Nov 22 2021 to Nov 22 2021 6:30 p.m.

EVENT HAS ENDED

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

English language theatre in Bombay began around the horseshoe shaped dining table of a wealthy Khoja matriarch Kulsumbai Padamsee in 1943! It was here that her dynamic eldest son Sultan along with his siblings Roshan and Alyque established the Theatre Group. And within a few years the three sons-in-law Ebrahim Alkazi , Hamid Sayani and Deryck Jefferies had built a unique theatre movement drawing talent from all over India and overseas..

Ebrahim Alkazi took English theatre from its beginnings in Bombay to audiences across the country, and even outside. He directed and acted in more than a fifty plays, ranging from Oedipus Rex, Murder in the Cathedral and Macbeth in the 1950s, to Ashadh Ka Ek Din, Andha Yug and Tughlaq in the ’60s and ’70s. The performances were designed for the proscenium stage and for open air venues with extraordinary stage designs.

As director of the fabled National School of Drama in the critical years of 1962 to 1977, he launched some of the finest actors of our times, including Om Shivpuri, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Rohini Hattangadi, Manohar Singh and Uttara Baokar to name but a few.

At the core of his stage productions were home and family where scripts were discussed, scenes hashed out and costumes designed. Indeed, the chief costume designer and seamstress for all his productions was his wife, Roshen Alkazi.

Feisal Alkazi’s recent book on his family, Enter Stage Right: The Alkazi/Padamsee Family Memoir (published by Speaking Tiger), allows us an intimate window into the many ways in which Ebrahim Alkazi and the family engaged with the world – through theatre, art and photography and by valuing the documentation and preservation of the arts.

Discussing Alkazi’s lasting legacy in a hybrid session at the BIC are Feisal Alkazi, who will be present in person, Quasar Thakore-Padamsee and Raell Padamsee who will tune in from afar, all in conversation with Surendranath S, himself a product of the National School of Drama.

Credits:

    Hero image- Alkazi Theatre Archives, Seema Biswas as Mumtaz in Din ke Andhere Mein, 1992
    Thumbnail image- Alkazi Theatre Archives, Scene from Oedipus Rex with Ebrahim Alkazi as Oedipus, 1954

*Please note: BIC Venue events need attendees to be vaccinated with at least one dose and to comply with all health and safety protocols.