After earning several accolades for his plays in the West, playwright turned director Anuvab Pal chose to premiere his directorial debut 1888 Dial India in India. DNA finds out why…
After years of living in New York, making a mark among the Indian Diaspora for his contribution to Indian-American theatre and having his plays staged at several of the leading theatre spaces in US, 33-year-old, Anuvab Pal, writer of the acclaimed global stage production,
Chaos Theory, has returned to India for his directorial debut.
Anuvab who started writing plays at a time when the original Indian English plays were only at a nascent stage in India, he admits that despite living abroad for more than a decade and opening plays in US and Europe, he is happiest when he is weaving his plays around contemporary Indian-American characters. He says, “When I started out, Indian plays were either set in Austria or London, classic but stereotypical. Playwrights like Vijay Tendulkar were of course writing, but in regional languages.”
After extensively touring with his plays across US, several countries of Europe, even Alaska, staging plays like
Chaos Theory in more than 150 theatres in US, Out of Fashion in Manhattan Theatre Source, The Asian American Writers’ Workshop and opening Fatwa at the New York International Fringe Festival, Anuvab felt it was the time to head back to India to premiere his directorial debut. While most Indian plays after a short stint in the country head off abroad to raise the box office collections, for Anuvab it was India calling. He explains, “For me, it has been the other way around. After 12 years in the US and extensive travelling around the world, suddenly staging a play in Bangalore sounded exotic.”
He adds, “After so many years of making plays in New York, I was tired of replying to questions from the Indian Diaspora if I was indeed reflecting the Indian culture. Most people mistook India to be steeped in the mystical.”
Anuvab’s directorial debut
1888 Dial India is probably the first play that apes the cash-strapped global times — as the playmaker points it out that this hilarious satire on modern India takes you into a world where the craziest impossibility can seem all that possible.
MORE ON THE PLAY1888 Dial India is a play that is weaved around the effects of globalisation of new India and what better way than to advertise it on the Internet.
This is the first Indian theatre production that is available on YouTube for viewing. The five rehersal videos were uploaded on July 5.
Shoko Kambara, a popular international set designer for stage productions from New York has created original sets for the production.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}