mind of no mind: 2006

45. Dragonfly (2020) - Writer - co-Director along with Mallika Prasad - A hybrid play/film envisioned as a theatrical response to the Last Supper after Leonardo da Vinci by Vivek Vilasini, 2011. Dedicated to the resilience of performing artists braving on despite the Covid-19 global pandemic. Premiered digitally as part of the Art is Life Festival 2020.

44. Undaunted (2020) - A play based on research into India's maritime history, and the lives of "lascars" - South Asian sailors who served on board merchant vessels. The plays focuses on the first half of the twentieth century and seeks to render the maritime worker's consciousness, against the backdrop of a contemporary retreat from globalism. Awarded an India Foundation for the Arts Research Grant in 2019. Winner of the 2020 Sultan Padamsee Award for Playwriting.

43. The Indian War Rocket (2019) - w.i.p. - Historical monograph on the Indian War Rocket based on anthropological research. Seeking research grant and production support.

42. Monolith (2018) - Writer - A short story set in the aftermath of the Battle of Talikota as an alternative take on the destruction of Hampi. Published in Stories from Hampi House. Book released at the Times Lit Fest Mumbai in December 2018.

41. The Echo Chamber / Antigone (2017) - Writer - Cyberpunk and the timeless Greek classic by Sophocles come together in this exploration of human rights, the dangers of post-factual politics and how media echo chambers threaten to erode our democracy. Short list for the Sultan Padamsee Award for Playwriting 2018.

40. Terrarium (2017) - Writer - w.i.p. - Inspired by the episode in the Ramayana where Sita is held captive in the Ashok Vatika garden, this play uses an intercultural style of performance to tell the story of Hanuman’s rescue effort.

39. Vanguard (2016) - Writer - w.i.p. - Historical play set during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. Based on archival research at the India Office Records, British Library, London through a Charles Wallace India Trust Research Award 2014 awarded to AEIF. Rehearsed readings at National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) in October 2017 and the Bangalore International Centre (BIC) in February 2019.

38. Beyond the Bubble (2015) - Writer - Children's play about the importance of leadership set in a post-apocalyptic world. Addresses themes of disaster preparedness, gender equality and strategic foresight. Performed as part of Jagriti Theatre's Summer Carnival in May 2015.

37. I just can't wait to be me (2014) - Writer - Children's play about the importance of friendship and individuality.

36. Mall Wall (2014) - Co-creator - Experimental site-specific piece that combined aerial theatre, graffiti and performance art. Project employed a philosophy of guerrilla art and planted a 52 foot x 15 feet+ anti-consumerist message in a local shopping mall. The project re-articulated the memory of old Bangalore within its new consumer culture. Actors performed on a vertical stage. Awarded an India Foundation for the Arts P560 Grant in 2014.

35. Famous Last Words (2013) - Writer - Short play written in 24 hours with theatre community. Staged at Hyderabad University. Zany satire on capital punishment.

34. The Kick, the Quest, the Question (2013) - Writer - Children's play about the purpose of education and the praxis of change for the better.

33. Hidden in Plain Sight (2012,2021) - Co-written with Mallika Prasad, an experimental solo piece that explores breath, physicality, gender and identity. Mallika Prasad plays multiple characters and the piece revolves around the lives of several women against the backdrop of the city. Premiered in Studio 3, at Goldsmith's College, London. First show to be performed in two new "black box" venues at ITFOK 2013, Trishur and at the Winderemere Theatre, Bareilly. Commercial run at Jagriti Theatre, Bangalore - June 2013. Digital edition premiered in April 2021.

32. Around the world in 80 mins (2011) - Writer - Children's play, un-produced

31. Muse-i-cal Magic (2010) – Writer - Children's play about the importance of self-discovery.

30. Bust (2010) - Premiered in June 2010 at Ranga Shankara, Bangalore. Awarded a Robert Bosch Art Grant. Performed as part of the Bangalore Trilogy produced by AEIF in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai in July - Dec 2010.

29. Alone (2010) - Short play, unproduced.

28. Special 5 (2009) - Comic book series for telecom client, produced by Ka Designs.

27. Wanker (2009) - Short play, unproduced. Received the Toto Award for Creative Writing in 2010.

26. Project S.T.R.I.P. (2009) - Satire on the politics of development. Premiered in June in Mumbai. Performed at the Ranga Shankara Theatre Comedy Festival, Bangalore, November 2009. Performed at the Kala Ghoda Arts festival in Feb 2011. Performed in Calcutta. Still running house-full shows in Mumbai as of 2015. Rehearsed reading at Tara Arts London by Liminal Space Productions in July 2013. Translation into Kannada and German in progress as of 2020.

25. Slide (2008) – Short play written in response to the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on 26th November, 2008. Staged at NSD Sikkim. Received the Toto Award for Creative Writing in 2010.

24. Ultimate Kurukshetra (2003, 2008, 2010) - An ant's eye view of the Mahabharata. Developed at the Sangam House Residency, December 2009 under an Asif Currimbhoy Playwriting Fellowship. Awarded the Sultan Padamsee Award for Playwriting in August 2011. Premiered Bangalore in December 2018, produced by AEIF. Performed at the Esplanade Theatre in Singapore, as part of Kalaa Utsavam Festival in November 2019.

23. Rani ke Sena (2008) – AD on 30 minute documentary film commissioned by the NGO Srijjan, profiling the story of the women of Maitree, a successful rural enterprise in Rajasthan

22. Eras (a.k.a. Negotiating for Time) (2008) - Short play written on commission for the Karnataka State Dept. of Tourism

21. Creeper (2007) - Developed under a SARAI-CSDS Independant Fellowship. Premiered in Bangalore and Delhi in Oct-Dec 2007. Premiered in Chennai at the Metro Plus Theatre Festival in August 2008. Invited to Bharat Rang Mahotsav - the NSD Theatre Festival in Jan 2011. Translated into Marathi.

20. A long time ago, right now... (2007) - Children's play about the importance of value systems that reinterprets the story of Krishna and Sudhaama

19. The Speech (2007) - short film

18. Sigh (2007) - short film

17. Into Stone (2007) - developed at the Royal Court International Residency 2007. Un-produced. Long List on the Hindu MetroPlus Playwright Award 2009

16. A Dog's Life (2006) - Children's play about co-operation that reinterprets Romeo and Juilet with dogs in the lead roles.

15. Loosing Lucy (2006) - musical, unproduced.

14. Glass (2006) - work in progress - film adaptation of stage play Dancing on Glass.

13. Crab (2006) - Premiered as Part of Writers’ Bloc 2 at the Prithvi Theatre - Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival, October 2007 - Rehearsed reading at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in Feb 2011. Rehearsed reading by British Council in Chennai and Bangalore, March 2017. Published in Sight Lines by Hachette India.

12. Teddy Bear (a.k.a. Worm) (2005) – incomplete.

11. Snakes & Ladders (2005) – A contemporary spin on Christopher Marlowe's classic Dr. Faustus set in a college rave party, where the Faustain pact with the devil becomes a comment on substance abuse. (January 2005 - July 2005 - August 2005 - won five inter-collegiate awards over thirteen shows)

10. Rubbish (2005) - Short play, unproduced. Received the Special Jury Commendation in Creative Writing, January 2009 at the TFA Awards.

9. Dancing on Glass (2004) – Experimental multiple-format performance (Premiered at Black Coffee Theatre Festival, July 2004 - Performed at World Information City, November 2005 and Bangalore Habba Theatre Festival, December 2005 and December 2009. Commercial runs between 2007-2010. Discussed as part of the Performance Studies International Conference held at NYU in November 2007. Performed by Theatre Rasa Nova in San Francisco October 2010 and in Los Angeles in June 2011 - Nominated for 6 META Awards in March 2011. An extract of Dancing on Glass was published in Multiple City - Writings on Bangalore by Penguin India

8. Forgotten Song (a.k.a. WarSong) (2003) - w.i.p. see Ultimate Kurukshetra

7. There is No Spoon! (2003) - 35 minute short film, made as part of Third-year Media Project at Christ College (February 2003)

6. WE ARE WATER (2003) - Radio play developed through virtual workshop. (Broadcast on BBC World Service Drama, May 2003 - Rehearsed reading at Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court, London, July 2003)

5. Straitblackjacket (2002) - Written on commission from Artistes' Repertory Theatre (ARTY (Artistes' Repertory Theatre Youth) Annual Summer Workshop Production, July 2002)

4. Minus One (2002) - Writing credit on Bollywood feature film Minus One. (Premiered May 2005).

3. Flash! (2002) – Written on commission, unproduced

2. The Dead Metaphor (2001) - Experimental production (Thespo III - Bangalore and Mumbai, December 2001 - Outstanding Original Script Award, Thespo III – Christ College, Jan 2002)

1. Square Root of Minus One (2001) - Culmination of workshop process conducted by the RCT (StageRite Theatre Festival, October 2002) Square Root of Minus One published in StageRite Seven First by Samuel French Ltd.

Early Works - One Acts, Sketches, School plays (1996-2000)

11. Nedsity (2000) - incomplete

10. Arcana : The Secrets Of Catharsis (1999) - NIE Times Playfest '99 (Best Poster)

9. Amazing Stunts With No Plot (1998) - Prize Day '98

8. Plagued (1998) - Inter-House Dramatics '98 (Best Play)

7. Storm (a.k.a. Untitled So Far) (1998) - NIE Times Playfest '98 (Best Play, Best Costumes), Public Show '98

6. G-Factor (1997) - Inter-House Dramatics '97 (Best Play)

5. Remember The Time (1997) - Whistance '97 (Best Play)

4. Mob Mentality (1997) - Cascade '97 (Second Best Play)

3. Chateau de La Indigestion (1997) - Graduation Day '97, Fresher's Day '98

2. Topaz - The Making Of a Movie (1996) - Inter-House Dramatics '96 (Best Play)

1. Omlet (1996) - Whistance '96 (Second Best Play), Teachers Day '96, Prize Day '98

*
I went climbing. Two thousand feet above the sea. In the clouds. And in the clouds there was a ladder. A single ladder. Starting from no where and going upwards to nowhere. I cried and cried because I could not climb it.
* Faustus from Snakes & Ladders

*
You think I'm a cold hearted bitch don’t you? I'm not. I'm practical. I've stopped reading this stuff. "Child gets electrocuted, farmer commits suicide, plane crashes, trains collide, woman gang raped."And you don't give a shit. Read the comics, do the crossword. Then one day, "Boyfriend smashed by lorry." And you can't ignore it."Died alone. Future cancelled. Survived by bereaved bitch. Plans of marriage dashed. Dreams gone absconding."Why can't it be someone else?
* Megha from Dancing on Glass

*
See I'm lumbering along right. And we're done clearing one section of trees. All of a sudden we hear shouts of "Fire fire!" And we all freak out and begin the emergency procedures. We run the elephants to the river and get them to spray water on the trees. To prevent the fire from burning the lumber stores. And then we see it. Hell would have been cooler. No licking tongues of fire, no dancing flames. This wave of super heated air sweeps in and everything explodes. One minute tree. Next minute whoomp and there's an outline in flames and then it falls. Everything started going up! Four hundred year old trees explode. Molten sap flies all over the place and lands on screaming men and panic stricken elephants. The men nearest the tree line light up like leaves and fall to ashes. That was hellfire… that was volcanic wrath eating the trees. And who should come walking along doing his cool hero walk through the inferno with his magnificent bow?
* Daksha from WarSong

*
Stay with me. Just over that way is a tiny plateau. It’s off the main path. There’s a heart shaped aquifer there. Gorgeous. A little heart shaped, cool waters. With the moon on it, the surface looks like crystal. I’ve pitched my tent there. I’m staying the night.
* Zamiel from Crab

*
I wanted to see why they say cats always landed on their feet. So I used to throw Kitty off of different heights, to see how she landed. One night I climbed up on the roof with her and threw her into the pool from there. The problem was that my Dad had drained the pool that day while I had been at school so I didn’t know about it. And you can’t make out at night because the pool lights were off. So instead of splosh! I hear patchack_
* Pandu from Square Root of Minus One

*
You are lying. You are a liar. You are a liar because you are lying. You are lying because you are a liar. Is that true?
* Agent Orange from There is No Spoon!

*
The game is such. Now what’s important is that they find you. You must not find them. It defeats the purpose of this mad quest. If there is such thing in the world. Any world. Ah! Alas! Fie on it! S’wounds. S’blood. The existential angst that hovers around us like a gloomy mist, often curls around and about the spirit like strings of phlegm spewing out in slow motion as you sneeze. In such circumstances we must travel the world, travel the worlds, in search of that one blissful truth which will still the soul like a hiccup that happens just when you’re swallowing water. Hic. Ah! Alas! Fie on it! S’wounds. S’blood.
* Fu from Straitblackjacket

*
Perhapsthereturntotheprimordialsoupisnotmetaphoricalinthesensethatthereturntothe basicsisnotwithoutsomequandaryconundrumquasiquantumquestquestioningsoulscorching (pause) dilemma. The sacred cow is my nemesis.
* Khan from Rubbish

*
The carnival was life. But with time, life slowed down. One day three people were on the Ferris wheel. They fell asleep. The Ferris wheel fell off its hinges and rolled away. It left two spokes sticking out of the ground. There was a bright flash of light.
* 17 from The Dead Metaphor

mind of no mind

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Premier of Crab

Thursday, July 13, 2006

RGK Chronology of Work

Early Works - One Acts, Sketches, School plays (1996-2000)

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Lost in worlds - Excerpts