Conceived by ThinkArts and supported by Parag, an Initiative of Tata Trusts, Play / Write was an online residency programme for writers across India, to create new plays in English & Hindi for young audiences.
The Play / Write project supported 2 residents writing in English and 2 residents writing in Hindi with a grant of INR 30,000, alongside consistent support and guidance online for the duration of the residency through April to July 2021. The residency included masterclasses, individual sessions with the mentor and group meetings. The programme culminated with the 4 new plays created by the residents published by Eklavya Publications.
The programme was launched with the Play / Write webinar, hosted on Sunday, 28 February 2021. It addressed playwriting for young audiences and its multiple aspects, with speakers Finegan Kruckemeyer, Shaili Sathyu, and Shailaja Srinivasan, who unpacked dimensions of writing in various languages and contexts. The speakers shared their experiences with and discussed the nuances of writing for young audiences.
We are delighted to have on board as our mentors, Jennifer Medway (for English) and Shaili Sathyu (for Hindi). The mentors will guide the residents for the duration of the residency, and provide feedback for the preparation of the final manuscript.
Award winning Australian playwright, Finegan Kruckemeyer will conduct the first masterclass with all 4 residents, and a subsequent session with two children’s authors from India will be held to provide a deeper understanding of various aspects of writing for young audiences.
The participation of the Australian experts, Finegan Kruckemeyer and Jennifer Medway is supported by Australian High Commission in India.
The call for applications for writers to apply for the playwriting residency saw an overwhelming response from writers and artists all across the country. The 4 residents were selected and announced on Sunday, 28th March 2021.
The Play / Write project supported 2 residents writing in English and 2 residents writing in Hindi with a grant of INR 30,000, alongside consistent support and guidance online for the duration of the residency through April to July 2021. The residency included masterclasses, individual sessions with the mentor and group meetings. The programme culminated with the 4 new plays created by the residents published by Eklavya Publications.
The programme was launched with the Play / Write webinar, hosted on Sunday, 28 February 2021. It addressed playwriting for young audiences and its multiple aspects, with speakers Finegan Kruckemeyer, Shaili Sathyu, and Shailaja Srinivasan, who unpacked dimensions of writing in various languages and contexts. The speakers shared their experiences with and discussed the nuances of writing for young audiences.
We are delighted to have on board as our mentors, Jennifer Medway (for English) and Shaili Sathyu (for Hindi). The mentors will guide the residents for the duration of the residency, and provide feedback for the preparation of the final manuscript.
Award winning Australian playwright, Finegan Kruckemeyer will conduct the first masterclass with all 4 residents, and a subsequent session with two children’s authors from India will be held to provide a deeper understanding of various aspects of writing for young audiences.
The participation of the Australian experts, Finegan Kruckemeyer and Jennifer Medway is supported by Australian High Commission in India.
The call for applications for writers to apply for the playwriting residency saw an overwhelming response from writers and artists all across the country. The 4 residents were selected and announced on Sunday, 28th March 2021.
Genesis
ThinkArts has been presenting theatre for young audiences since 2013, primarily in Kolkata but also to children in schools across India, by collaborating with partners. It has presented over 150 shows of productions by companies from India and abroad.
It has also produced three plays for children - Kaath (an adaptation Woodbeat by Helios Theater, Germany), Enemy Pudding (created in collaboration with Jhalapla, based on a book Enemy Pie by Derek Munson), The Lonely King & Queen (based on the book of the same name, written by Deepa Balsavar).
In our experience in these years, we rarely came across a children's play from India that had been written in recent times. Of course there are some very lovely devised pieces that have been made and many adaptations from older scripts or from children's books.
We at ThinkArts also curate the annual Junior Kolkata Literary Meet and have read quite a lot of new writing for children by authors in India. The children's literature scene in India (particularly writing in English) has really grown in the last few years but one doesn't really come across plays for children.
So it seemed like a natural step in the trajectory to want to address the gap - but we didn't want to organise yet another workshop and felt a project that would look at developing a new play, integrated with facilitation with a theatre group, and then being performed ( staged reading to begin with) in front of the target audience would perhaps allow the project to create a deeper impact. As an organisation that strives to enable engaging theatre experiences for young audiences, ThinkArts has conceived this project to encourage the practice of reading plays in young readers, and to re-invigorate the field of playwriting for young audiences in India.
ThinkArts has been presenting theatre for young audiences since 2013, primarily in Kolkata but also to children in schools across India, by collaborating with partners. It has presented over 150 shows of productions by companies from India and abroad.
It has also produced three plays for children - Kaath (an adaptation Woodbeat by Helios Theater, Germany), Enemy Pudding (created in collaboration with Jhalapla, based on a book Enemy Pie by Derek Munson), The Lonely King & Queen (based on the book of the same name, written by Deepa Balsavar).
In our experience in these years, we rarely came across a children's play from India that had been written in recent times. Of course there are some very lovely devised pieces that have been made and many adaptations from older scripts or from children's books.
We at ThinkArts also curate the annual Junior Kolkata Literary Meet and have read quite a lot of new writing for children by authors in India. The children's literature scene in India (particularly writing in English) has really grown in the last few years but one doesn't really come across plays for children.
So it seemed like a natural step in the trajectory to want to address the gap - but we didn't want to organise yet another workshop and felt a project that would look at developing a new play, integrated with facilitation with a theatre group, and then being performed ( staged reading to begin with) in front of the target audience would perhaps allow the project to create a deeper impact. As an organisation that strives to enable engaging theatre experiences for young audiences, ThinkArts has conceived this project to encourage the practice of reading plays in young readers, and to re-invigorate the field of playwriting for young audiences in India.
OUR MENTORS
Jennifer Medway
Jennifer Medway is an Australian dramaturg. She has been Melbourne Theatre Company’s (MTC) Literary Associate since 2017 and a practising dramaturg for the past decade. As well as being a freelance dramaturg she has previously been Resident Dramaturg at the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP), Associate Artist- Dramatugy at Belvoir, Literary Assistant also at Belvoir, Studio Artist at Griffin Theatre Company, Co-Artistic Director of the Crack Theatre Festival and script assessor and dramaturg for the former new play development company Playwriting Australia. As a course creator and facilitator Jennifer has worked with artists from their first forays into creative practice right up to some of Australia’s most experienced professional artists. As well as working at MTC, Jennifer currently works as a freelance dramaturg for independent artists and mainstage theatre companies alongside raising her four month old son, Fred. |
Shaili Sathyu
Shaili Sathyu is a theatre practitioner from Bombay, India. She is the Artistic Director of Gillo Repertory Theatre, an organization that specializes in Theatre for Young Audiences. As a playwright, her works include over ten plays, some adapted from published stories and others developed through workshops with Gillo artists. These include 'Kyun-KyunLadki', 'Mister Jeejeebhoy and the Birds', 'She-He-Shey', ‘Gulaabo Aur Parizad’ and 'Chidiya, Udd!', among others. Shaili writes in Hindustani and English. Since 2003, she has conducted creative drama and theatre workshops for children and teachers across India. Under her leadership, Gillo Repertory Theatre has produced more than 20 plays, staged over 500 shows and reached over 110000 children in India. Shaili is a recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar from the Sangeet Natak Akademi. She has served as the Honorary Secretary of ASSITEJ India chapter (The International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People) for two years. |
MASTERCLASS - WEDNESDAY, 7 APRIL 2021
Finegan Kruckemeyer
Finegan has had 98 commissioned plays performed on six continents and translated into eight languages. His work has enjoyed seasons in over 200 international festivals and in 2018, he was the most-produced playwright of original children’s theatre in the US.
His work has received 37 awards, including the Mickey Miners Lifetime Achievement Award for international Theatre for Young Audiences, David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Australian Playwrighting, seven Australian Writers Guild Awards and an inaugural Sidney Myer Fellowship. He has spoken at conferences in ten countries, with papers published and works studied at international universities.
He is committed to making strong and respectful work for young people, which acknowledges them as astute audience members outside the plays, and worthy subjects within.
Finegan Kruckemeyer
Finegan has had 98 commissioned plays performed on six continents and translated into eight languages. His work has enjoyed seasons in over 200 international festivals and in 2018, he was the most-produced playwright of original children’s theatre in the US.
His work has received 37 awards, including the Mickey Miners Lifetime Achievement Award for international Theatre for Young Audiences, David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Australian Playwrighting, seven Australian Writers Guild Awards and an inaugural Sidney Myer Fellowship. He has spoken at conferences in ten countries, with papers published and works studied at international universities.
He is committed to making strong and respectful work for young people, which acknowledges them as astute audience members outside the plays, and worthy subjects within.
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OUR RESIDENTS
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Amulya B
(For playwriting in English) Amulya is a writer, translator and a theatre enthusiast based in Bengaluru. She has worked with various theatre troupes in Karnataka like Vijayanagara Bimba, Benaka, Abhinaya Taranga as a young actor. In 2019-2020, she was part of Bhasha Centre’s Playwriting course. She is also the winner of Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) Award in both English and Kannada creative writing for the year 2021. About Amulya's Play Remember, Remember What does it mean to lose an object, a home, a life that you always knew? In Remember, Remember, the lives of two people who are compelled to look after lost objects of the world, one day encounter a boy, who claims to be lost. In a world where you no longer have land to dig your roots in, is it possible to spread your wings? Suitable Age Group: 10+ |
Deepti Vashistha
(For playwriting in Hindi) Deepti is an actor, Theatre practitioner and documentary filmmaker. She is an Alumni of National School of Drama, TIE Wing, Tripura. Her career has spanned nearly two decades. She has conducted several workshops for children. Her first documentary film Unsung courage was on gender discrimination. Deepti’s most recent documentary, Unne-Caesarean was screened at the US Embassy, Mumbai. Deepti is a long-time member of Haryana Gyan Vigyan Samiti, a socio-cultural organization and Haryana Vigyan Manch, a state wide organisation working in science with children and society. Since 2018 she has been a Fellow of the Change.org Foundation program, “She CreatesChange.” About Deepti's Play फँस गया पेंचा यह नाटक किशोर उम्र के लड़के लड़कियों के दिलोदिमाग़ में मौजूद कश्मकश और लगातार चलते अन्तर्विरोधों के बारे में है। परिवार और समाज की उनसे अपेक्षाएँ और इसके बीच के अन्तर्द्वन्द्व को नाटक बीच में लाता है। नाटक किशोर किशोरियों तथा अभिभावकों से ना केवल संवाद स्थापित करता है उन्हें चर्चा में भी भागीदार बनाता है। आयु वर्ग- 12 से 16 साल |
Nayantara Nayar
(For playwriting in English) Nayantara Nayar is a playwright, researcher, and storyteller from Chennai, India. Her research interests include urban spaces, memory, and ecological crises. Her play ‘The Lottery’ was short-listed for the Hindu PlayWriting Award 2018 and workshopped by Rage Theatre Mumbai and Traverse Theatre Edinburgh for the Fringe in 2019. Her play ‘The Body’ was commissioned by Rage Theatre and Enacte Theatre, California for their 2021 New Writing Festival. Her ongoing projects include the performance + visual art project 'Limits of Change' – part of this project, titled 'Chicken Run' was presented at the Chennai Photo Biennale 2021-22– and a playscript centred on concepts of control and freedom for the India- Ireland Writing Without Borders program. A Chevening and CHASE funded scholar, Nayantara is currently completing her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where she also teaches. Her research areas are playwriting and urban water crises. About Nayantara's Play The Sometimes River The world has ended. The people of the caves know this for sure. As the last living creatures on earth, they survive in the vast cave systems under the scrublands of South India, but barely. A terrible illness threatens those who venture into the sun, water is growing scarce, and there's the deadly monster in the deepest caves, waiting to devour them. Revathi just wants to survive, but when her brother Varun gets pulled into a furious fight about the future of their people, a very unwilling Revathi is forced to go on a dangerous journey that might just be the end of them all. Suitable Age Group: 12-17 |
Upasana
(For playwriting in Hindi) Upasana writes stories, poetry, nonfiction, and other genres. Among all the stories being written for different age groups, gender, and class she writes stories that are not been told yet. Writing for children is her passion. She is a trained painter and amateur illustrator. She was the recipient of Bharatiya Jnanpith's Young Writer Award 2014 for her first short stories collection. There are two more prestigious awards in Hindi literature to her credit. She regularly writes for different age groups in newspapers and magazines and participates in writing workshops and seminars. She has published two short story collections titled "Ek Zindagi Ek Script Bhar!! (Bhartiya Jnanpith)" and "Dariya Bandar Kot (Hindyugm Publication)" and a novel for Children & "Desk par Likhe Naam (National Book Trust)". About Upasana's Play बैंगन नहीं आए 'बैगन नहीं आए' छोटे बच्चों के लिए एक नाटक है, लेकिन परिवार में बच्चों की पहचान पर अपने बड़ों को प्रतिबिंबित करने की कोशिश करता है। नाटक उनके परिवार में बच्चों की स्थितियों के बारे में बताता है कि वे किसी भी निर्णय लेने की प्रक्रिया से कैसे बाहर हैं। परिवार का एक अभिन्न अंग होने के बावजूद, निर्णय प्रक्रियाओं पर संवाद करने का स्थान जिसके माध्यम से वे सीधे प्रभावित होते हैं, सिकुड़ गया है। कभी-कभी यह मानकर कि वे इस तरह की प्रक्रिया के लिए बहुत छोटे हैं, महत्वपूर्ण निर्णय लेते समय उन पर विचार भी नहीं किया जाता है और उन पर निर्णय थोप दिया जाता है। आयु वर्ग- 6 से 12 साल |
