Unrehearsed Futures Episode #17: Theatre Beyond The Show livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 29 July 2021 at 7 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 12 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 1 p.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2).
What kind of theatre writing is expected of us writers in, and beyond, this pandemic? What social responsibility do writers bear? In what ways can an imaginative approach to writing for the stage, transform issues like social change?
Join these two writer-creators as they speak of the directions they are taking as they begin to conceive work for the future.
Speaker 1: Abhishek Majumdar
Playwright, director
Abhishek Majumdar is a playwright, theatre director, and scenographer. He is the ex artistic director and founder of two theatre companies, Indian Ensemble and Bhasha Centre for Performing Arts, both based out of Bangalore. He trained in Physics and Mathematics, Rural Management and a Management degree before attending a two-year advanced program at the London International School of Performing Arts ( LISPA).
He has created work for and been commissioned by several theatres around the world including Ranga Shankara Bangalore, Prithvi Theatre Mumbai, Royal Court Theatre London, National Theatre London , Deutsche Shauspielhaus Hamburg, Deautsch Shauspielhaus Freiburg, Yale Repertory Theatre, Theatre Du Solleil ( ARTA) , Dhaka University , International Dramaturgy Festival Buenos Aires , PlayCo New York , Jana Natya Manch New Delhi to name a few. His work has been performed / translated in English, Hindi, Gujrati, Marathi, Spanish, French , Czech, Bengali , Urdu, Kashmiri, Tibetan and Kannada.
Speaker 2: Kamili Feelings
Playwright
Kamili Feelings has tutored and taught, conducted workshops, and trained writers and performers on two different continents as a playwright and theater artist; he has also taught and lectured across the US at universities like Brown University, Temple University, and St. Mary's College since 2000.
Specific skills as a one-on-one trainer, recently lured him into professional roleplaying work for medical schools as a standardized patient. But his zest for storytelling drives his production work in podcasting, and for radio broadcasts. Trained as a theater artist, Kamili is most interested in the myths that underlie our emotional realities, and how to responsibly "speak to" such emotionally-resonant "materials."
Curator: Jehan Manekshaw
Drama School Mumbai
Since his Masters in Theatre Direction from the University of London, Jehan Manekshaw’s contributions to the Indian theatre sphere have been considerable. He founded and heads the Drama School Mumbai, driven to forging a new generation of theatre-makers, is director of Theatre Professionals to promote theatre-based learning through school education, and has built partnerships across theatre institutions to strengthen the training and upskilling of theatre professionals. His contribution has been acknowledged by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the Indian government's apex body for performing arts and culture, by conferring Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar (award). With a rich background in pedagogy, and practice, Jehan conceptualised Unrehearsed Futures, and co-curates it with peers for a global, holistic overview of the challenges facing the theatre industry.
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