About Our Theatre Collective

Our Theatre Collective is an independent theatre collective, registered as a charitable trust, based out of Bangalore. Established in 2009, we have been creating multilingual original works for over 13 years, with a strong focus on facilitating various training programs for upcoming and practising actors and theatre-makers. Our Theatre Collective has an interest in understanding the role theatre plays within community building. Our production ‘See Saw’ was a performance-based intervention centred around community issues in public spaces. Our ongoing work in community engagement is conducted at our studio space in Koramangala, Bengaluru,  where we invite reflective performances and conduct training programs and workshops. We also offer the space for rehearsals to other theatre troupes. The studio also engages in discussions on the intersection of film and theatre with our bi-monthly film screenings, By the Copper Pod.

We rely on our communities to support our work, and we need your help to get our show ‘Imagine A Room’ onstage in June 2022.

About the play, journey & process

Synopsis
'Imagine a Room' unfolds in a land of no time and no name, where four people believe they are under government protection. But a mysterious presence in the room starts to create ruptures in this “safe space”. The walls become porous, the room starts turning on its axis, and the characters find themselves slipping in and out of stories, legends, and songs - forcing them to confront their fears of what lies outside the room. As the characters negotiate this constantly shifting space, moving in and out of it, we are invited to reflect on our own understandings of safety and freedom.

The Journey
Imagine a Room is an experiment in working, thinking and creating as a collective. The play was built by a team of writers, a director and a shifting cast of actors who have all contributed to the form and content of the play over the last two years.
 
At the beginning, the writers were given a small design note - five actors, no blackouts, a tussle between the individual and the collective. The process was iterative, and each iteration of writing would go through the director and actors, via workshops leading to performances at the studio for invited audiences.
 
The Process
The process has been one of intensive immersion at various points over the last two years. We had to deal with 'pandemic-time' – its erratic pace, interruptions and long durations of isolation, but we have kept the desire to make this play alive. We have had three workshops so far - a 5-day workshop in January (2020), a 14-day workshop in November (2021), and a 5-day workshop in March (2022) at Our Theatre Studio. These day-long rehearsals, where we cooked food and shared our meals together,  allowed us to expand the space of the workshop beyond the objective of the play. Every rehearsal begins in the morning with physical training, followed by the preparation of the daily meal, and then a couple of hours working with the text. At the time of writing, we have identified possible performance venues, and are all set to begin a rigorous 5-week process that will culminate in open stage showings in Bangalore.
 
 
The Gallery
 
Cast & Crew
Written by: Shruthi Menon and Prashant Parvatneni
Director: Vivek Vijayakumaran
Assistant Director: Sachin Ravindran and Nitin Sharma

Actors:
Lakshmana KP
Abhitej Gupta
Shrunga B V
Kavya Srinivasan
Honey Raza

Lights Design: Subodha Subrahmanya
Sound design: Ayush Gupta
Set and prop design: Nitin Sharma
Costumes: Aastha Kejriwal
Production Manager: Nidhi Joshi

Acknowledgements: Ajithlal Sivalal, Sreehari Ajith, Varsha Suresh Kumar, Sannidhi Surop, Vaishnavi Ram, Leya Mammen, Ujwala Rao, Vijay Benecha
 
Budget