Our Theatre Presents- BEYOND THE LAND OF HATTAMALA

Hi all readers,

Our Theatre presents its debut production, Beyond the Land of Hattamala, a play written by Badal Sircar. Founded by Sandeep Shikhar, an actor, writer and director and Vivek Vijayakumaran, a theatre artist, Our Theatre was originally born out of a need to have a banner for Beyond the Land of Hattamala. However, the connection between Vivek and Sandeep and their belief about theatre ran deeper and so Our Theatre has become more a way of working, a way of doing theatre. “For me, Our Theatre is our thought, our belief, our language, our culture, our complexity, our simplicity, our problems and maybe our solutions. We are interested in something that is ours- things that are rooted in us- and the common man should be able to understand what we are showing,” says Sandeep. This belief in “our” has led the team to its fifth month of work on this play- the work has included workshopping, experiementing, improvisation and discovery. The concept of “our” is so strong that the cast of Beyond the Land of Hattamala even spent three days in a village in Kerala, at the director’s ancestral home, working and exploring a tangible sense of ‘Beyond’ for the play. “It was important for us to bring back our own personal experiences and impressions that we can tap into for the play. We found and created things there that we couldn’t have created in a studio here in the city,” adds Vivek.

Shows:
1st Show : 3rd April 7:30 pm
2nd Show : 4th April 3:30 pm
3rd Show : 4th April 7:30 pm

Venue:

Rangashankara

36/1, 8th Cross, JP Nagar, 2nd Phase, Bangalore-560078

Phone: 080-26592777, 080- 26493982

Beside JP Nagar Post Office & Opp RV Dental College

For tickets you can book online at www.indianstage.in or call us! You could also pick them up at Rangashankara (from 28th onwards, between 6-7 pm everyday) before the show. For telebooking, call Vipul at 9886390879. You can also get tickets in KC Das(St Marks Road), Bangaliana(Koramangla), Crossword (Resindency Road) and Wisdom Lounge(Koramangla).

Ticket Price : Rs.100 per head(Also suitable for children above 8 yrs)

Here is small preview about the Play & People associated with it:

Ridhdhi, a non profit charitable trust , is the venture of professionals from different field, with a vision of making a visible difference in the developmental arena of the Indian society in the holistic sense. The primary objective of this forum is to partner and work with different grassroot level programs and support in the areas of edcation, health, community develpment.Ridhdhi also works towards in promoting various art forms and culture. People from different walks of life have joined this forum and are contributing their skills.

About the writer:
Badal Sircar is a veteran playwright and director who has pioneered an indigenous ‘theatre of conscientization’, a theatre (of) natural environment, physical acting. slogans and familiar sounds, documentary material and sustained movement.

About the Play:
Two Likeable thieves, Kena and Becha, jump into a river to escape being caught. They wash up on the shores of a Never-Never land where buying and selling are alien concepts. In this new land, everyone works together to produce what the entire community needs and wants and money does not exist. Being thieves, Kena and Becha do not understand the concept of “no-money” and hence several humorous misadventures follow as they make their journey through this land.
We hope that you can be a part of the audience for one of the shows and make the journey with Kena and Becha.

About the Director:
Vivek Vijayakumaran is a young theatre artist. He trained with Mahesh Dattani while essaying the role of Anarkali, a hijra, in the play Seven Steps Around the Fire. Vivek’s training includes a workshop at AdiShakti Theatre Arts Laboratory and a year long project with Abhishek Majumdar for the play Lucknow ’76. Vivek has also undertaken training at the Attakkalari Center for Movement Arts and the Kalari Academy of Performing Arts in contemporary dance and kalaripayattu. Vivek currently works with women in slums and children at Head Start school as a theatre facilitator. He is also a storyteller with Kathalaya.

Cast:
Sandeep Shikhar
Samta Shikhar
Parthiv Purani
Bhakti Vij
Ashwini Shridhar
Vivek S Punjabi
Ashok Vasudevan

Live Music:

Kallol Dasgupta

A Note from the Director- Vivek Vijayakumaran

The script came to me at a time when my mornings were being welcomed by bomb blasts, killings, crime reports and recession in the newspapers. A strong will from within motivated and pushed me to tell this story, to direct it and to make a personal journey with it.

I have not selected any of my actors/musician through an audition. Because it was important for me as a director to know my actor, to find a connection which is personal. When I am with my actor in the heat of rehearsal I need to be in love with the human in the actor/actors that I am trying to deal with. I believe when creation happens treading on this path, it becomes more personal for both the actor and the director and thus more belief seeps in.

Over these five months, I have developed a way of directing for myself which is very intuitive to the extent that, I don’t know what I am going to do with my actors until I enter the rehearsal space and finish with my warm up. I also somewhere feel that this discovery has got a lot to do with the idea/concept of the play!

Trusting this discovery took us to my ancestral home in kerala for three very significant days of work, where we trained in the lap of nature making discoveries that surprised us. A great learning came when we were able to work on certain scenes in its realistic settings, as it just opens up so many possibilities. We have also been fortunate enough for being able to work on our creation in six different spaces.

Trusting the light in me I dedicate all my efforts towards this play to my mother. As this is also my first creation after she left her body.

A big reason behind me being able to direct this play is Abhishek Majumdar. Who has been there like a friend, partner, brother and a teacher.

Thank you God!

Rehearsal at a different space

Kerala Workshop

Daily Rehearsals n Workshops at Kathalaya- The space that we all believe in

Sandeep Shikhar

Follow your heart… Believe yourself… Trust your body… along with these three direction we started our journey of the play (Beyond the land of hattamala). The process of the play is towards the end but the journey is still on which has Sweet, Sour, Tasteless and New tastes….

Kallol Dasgupta- Magical Musician

marching beyond   - kallol dasgupta

till the time i hit the ground reality it was mid 50s

apparently there was an air of happiness with newly acquired “swaahinataa”

it was just eight years

to be precise

seven years and five months older than me

jawaharlal nehru proclaimed to abolish disparity of all kinds……..

an awara can fall in love with a high society rita

the young and the new (india) were coming up

it was an “awara” raaj

but

dreams vanished with the recession of 60s

thousands were jobless

rupee and hope got devaluated

it was the time to revolt

young India came out of schools collages and universities on the roads

from behind the barricades the maos the ches the fidels the ho-chi-mins were fighting against the state

with bombs pipe guns and dreams……

the dream of abolishing all disparities

the defeat of early 70s

saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin'
saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin'
saw a white ladder all covered with water
saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken
saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children

and we were drenched to our bones – it was a hard rain

the spark that promised to blaze its way to the flame was blown away to an unknown world of abandoned pledges

we were carrying the butchered bodies of our friends and dreams

the claustrophobia was in the air

we were breathing death and humiliation

it was a long journey

i saw beliefs rattling down the berlin wall

it was a fire-bath and souls got purified

but but but…………… the dream is still alive

that’s what beyond hattamela means to me………….

some day all of us

the friends and the foes the known and the unknowns the loved and the left-outs

will march across the river and reach beyond………………….

imagine no possessions 

i wonder if you can
no need for greed or hunger
a brotherhood of man
imagine all the people
sharing all the world

Samta Shikhar

Theatre artist. Trained as an actor at Sri Ram Centre for Performing Arts (2yrs diploma in acting) New Delhi. Worked as an actor for a year at the Sri Ram Centre Repertory. Student of Adil Hussain. Training in martial arts of Orissa called Chau and martial arts of Kerela Kalaripayattu.Worked with the Theatre In Education programme of the National School of Drama for children.

Presently working as an actor and conduct intensive theatre workshops for children.

"I want to thank my teacher Adil Hussain & Sanjay Lahri for their guidance in my journey of theatre" adds Samta

The process of doing Beyond the land of Hattamala is not only creating its characters but being connected to Hattamala and Beyond too. Moving in different spaces and connecting to the characters through spaces has been an evolving process for me as a person and an actor of the play.

Performing it on stage is yet another space for me to find Becha….

Samta Shikhar

Bhakti Vij

My journey with "Our Theatre" started with a point exercise where the word "BELIEF" was the first seed sown in my mind.
This seed bloomed into a special tree called "Beyond..."
As I took shelter under this tree, I found a new side to the person within me.

Ashwini Shridhar

This is my first play. It's been challenging exploring new areas but it's also been exciting to discover things I didn't know were there. The idea of the play itself is something that I believe in. This belief has been the strongest link among all of us involved in the project. Going to Kerala with the cast was magical- to live together, eat together and work and discover things together in that space was amazing.

 

Parthiv Purani

I have been associated with theatre in bangalore for the past 10 months . My first play in bangalore was 'The first leaf' at Rangashankara under the banner of AHAA productions. Previous to that i was doing theatre for my Post graduation and graduation colleges. I started acting by doing street plays in Vadodara, Gujarat.

My current play " Beyond the land of hattamala" is an amazing journey. For me the storyline of the play extrapolates into a thought process that it is crucial to concentrate on the important issues rather than fighting for trivial issues making them look important. Being a part of this play gave me an opportunity to learn various aspects of developing a play. For me the essence of the play is in the energy and chemistry between the actors.......... I thank my director for giving me this opportunity.

Vivek S Punjabi

Theatre Artist. Has been in this field for almost 4 years now. He has acted in 2 productions staged at ADA Rangamandira, Bangalore, under the banner of ‘GAP- Getting Across to People’ a theatre group of Sir MVIT. He has also directed mime, street plays at the same level. Also has acted in 2 Short Films under ‘Movie in Motion’ group.

When I first read the script I couldn’t stop myself from laughing but as when we started working on the script, this became a constant learning process for me, not only from the script but also my co-actors & the director. Now I know that versatility has no end. Going to Kerala with the team as a part of our workshop was an overwhelming experience. We found the characters within ourselves n built on it & that’s the reason why this play is so close to each one of us. For me the Journey to BEYOND is on & will continue forever. Hope it does the same to you.

Cheers

Vivek S Punjabi

Ashok Vasudevan

"Theatre happened to me by accident. I have only grown through it and cherish the happening of this accident. There have been ups and downs. I have been pretty on and off but never has the passion died down. In my first play, I essayed the character of the alter ego of a hangman which was an eye opener in terms of interpretations and symbolism that theatrical techniques employ.  With a special liking for street theatre, I directed several of them in college for intercollegiate festivals and other events. Proscenium theatre, mime, street theatre are my areas of interest.

I have been a part of the beyond team for a relatively short time as I joined in pretty late but the experience has been a lot of fun, hard work and learning. Having a full time job and rushing for rehearsals everyday has been quite a roller coaster ride, and a pleasant one at that. The creative spirit of the director and the team has given me the necessary drive and energy to explore. I do regret not having been a part of it from the start but now that I am, It has been an unforgettable journey through the nuances of the stage and theatre. The very essence that this play emanates is so full of colour and beauty. Best wishes to all my team members(including me!) for a successful April 3rd and 4th. And to the rest, enjoy the show!"   

Ashok Vasudevan