If you are in Mumbai in May, you must head out to the National Centre for the Performing Arts and check out these multi-genre shows. Or at least one of them.
If you are the kind who likes to take in a dose of local culture at the place you are travelling to, then this one is for you. National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai has come back from the various pandemic lockdowns with renewed vigour. They have been lining up a slew of interesting events for the last couple of months. And for May, the events are spread across multiple genres. Here's a list.
PS: Another reason to head out to NCPA? Inaugurated in 1969, it is considered to be one of India's premier cultural institution. You may find the modernist architecture worth noting - the Tata Theatre was built by renowned American Modernist architect Philip Johnson. Before or after the show, you can take a stroll along Marine Drive. And hit up K. Rustom & Co which is close by. The charming, old-school, Iranian ice-cream parlour off Nariman Point have been doing the freshest ice-cream biscuits since 1953 - served in thick slabs and sandwiched between wafer biscuits, all wrapped up and served in butter paper.
The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage
Set 12 years before the epic His Dark Materials trilogy, this gripping adaptation revisits Phillip Pullman’s fantastical world in which waters are rising and storms are brewing. Two young people and their dæmons, with everything at stake, find themselves at the centre of a terrifying manhunt. In their care is a tiny child called Lyra Belacqua, and in that child lies the fate of the future.
Date & Time: 11 & 25 May 2022 at 6pm
Venue: Godrej Dance Theatre
Tickets: Rs360 for members & Rs400 for non-members
Short Film Corner
There are so many wonderful short films being made in India, with auteurs at work in their own regions, and bold, new voices that are experimenting with form and technique. Short Film Corner hopes to connect movie lovers with these films and also open up dialogue with filmmakers, who in turn, get a chance to connect with their audiences. White Wall Screenings (WWS) was founded in 2017 as a community to facilitate a conversation between short filmmakers and film connoisseurs. WWS has successfully showcased more than 300 short films and also continues to conduct workshops, masterclasses and conversations around filmmaking and films.
Date & Time: 11 May 2022 at 6:30 pm
Venue: Little Theatre
A Small Family Business
Samson Sequeira is a misfit—a man of principle in a corrupt world. A mild-mannered Goan Christian married into a boisterous Punjabi business family in Delhi. After two daughters and many years of loyalty to his wife, Samson’s father-in-law decides to entrust the family business to him. Moments after he takes on the mantle, Samson is approached by a private investigator armed with some compromising information. And this is only the beginning of his troubles. What was meant to be the happiest phase of his life descends into a hilarious nightmare of dishonesty and double-crossing, and a trial by fire of Samson’s integrity. Whoever said blood is thicker than water hasn’t met this family yet.
Date & Time: 12 & 13 May 2022 at 7:30 pm and 14 & 15 May at 4:00 pm & 7:30 pm
Venue: Tata Theatre
Tickets: Rs1,088, Rs713, Rs563 & Rs375 for members. And Rs1,450, Rs950, Rs750, and Rs500 for non-members
The Classic Rock Project
The Classic Rock Project is a band of five professional and session musicians who have a common love for classic rock and have come together to keep the genre alive. The band covers artistes like Deep Purple, Status Quo, Pearl Jam, Dire Straits, The Jets, U2, Eagles, Queen, Audioslave, Police, Pink Floyd and The Foo Fighters to name a few.
Date & Time: 13 May 2022 at 7:00 pm
Venue: Experimental Theatre
Tickets: Rs675 and Rs450 for members and Rs750 and Rs500- for non-members