The woman pioneer who composed landmark operas in India in defiance of music traditionalists

Shanno Khurana created ‘Sohni Mahiwal’, ‘Jahanara’ and more in the 1960s and ’70s, a time when classical vocal music was staunchly insular.

Malini Nair

· Mar 20, 2019 · 11:30 am

The director of the play cancelled in Jaipur explains why artists shouldn’t give in to the mob

Abhishek Majumdar has built a remarkable body of work in a decade. His plays sweep a wide arc, but they always talk of humanism and its fight against tyranny.

Malini Nair

· Mar 12, 2019 · 11:30 am

Carnatic music and a folk theatre form come together to push the stubborn lines of caste and gender

Performed recently in Mumbai, ‘Karnatic Kattaikkuttu’ allows ‘for an aesthetic exchange’, while retaining the integrity of the two diverse art forms.

Urmi Chanda-Vaz

· Jan 27, 2019 · 11:30 am

A new play shows a side of Bhagat Singh that politicians and Bollywood movies gloss over

Navtej Johar’s ‘Tanashah’ goes beyond the ‘sentimentalised perceptions’ of Singh and focuses on his own connect with the revolutionary.

Malini Nair

· Jan 09, 2019 · 03:30 pm

Set in the Sikh-American community, a New York play examines what it means to be American today

Award-winning playwright Jaclyn Backhaus’ ‘India Pale Ale’ talks about identity, difference and belonging.

Anu Kumar

· Nov 17, 2018 · 11:30 am

Aasif Mandvi on why his 20-year-old play is still relevant in Trump’s America

‘Sakina’s Restaurant is counter to what’s going on in our culture right now, where we want to dehumanise immigrants.’

Lavina Melwani

· Oct 29, 2018 · 11:30 am

Shurpanakha as an anti-hero: In Kerala’s theatre and classic texts, an epic wrong is set right

In a staging of the play ‘Shurpanakhankam’ in Delhi, the character was not a cardboard vamp – but the centrepiece.

Malini Nair

· Sep 26, 2018 · 11:30 am

‘Mahabharata’ doesn’t belong to one country or race – Peter Brook’s nine-hour play is proof of that

In the 1980s, when Indian audiences were watching BR Chopra’s TV series, a critically-acclaimed stage adaptation of the epic was touring the world.

Sanjukta Sharma

· Jun 14, 2018 · 11:30 am

The Jewish refugee who composed AIR’s theme is at the heart of a play about identity and music

‘The Music in our Blood’ examines modernity, tradition, motherhood, and human relationships through the characters of Walter Kauffman and Prema.

Sharanya Deepak

· Jun 06, 2018 · 11:30 am

On 125th anniversary of tiatr, a caricaturist looks back at the greats of Goa’s beloved theatre form

Tiatr has had a good run for more than a century. What might the future hold in store for it?

Arti Das

· May 10, 2018 · 11:50 am

Reality with a side of fun: Why Safdar Hashmi’s plays for children are still so loved and relevant

One of his plays tours Delhi government schools this month to mark National Street Theatre Day.

Malini Nair

· Apr 18, 2018 · 11:30 am

A director took a play about a violent yogi and an army of fanatics right to Adityanath’s Gorakhpur

Abhishek Majumdar’s ‘Muktidham’ is set in the 8th century AD and draws parallels between the past and the present.

Malini Nair

· Feb 22, 2018 · 11:30 am