Archive for 'Theater'

Parsi Theater Revival

Posted 22 August 2009 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Theater | 1 Comment

A dearth of new scripts may have theatre veteran Sam Kerawalla worried about the decline of Parsi theatre, but on the eve of Parsi New Year, he’s decided to leave Mumbai laughing with a 1970s play, Shapurji Na Tapela Saaf
Originally written in 1970 by late writer-director Adi Marzban, Shapurji Na Tapela Saaf "has a [...]

The Influence of Early Parsi Theater

Posted 19 August 2009 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Film, Theater | No Comments

The early influences of Parsi Theater on the film scene today…
The dominance of Urdu has a lot to do with the origins of the film industry in Bombay. There were roughly two major influences — the first influence was from Bengal. Movies made under The New Theatre seemed more like Bengali movies with Hindi dialogues. [...]

Playwright Meher Pestonji: Feeding Crows

Posted 04 August 2009 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Theater | No Comments

The small Parsi community has often presented a universal picture, albeit with the help of Parsi writers. The latest voice to join this force belongs to Meher Pestonji. This Mumbai-based writer’s play Feeding Crows has emerged as the runner-up of BBC’s International Radio Playwriting Competition and the winner for the South Asia segment.
“I came [...]

Tales from Firozsha Baag now a play in New Zealand

Posted 17 June 2009 | By Mehernaaz Sam Wadia | Categories: Theater | 1 Comment

Indian Newslink from NZ reports
A play around migration and its conflicts is at the heart of an ambitious new project of the Auckland based theatre group Prayas.
Following the success of its earlier productions including Charan Das Chor by Habib Tanvir, and The Terrace by Madhu Rye, the group decided to write and stage [...]

Sohrab Wadia: Jihad The Musical

Sohrab Wadia: Jihad The Musical

Posted 04 March 2009 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Theater | No Comments

Sorab Wadia sings the part of Hussein Al Mansour in the Edinburgh Fringe Production of JIHAD THE MUSICAL.   

Costumes by Deb O.  Choreography by Bethany Samuelson.  See www.jihad-the-musical.com for more information about the production.

Gustadji Ghode Chadhya

Posted 16 February 2009 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Theater | No Comments

Surprise is the spice of drama. “Don’t think Gustadji is going to ride a horse in the play as a groom,” director of Gustadji Ghode Chadhya’ Yazdi Karanjia tells the audience, “one rides different kinds of horses. The one Gustadji rides is his jidd’ (stubbornness).” The two and a half hour long play gave a [...]

Nazneen Contractor’s long, strange trip to ‘The Border’

Posted 05 November 2008 | By Shirin Kumaana-Wadia | Categories: Film, Individuals, Theater | No Comments

As customs agent Layla Hourani on “The Border” — which airs Mondays on CBC Television — Nazneen Contractor is almost a genre of one.
Hourani defies both the Western stereotype of the submissive Muslim woman and the Muslim stereotype of the fast, loose Western female.
“Layla is someone who is assimilated and entrenched [...]

Gieve Patel: Mister Behram

Posted 21 October 2008 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Individuals, Theater | No Comments

Mister Behram and Other Plays puts the spotlight on Gieve Patel, the dramatist
Decades have passed since the talented cast and crew of Princes, Savaksa and Mister Behram took a bow. Their stage run might come to a halt, but their life on the shelf has just begun. The three plays, written by Gieve [...]

Avesthagen and Mallika Sarabhai present “And They Came to India”

Posted 19 September 2008 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Theater | No Comments

Avesthagen Limited, India’s leading Life Sciences Company brings to you, in association with Mallika Sarabhai and Darpana, an original dance theatre performance celebrating the historic journey of the Parsis titled “And They Came To India”. Of the many different people who have migrated to India over the centuries, one group that stands out for its [...]

A regrettable concession to fanaticism

Posted 16 September 2008 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Theater | No Comments

In light of the recent furore in Bombay over the Jaya Bacchan remarks, here is a nice piece on Adi Marzban and the parsi nataks of yore.
Of what utility is the fundamental right of free speech if in reality there is no freedom after speech? The same disturbing trend is discernible in the furious objection [...]

And Then They Came To India: Dance Theatre

Posted 08 September 2008 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Theater | 1 Comment

Histories and memories always had the best stories to tell. Stories that were inspirations and eye-openers, stories made of realities and half-truths. And stories that could unfurl in movements and melodies. Such a story, it is, of the Parsi community in India and danseuse Mallika Sarabhai lost no time in unearthing the potential for a [...]

Bollywood’s Best Bawas

Posted 24 March 2008 | By Shirin Kumaana-Wadia | Categories: Film, Theater | No Comments

Perhaps one of the most tolerant and accommodating communities in India, Parsis have often been at the receiving end of humour. And if there’s someone who has cashed in maximum moolah by adding a Parsi flavour to their products, it’s undoubtedly Bollywood. Over the years, we have seen innumerable bawas making us laugh from behind [...]

Of Parsi and modern Hindi theatre

Posted 18 August 2007 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Art, India, Theater | No Comments

PATNA: When it comes to setting standards in theatre, every Bihari Hindi theatre artist or director invokes the lessons learnt at the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi. Ironically, contemporary practitioners of Bihari theatre have reservations about NSD performing plays based on Parsi theatre tradition.
Why and how has it happened? “To say the least, [...]

“Memoirs of Zarir” in Tehran

Posted 20 April 2007 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Art, Theater | No Comments

Iranian director and actor Qotbeddin Sadeqi plans to stage “The Memoirs of Zarir” at the Chaharsu Hall of Tehran’s City Theater Complex in the near future.

His troupe, consisting of Mikaiil Shahrestani, Amir-Yal Arjomand, Ashkan Jenabi, and several other artists, is currently rehearsing the play, which is written by Sadeqi and based on an ancient Iranian [...]

Parsi theatre academy to come up in Surat

Posted 12 February 2007 | By arzan sam wadia | Categories: Theater | No Comments

To breathe a new life into Parsi theatre in the state, the first ever Parsi theatre academy in the country will start functioning soon in Surat. The academy is expected to play a crucial role in promoting theatre activities, specifically among schoolchildren.
The brain behind the academy, Yezdi Karanjia — who has been staging Parsi plays [...]

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