Stories in a Song | August 21 & 22, 2013 | Bangalore
LOUIS PHILIPPE
in association with THEATRE ARPANA, UNDERSCORE RECORDS
and INDIA FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS presents,
STORIES IN A SONG
Conceived by SHUBHA MUDGAL & ANEESH PRADHAN
Directed by SUNIL SHANBAG
RANGA SHANKARA | AUGUST 21 & 22, 2013 | 7:30 PM
“Enormously productive collaboration between theatre and music.” Avantika, the magazine for the performing arts
“… the kind of entertainment that gives you substance while leaving you with a
wide grin on your face and a spring in your step.” Shanta Gokhale in the Mumbai Mirror
Stories in a Song features vignettes laced with humour and wit that tell stories of music and music making from history, literature, and theatre. The canvas of stories is rich and varied; a little known musical footnote from the freedom struggle; an exuberant satire on colonialism in the nautanki style; a poignant tale of a family of working musicians struggling to adapt to changing tastes; the story of a street smart modern day film composer who re-mixes an exquisite bandish by a classical singer, are only some of the gems performed by a group of enormously talented actor-singers.
ABOUT ARPANA
Arpana is a Mumbai-based theatre group, which was established in 1985 and very quickly developed a reputation for presenting original Indian plays in innovative and compelling ways. It has performed plays written both by contemporary masters and younger writers. Their production of Cotton 56, Polyester 84, written by Ramu Ramnathan and supported by a grant from India Foundation for the Arts (IFA), played at every important theatre venue and festival across the country. This was followed by Mastana Rampuri Chappan Churri, a new adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's Three Penny Opera by Chetan Datar, and, S*x, M*rality and Cens*rship, a bold, provocative exploration of censorship by the state and society, developed by Shanta Gokhale and Irawati Karnik, the production of which was supported by a grant from IFA.
Stories in a Song is Arpana’s latest offering and was created in collaboration with Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan for the annual Baajaa Gaajaa music festival held in Pune in 2011.
theatrearpana@groups.facebook.com | https://www.facebook.com/TheatreArpana
ABOUT UNDERSCORE RECORDS PVT. LTD.
Underscore Records came into being in 2003 to empower artists playing Indian music to own and share their music globally even if support for the same is not forthcoming from conventional sources. Underscore Records is an exclusive music label and website that specialises in music from India. It contains an online music store where you can source and buy various genres of Indian music presented by different artists. Other speciality items available on the site are books and papers on music related subjects.
In most cases all the copyrights for the music on the site rest with the musicians who made and recorded it. Hence revenues generated from sales also go almost entirely to the artists.
The directors of Underscore Records, vocalist Shubha Mudgal and tabla player Aneesh Pradhan, are also curators of the annual festival called Baaja Gaajaa: Music from 21st Century India that celebrates the diversity of Indian music, showcasing the work of several hundred performers, authors, instrument makers, gurus, technology experts and more.
www.facebook.com/baajaagaajaa | www.UnderscoreRecords.com