~ Invigorating mélange of international and Indian artistes ~
Mumbai, November 14, 2016: The 2016 edition of Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest scheduled from 17th to 20th November 2016, will present an array of culturally rich and stimulating performances from across the globe.
This year’s line-up boasts eight productions which promise to bring words alive on stage in the most evocative manner through dance, music, magic and theatre. The performances by Canadian, Australian and British performers alongside masters-of-their-art from Chandigarh, New Delhi, and Mumbai, are sure to delight the audiences at the 7th edition of one of the most awaited literature festivals in the country.
Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest will takeplace across two iconic venues of Mumbai – the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point; and the Prithvi Theatre, Juhu.
Schedule and highlights of the performances:
- White Rabbit Red Rabbit
Award-winning playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, an Iranian, has produced a masterpiece. Slyly humorous and audaciously pointed, this ‘theatre entertainment meets social experiment’ is unlike anythingyou’ve seen before, and will make you question everything. Watch Anurag Kashyap, director and producer, perform the Hindi premiere of this play at the festival.
The play is tantalizingly sealed inside an envelope. The actor who will perform this has never seen or read the script before. In fact, there is a new actor for every performance.
Do not Google this play. The Hollywood Reporter said about the play: “A theatrical high-wire act. I can’t wait to see it again.”
Duration: 70mins; Written by: Nassim Soleimanpour
| Date: 20 November 2016 Time: 5pm Venue: Godrej Theatre, NCPA (Nariman Point) |
- Blank
With Blank, Nassim Soleimanpour takes his artistic experiment to the next level – an unfinished story to be completed live on stage as a collaborative effort between the performer, audience, and playwright. Our point of departure is the life story of someone in the audience. Noted actors like Jacob Derwig, Kevin Spacey, David Morse and Juliet Stevenson, have performed the play. In its premiere in India, Raghu Karnad will enthral the audience with this new-age genre of theatre.
Duration: 70mins; Written by: Nassim Soleimanpour
| Date: 19 November 2016 Time: 6:30pm Venue: Prithvi Theatre (Juhu) |
- Going Viral
A bagful of liquorice, a pair of tweezers, an onion, and a chilli may seem unlikely props to demonstrate how viruses spread, but they are employed to good effect in this playful and thoughtful one-man show from Daniel Bye.
What’s the plot? An airplane flies from Uganda to England. Everyone on board the plane is weeping. Everyone, except you. On the ground, the weeping spreads. Is it a strange new disease? An outbreak of hysteria? Or has the world turned genuinely sad? In this uncanny, high-definition world we are all more connected, more vulnerable, and more human – but not equally so. Intimate and epic, hilarious, and tragic, Going Viral is a thrilling new development in Daniel Bye’s unique blend of storytelling, comedy, and performance lecture. Catch it while you can.
Duration: 65mins; Written by: Daniel Bye
| Date: 18 November 2016 Time: 6:30pm Venue: Sunken Garden, NCPA (Nariman Point) |
Date: 19 November 2016 Time: 9pm Venue: Prithvi Theatre (Juhu) |
- Poetic License
Theatre and interactive talk show come together in Poetic License as we meet Marti, a creative writing professor on the brink of walking out on her life. Her sister, partially paralysed and brimming with humour, challenges the audience to examine desire in the context of eternity. Finally, their guardian angel arrives to help them and the audience navigate a journey away from paralysis.
Enter this funny, magical world where the poetry is edible, ruffian angels describe paradise and the audience is fed an unexpected, sumptuous meal. This one-woman performance by the playwright herself, introduces the audience to three very different personalities with split second costume changes and forceful performances.
Duration: 60mins; Written by: Erika Batdorf
| Date: 19 November 2016 Time: 2pm Venue: Godrej Theatre, NCPA (Nariman Point) |
Date: 20 November 2016 Time: 9pm Venue: Prithvi Theatre (Juhu) |
- The Ballads ofBant Singh
Nirupama Dutt interviews the subject of her inspiring biography, Bant Singh – an agricultural labour activist fighting against the power of the landowner. After the rape of his minor daughter, Bant Singh took the upper caste convicts to court. A few years later he was attacked, losing both his arms and one leg. Now, he sings songs of the woes of the poor, women, and revolution. The hour-long evening is interspersed with songs, conversations, and storytelling, celebrating the incredible spirit that is BantSingh, who will be joined by his daughter Baljit Kaur in a rare public appearance.
Duration: 60mins
| Date: 19 November 2016 Time: 6:30pm Venue: Sunken Garden, NCPA (Nariman Point) |
Date: 20 November 2016 Time: 6:30pm Venue: Prithvi Theatre (Juhu) |
- Mada’s Marvels Featuring Cardistry
This is a brilliant and charmingsleight-of-hand show. Adam Mada is a fresh and funny entertainer who stands at the front line of contemporary magic without turning his back on the golden era of grand illusionism. Adam’s original show is funny, interactive, smart, surprising, and a non-stop rollercoaster of entertainment. Mada has dropped the jaws of audiences from the Sydney Opera House to Las Vegas. His exciting, original and interactive stage performances ensure that the only word on everyone’s mind is “magic”! The must-watch spectacle will be performed by Adam Mada, Ash Hodgkinson, and Lukas Surya.
Duration: 70mins; Genre: Magic show
| Date: 18 November 2016 Time: 8pm Venue: Tata Theatre, NCPA (Nariman Point) |
- Women on Record
Welcome to the world of incredible women. Of the Salon, the tawaifs, stories, riddles, anecdotes, photographs, and songs of the black-and-white gramophone era. This multi-media presentation that uses music, theatre, and film is the story of the Baijis –women performers and divas – of the early twentieth century. Perhaps most audiences are familiar only with a few of the names, notably that of GauharJaan, from this era.
The show comes with invigorating vocal music that covers uplifting genres such as folk music, Thumri and Geet. There are also songs used in film, with anecdotes and videos that contain archival images. The performance has travelled to several cultural centres in India, South Asia, and England, and has received a heart-warming response. Watch this rendition by Vidya Shah to time travel the journey of women by women.
Duration: 60mins; Genre: Performance-presentation
| Date: 19 November 2016 Time: 8pm Venue: Tata Theatre, NCPA (Nariman Point) |
- Tribute to Roald Dahl
A staged reading of macabre and hilarious selections from one of the world’s favourite writers. Devised and performed by the NCPA Theatre Company.
Duration: 60mins; Genre: Staged reading
| Date: 17 November 2016 Time: 6:30pm Venue: Godrej Theatre, NCPA (Nariman Point) |
Date: 18 November 2016 Time: 9pm Venue: Prithvi Theatre (Juhu) |
For more details about Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest 2016, please visit:
- Festival website:tatalitlive.in
- Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/TataLitLive
- Twitter:https://twitter.com/TataLitLive
Entry to the festival will be free and on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Tata group is the title sponsor of Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest and Landmark is the book store partner. The festival is conceived by Anil Dharker, Founder and Festival Director of Literature Live!, which organises the festival with the support of the Tata group.
About the Tata group: Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata group is a global enterprise, headquartered in India, comprising over 100 independent operating companies. The group operates in more than 100 countries across six continents, with a mission ‘To improve the quality of life of the communities we serve globally, through long-term stakeholder value creation based on Leadership with Trust. Tata Sons is the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies. Sixty-six percent of the equity share capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts, which support education, health, livelihood generation and art and culture. In 2015-16, the revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $103 billion. These companies collectively employ over 660,000 people. Each Tata company or enterprise operates independently under the guidance and supervision of its own board of directors and shareholders. There are 29 publicly-listed Tata enterprises with a combined market capitalisation of about $116 billion (as on March 31, 2016). Tata companies with significant scale include Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Teleservices, Titan, Tata Communications and Indian Hotels.
About Literature Live!:Literature Live! is dedicated to celebrating the written word in all its glorious forms. From book launches, thought-provoking talks, literary evenings and author interactions to performances, book swaps, fiction and haiku contests, it offers Mumbai a chance to participate in the many joys of literature. It also organises Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest, Mumbai’s premier international literary festival. Now gearing up for its 7thedition from November 17th to November 20th, 2016. Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai International LitFest has become immensely popular because it looks at literature in a way that complements the spirit of Mumbai: energetic, cosmopolitan and all-inclusive. Over 130 writers, thinkers and performers from all over the world are expected to participate during its many events this year at the National Centre for Performing Arts and the Prithvi Theatre.