New Writing from India at the third Writers’ Bloc Festival

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Twelve emerging playwrights from across India who have been working with the Royal Court Theatre to develop their craft will have new work staged at the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai this month as part of the third Writers’ Bloc Festival.

Produced by the Royal Court’s Indian partners, Rage Productions, the Writers’ Bloc Festival is the culmination of an 18-month play development project, supported by the Genesis Foundation and led by Elyse Dodgson, Head of the Royal Court’s International Department, and playwrights April De Angelis and Carl Miller. It provides a platform for the best up and coming writers from all over the country, writing in English, Hindi and Marathi.

The Royal Court has been working in India with the support of the Genesis Foundation since 2001 and has developed relationships with dozens of Indian playwrights. Since 2004, the Royal Court’s partners, Rage Productions, have produced this work, throwing welcome light on a burgeoning generation of contemporary Indian playwrights writing in many different languages. In the UK, the Royal Court has produced two plays by the Chennai-based playwright, Anupama Chandrasekhar: Free Outgoing (2007, revived 2008) and Disconnect (2010).

The Writers’ Bloc Festival runs at the Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai until 20 January. The plays are:

Mahua by Akash Mohimen
Satellite City by Irawati Karnik
Pereira’s Bakery at 76 Chapel Road by Ayeesha Menon
The Djinns of Eidgah by Abhishek Majumdar
Shallak by Sagar Deshmukh
Spunk by Siddharth Kumar
Ok, Tata, Bye Bye by Purva Naresh
The Long Way Home by Shekina Jacob
Natah Nako by Dharmakirti Sumant
Once, On That Street by Swetanshu Bora
Jaal by Annie Zaidi
Still and Still Moving by Neel Chaudhuri

To read more about the Genesis Foundation’s relationship with the Royal Court Theatre, please click here.