On the 13th and 14th of June, DSM Batch 2018-19 performed in their school for the very last time as students. This is a short review of the event and their year-long learning. Aadyant. Aadyant and the preparation leading up to it. Photo Credit: Poulomi Dey Each year, the PG Course in Acting & Theatre-making…
A couple of months ago, we decided to ask theatre-makers, what they were doing before they started doing theatre. This is a significant question in India. Here, by many standards, theatre is still a developing industry. We don’t know the stories of too many theatre-makers who planned their careers in theatre and pursued them with…
This past weekend, the whos who of the performing arts community congregated at Harkat Studios. The point in contention: Whose play is it anyway? A coming together to discuss authorship, copyrights, and concepts of originality and inspiration in theatre and the other arts. This event coalesced out of the recent online furor on issues of…
On the recent conversation in our community about originality, adaptation, translation, credit, plagiarism. Moving forward with honesty and integrity A few weeks ago Yuki Ellias posted a question on Facebook. You can read her entire post here. Yuki is a director, actor, pedagogue and one of the most respected theatre-makers in the industry. She spoke…
Theatre-maker and story-teller Priyanka Babbar caught up with Sunil Shanbag between rehearsals and shows to talk about directing this year’s DSM Production – Rakt Kalyan, his theatre practice and a few things in between. PB- How was the directing experience at DSM? SS – Interesting, exciting… very rigorous and very demanding. On day one…
This year’s student production it Rakt Kalyan and has been directed by Sunil Shanbag. It is the Hindi adaptation of Girish Karnad’s Taledanda. And if you just did a backflip to see those two names together, we don’t blame you! Taledanda is a significant piece of Postmodern Indian literature. Though set in 12th Century Karnataka,…
By Tanvi Parekh, kathak dancer and travel scribe He shares a love-hate relationship with Mumbai, the city which is at the heart of most of his plays. She has been lighting, directing, and conducting workshops all across Mumbai. The two collaborated for Ambu and Rajalakshmi, officially. But unknown to Ramu, she has lit most…
The new year at DSM always starts with Design. The students experience a fascinating transition from actor-focused training to larger elements of production. This year we had Ishita Doshi and Neeraja Patwardhan come together for the first time as design faculty. They taught costume and set design to the 18 students of Batch 2018-19. Neeraja…
DSM Batch 2018 -19 Mumbai present an evening of new theatre Every year, students from the Post-Graduate Programme in Acting & Theatre-making at DSM, put together a student showcase. This is their first ever public performance and we call it Madhyantar. A student showcase means the students write, direct, act in and stage-manage everything. They…
What do tea cups, salt shakers, Dame Judi Dench, and bits of PVC tubes all have in common? They have all played prominent roles in critically acclaimed and thought-provoking theatre around the world. Material has always been part of the general world of theatrical performance, serving as props, sets, costumes, make up, lights and…