Coconut Theatre embarked on this ambitious and challenging project during the current World-wide lockdown. It has developed an Intellectual Property titled – “Chai-Wai & Rangmanch – 2020”, which comprises of one daily Online Session with a reputed Theatre Expert from India and various countries all over the world including the USA, UK, Australia, South Africa, and the UK.
The sessions are live on the official Coconut Theatre Facebook Page at 6 PM Indian Standard Time. Veteran Actors, Award-Winning Playwrights & Directors, Make-up Specialists, Music Composers, Designers, Choreographers, and Technicians shared their memorable experiences, as also their life-changing inspirational moments. This collectors’ item is an invaluable tool for any aspiring Theatre Student, Amateur Theatre Artist[e]s, Writers, Directors, Music Composers, Choreographers, Make-up Artists, Designers, Technicians and Theatre Groups and everyone connected with the theatre fraternity.
Managing Director of Coconut Media Box LLP Rashmin Majithia shared that Chai-Wai & Rangmanch is the biggest activity for theatre practitioners, speakers from various cultures, age groups, and despite not being conversant with the online process, willingly consented. A Few senior Theatre Experts who are 80+ years old too enthusiastically joined the fray.
A few Respected names such as Padma Shri & Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Winner Smt. Rita Ganguly, Shri M.S.Sathyu, Shri Bansi Kaul, Shri Balwant Thakur, Shri Manoj Joshi, Smt. Neelam Mansingh, Shri Satish Alekar, Shri Dadi Pudumjee, and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Winner Smt. Dolly Ahluwalia, Prof. Ashok Bhagat, Shri Prasanna, Shri Suresh Sharma (Director – National School of Drama), Shri Amod Bhatt, Smt. Anjana Puri, Smt. Neena Tiwana, Shri Sanjay Upadhyay, Smt. Rohini Hattangady, Smt. Nadira Babbar, Smt. Himani Shivpuri has done their sessions.
Stalwart participants include Rajat Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Rajpal Yadav, Makarand Deshpande, Mahesh Dattani, K.K. Raina, Lillete Dubey, Rakesh Bedi, Sonali Kulkarni, Raghubir Yadav, Lubna Salim, Darshan Jariwala, Siddharth Randeria, C. Basavalingaiah, Ila Arun, Aanjjan Srivastava, Alok Chatterjee, Salim Arif, Saif Hyder Hasan, Asif Ali Beg, Ranjit Kapoor, Tiku Talsania, Sachin Khedekar, Sandip Soparrkar, Vijay Kenkre, Nina Kulkarni, Jayati Bhatia, Suchitra Pillai, Vipul Mehta, Jimit Trivedi, Rajoo Barot, Ramesh Talwar, Kuldeep Singh, Chandrakant Kulkarni, Kewal Dhaliwal, Saumya Joshi, Pallavi MD, Sumeet Raghavan and Apara Mehta many other senior Theatre experts have done their sessions.
Global Theatre Experts have been added to Coconut Theatre’s repertoire, seeing Artistic Director Bruce Guthrie from UK (Head of Theatre & Film at National Centre for the Performing Arts – Mumbai), Artistic Director Jonathan Hollander from NYC, USA, Actor & Director Mark Wakeling from UK, Theatre Director Amr Kabeel Egypt, Choreographer Ingri Fiksdal from Norway, Writer-Director David Woods from Australia, International Production Designer Neil Patel from USA (Production Designer of Mughal-E-Azam The Musical), Megan Furniss – Playwright from South Africa, Actor-Director Glenn Hayden from Australia, Writer, Actor, Director Jessica Litwak from California, USA, Writer-Director Ana Cândida Carneiro from the USA, Three Times Tony Award Winner Scott Pask from USA, Actor & Director Motshabi Tyelele from South Africa and World-Renowned Writer-Director Jeff Baron from the USA have done their sessions.
Upcoming sessions are with, Mr. Subhash Ghai (31st July), Padma Shri & Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee Waman Kendre (Ex-Director – National School of Drama) (25th July), Famous Bollywood and Theatre Actors Shreyash Talpade (28th July), Ananth Mahadevan (24th July) and Adil Hussain (26th July), Famous Bollywood and Theatre Actress Ms. Supriya Pathak, Theatre Personality T. S. Nagabharana (22nd July), Prakash Belawadi (23rd July) and many more.
Unfortunately, the Indian Theatre Industry has minimal support from the audience, corporates and other bodies compared to Bollywood, Sports, Music and other Digital Entertainment Platforms but this rising IP has made a promising start by showcasing the best names during this pandemic. The response is very encouraging, Both Indian and International Theatre Fraternity appreciated the initiative of these sessions.
“The objective is to connect entire Theatre Fraternity LOCALLY & GLOBALLY be on one platform to emphasize avenue of learning also to build a career. Our vision is to achieve 108+ sessions by 3rd August 2020. This archive will be available shortly on Coconut Theatre YouTube Channel with no cost.”
