Esteban's Village
Dec 2017
Performer
A unique digital theatre production based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez' story – The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World.
A dead man washes up your shore. A handsome dead man. Is it strange? Probably. But what happens next?
This piece was devised from the text of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short story – The Handsomest Most Drowned Man in The World. Esteban's Village, as the piece was later titled, was created solely through online rehearsals by a team of performers spread out in 4 cities of India and simulcast in three different venues at the same time. Commissioned as part of Thespo 19 – India's largest youth theatre festival, the 10-minute performance was performed by an ensemble of actors from Pune, Guwahati and Delhi and was directed from Mumbai by Vikrant Dhote with Matthew Wesser as Technical Director.
As a fringe entry at the Festival, the piece kick-started a conversation about the scope of technology and multimedia in theatre.
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This project was my first tryst with virtual theatre, a full three years before the world stumbled upon COVID-19 and socially-distanced ways of theatre-making. Collaborating online with Matt and Vikrant in Mumbai, Laina in Guwahati and Advait in Pune was a deeply humbling experience as it was the first-time I was working with performers outside my home city. Adapting Marquez' text for an online-first performance was a challenge. We used illustrations, music and some bit of technological magic to recreate a live space. And we performed in the mecca of Indian Theatre – Prithvi!
Cast & Crew
Presented by Thespo 19
Directed by Vikrant Dhote
Technical Supervision by Matthew Wesser
Performed by Advait Rahalkar, Gaurav Singh, Laina Sangha
Production Managed by Suraj and Srishti
Production Overview
Premiere: 19 December 2017
No. Of Performances: 1
Running Length: 15 mins
Language: English, Hindi, Marathi, Gibberish
Staged at Prithi House, Prithvi Theatre Mumbai under Thespo 19.
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