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Introduction
Greetings folks, we are ‘The Actors Collective’ a 7 year old theatre group based in Bangalore, with a legacy of 29 committed years in the theatre. The Actors Collective is run by Rajesh P.I, a theatre practitioner since 1993.
Rajesh left a corporate career in 2000 to devote his life fully to theatre. In the last 29 years, Rajesh has directed numerous productions, trained thousands of students in educational institutions, corporates, NGO’s and the general public. Rajesh brings in a blend of spirituality & healing into his work. He is ably supported by a core team comprising Anshul Jhambani (Theatre Practitioner and Hypnotherapist), Sunil Vijendra (Life Coach & IT Professional), Honey Raza (Theatre practitioner) and a team of enthusiastic theatre followers.
Our latest theatre production ‘The Mahabharata Project’ is a psychological investigation into key characters of the great epic. We look at what were the inner voices that they listened to or were guided by while making key decisions - good or bad. For this, we have used the material on ‘Positive Intelligence’ by Stanford Professor Shirzad Chamine. In Positive Intelligence, a psychological concept, the basis is that we are governed by inner saboteurs or inner voices that operate from a space that cripples our journey. These are Hyper vigilant, Hyper achiever, Stickler, Pleaser, Avoider, Controller, Victim, Hyper rational, Restless and Judge. On the other hand, we have the inner sage which is the voice of reason, empowerment, curiousity and adventure. What voices we ultimately listen to, determines our journey.We used the tools of Positive Intelligence to study Yudhishtira, Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, Kunti, Gandhari, Bhima, Arjuna, Krishna, Karna, Duryodhana and Shikhandi and how they were influenced by it. Krishna represented the Sage in all its manifestations and was an example in making empowered and right choices in life. The others were governed by the saboteurs and either succumbed to them or transcended them.
While we stay faithful to the original story, we take creative liberty based on the available text on what their possible thought processes may have been. In that sense this has been a fresh re-telling of ‘The Mahabharata’ in the context of mental health and well-being.
To make the production a great viewing experience we have used multiple tools like body theatre, storytelling, poetry, Hindustani music, contemporary dance, multiple languages and Kalaripayattu.
Rajesh P.I. has always been an ardent fan of The Mahabharata. This is his devoted offering.
What we have done so far
We have performed 5 performances of this production as a work in progress to about 400 audience members at Bangalore Creative Circus and VYOMA Artspace & Theatre Studio, Bangalore in September and November ‘22. In these performances we focused only on the stories of Yudhishtira, Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, Kunti, Shikhandi and Bhima. The responses were overwhelming. We had housefull performances every time we performed and people found the production inspiring. Thanks to these performances, a new set of audience members have started reading ‘The Mahabharata’ for the first time.
We rehearsed for about two months in July and August with a group of 16 actors. With each run of performances, our plan is to add more characters from the Mahabharata and explore their stories. Our next run of performances are slated for January. We have also collaborated with VKM Kalari of Thiruvananthapuram for the Kalari inputs in the production. Three times National champion Ambareesh K.K, founder of VKM Kalari also performs in this production.
Why is this work important?
What we plan to do
We plan to take ‘The Mahabharata Project’ to more audiences to different venues within the city and other parts of the country for a minimum period of 2 years.This is a production that more people need to watch. We also are in the process of developing the production further with more characters.
What we require
Presently none of the actors have been paid for their efforts. All proceeds generated from ticket sales have gone into sustaining the production for the shows. Ticket sales alone will not suffice to run this production. It will only go into covering working costs per production.
We are aiming to raise INR 10 Lakhs, which will be a corpus fund for this production. About 4 lakhs will go into payments of the performing team. The remainder will be kept as a corpus fund and support the production when it falls short of funds.
Break-up of Expenses (Incurred)
1. Ticket Proceeds from 5 shows (priced at 350/ticket)1,16,000
2. Expenses incurred for 5 shows (Venue, Brochure, Make-up, Costumes, Misc. ) - INR 1,50,000
3. Payment for performing artists (rehearsals and shows from July-Dec 2022) (Pending) - INR 3,00,000
Break-up of Expenses (Estimated)
1. Ticket Proceeds from 2 shows (priced at 450 / ticket) - INR 65,000
2. Estimated expenses for 2 shows (Venue, Brochure, Make-up, Costumes, Misc.) - INR 56,000
3. Estimated cost for the performing team for 2 shows - INR 74,000
Greetings folks, we are ‘The Actors Collective’ a 7 year old theatre group based in Bangalore, with a legacy of 29 committed years in the theatre. The Actors Collective is run by Rajesh P.I, a theatre practitioner since 1993.
Rajesh left a corporate career in 2000 to devote his life fully to theatre. In the last 29 years, Rajesh has directed numerous productions, trained thousands of students in educational institutions, corporates, NGO’s and the general public. Rajesh brings in a blend of spirituality & healing into his work. He is ably supported by a core team comprising Anshul Jhambani (Theatre Practitioner and Hypnotherapist), Sunil Vijendra (Life Coach & IT Professional), Honey Raza (Theatre practitioner) and a team of enthusiastic theatre followers.
Our latest theatre production ‘The Mahabharata Project’ is a psychological investigation into key characters of the great epic. We look at what were the inner voices that they listened to or were guided by while making key decisions - good or bad. For this, we have used the material on ‘Positive Intelligence’ by Stanford Professor Shirzad Chamine. In Positive Intelligence, a psychological concept, the basis is that we are governed by inner saboteurs or inner voices that operate from a space that cripples our journey. These are Hyper vigilant, Hyper achiever, Stickler, Pleaser, Avoider, Controller, Victim, Hyper rational, Restless and Judge. On the other hand, we have the inner sage which is the voice of reason, empowerment, curiousity and adventure. What voices we ultimately listen to, determines our journey.While we stay faithful to the original story, we take creative liberty based on the available text on what their possible thought processes may have been. In that sense this has been a fresh re-telling of ‘The Mahabharata’ in the context of mental health and well-being.
To make the production a great viewing experience we have used multiple tools like body theatre, storytelling, poetry, Hindustani music, contemporary dance, multiple languages and Kalaripayattu.
Rajesh P.I. has always been an ardent fan of The Mahabharata. This is his devoted offering.
What we have done so farWe have performed 5 performances of this production as a work in progress to about 400 audience members at Bangalore Creative Circus and VYOMA Artspace & Theatre Studio, Bangalore in September and November ‘22. In these performances we focused only on the stories of Yudhishtira, Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, Kunti, Shikhandi and Bhima. The responses were overwhelming. We had housefull performances every time we performed and people found the production inspiring. Thanks to these performances, a new set of audience members have started reading ‘The Mahabharata’ for the first time.
We rehearsed for about two months in July and August with a group of 16 actors. With each run of performances, our plan is to add more characters from the Mahabharata and explore their stories. Our next run of performances are slated for January. We have also collaborated with VKM Kalari of Thiruvananthapuram for the Kalari inputs in the production. Three times National champion Ambareesh K.K, founder of VKM Kalari also performs in this production.
Why is this work important?
- In a post-pandemic world, the need to focus on mental health and wellbeing has become a priority.
- Using a popular story like the Mahabharata, we draw attention to issues in our cultural context while most modalities in the wellbeing field often originate from foreign lands.
- When people watch this production, they gain greater awareness of their own stories and conversations.
- They can then choose to take action which may mean some form of therapy or any action rooted in the awareness about what they are currently experiencing in their own lives. Both are powerful.
- The need to bring in fresher and more compassionate interpretations into the stories of the characters of India’s greatest epic. This generates more interest and enthusiasm and a deeper connection beyond the written word with the text of The Mahabharata.
- To introduce and induce audience members about India’s heritage and writings to start reading The Mahabharata and hopefully this will be an impetus to read other great texts.
- This is an exceptional work that needs to be performed for hundreds of thousands of audience members around the country and across the globe.
What we plan to doWe plan to take ‘The Mahabharata Project’ to more audiences to different venues within the city and other parts of the country for a minimum period of 2 years.This is a production that more people need to watch. We also are in the process of developing the production further with more characters.
What we require
Presently none of the actors have been paid for their efforts. All proceeds generated from ticket sales have gone into sustaining the production for the shows. Ticket sales alone will not suffice to run this production. It will only go into covering working costs per production.
We are aiming to raise INR 10 Lakhs, which will be a corpus fund for this production. About 4 lakhs will go into payments of the performing team. The remainder will be kept as a corpus fund and support the production when it falls short of funds.
Break-up of Expenses (Incurred)
1. Ticket Proceeds from 5 shows (priced at 350/ticket)1,16,000
2. Expenses incurred for 5 shows (Venue, Brochure, Make-up, Costumes, Misc. ) - INR 1,50,000
3. Payment for performing artists (rehearsals and shows from July-Dec 2022) (Pending) - INR 3,00,000
Break-up of Expenses (Estimated)
1. Ticket Proceeds from 2 shows (priced at 450 / ticket) - INR 65,000
2. Estimated expenses for 2 shows (Venue, Brochure, Make-up, Costumes, Misc.) - INR 56,000
3. Estimated cost for the performing team for 2 shows - INR 74,000
