated with soulful poetry and stories, Cast Off All Shame remains an entertaining, engaging and empowering experience for everyone.
Written, directed, and performed by Ulka Mayur
RedAn NCPA Presentation in collaboration with Water LilyWhat: PlayWhere: Experimental Theatre
When: Sunday, 21st April – 4.30 pm & 7.0Language: English Duration:90 mins
Age Suitability: 12+About the play: In RED, we witness the renowned painter Mark Rothko at the pinnacle of his creativity but struggling through the creation of a series of large paintings, commissioned to feature in New York’s brand-new Four Seasons Restaurant. Set in the late 1950’s, and based on a series of real events, Red takes a compelling look at the ever-changing relationship between an artist and his creations.
Writer: John Logan Director: Daniel Owen DsouzaCast: Vikram Kapadia & Daniel Owen Dsouza
Love and Information
An NCPA production in association with Aasakta KalamanchWhere: Experimental Theatre
When: Thursday, April 25th – 7:30 pmFriday April 26th – 7:30 pm Saturday April 27th – 9 pm
Sunday April 28th – 4 pm & 7:30 pm
Language: English Hindi Marathi, Haryanvi, GujaratiDuration: 120 minAge Suitability: 18+
About the play: How do we look at ourselves and others, how do we make connections, and how do we love? These are some of the questions that are thrown up by Caryl Churchill’s Love and information, which challenges tradional norms with its unconventional structure. Comprising over fifty scenes in seven sections, the play follows a non-linear narrative and is devoid of central characters, emphasizing the cumulative impact of diverse, brief scenes ranging from seconds to minutes.
The vignettes mirror the rapid pace of channel-hopping or scrolling through social media, highlighting potential implications for relationships in an era dominated by instant gratification and short attention spans. The play’s kaleidoscopic structure touches on an array of themes such as memory atrophy, privacy erosion, alienation from the self and the decay of genuine emotion. Through its experimental form and astute observations, written in 2012, “Love and Information” the play speaks directly to the way we make meaning of our lives and existence when there is an over-exposure and saturation of different kinds of information
Playwright: Caryl Churchill Director: Mohit Takalkar
Cast: Ashish Mehta, Dusha Madhav, Kashish Saluja, Lovleen Misra, Mahesh Saini, Mallika Singh Hanspal, Mrinmayee Godbole, Prajesh Kashyap, Rachel D’souza, Rytasha Rathore, Siddhesh Dhuri
