Apr 08 2024 to Apr 08 2024 7 p.m.

EVENT HAS ENDED

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

90 minutes | English and Hindi | Mature Content for Ages 16+ Trigger Warnings: Suicide & Self Harm A two-actor black comedy about life, death, and everything in between. A successful female executive is ready to commit suicide by jumping off a roof when a male cab driver saves her. This sets the stage for a collision between two completely opposite worlds, personalities, circumstances, beliefs, and perspectives. Despite their contrasting socio-economic classes, backgrounds, and lifestyles, this unusual encounter leads to a night of pure and simple human connection. Will the man be able to truly save her, or will she be back to jump again? The play explores the themes of suicide, depression, loneliness, happiness, love, having or not having a purpose in life, and ultimately death, creating an emotionally complex and thought-provoking experience for the audience. Jump delves into the human psyche, showcasing the struggles, challenges, and aspirations of two very different individuals who would never meet in normal circumstances but find a unique connection in the most unexpected of places and in their shared humanity. Director’s Note Apart from being an actor and director, I’m also a mountaineer. I was in an advanced mountaineering course trying to summit a Himalayan mountain in October 2022. An avalanche came, and we lost 29 people out of a batch of 53 people. I somehow survived the incident and escaped death. The incident changed me, my core beliefs, and my perspective on living life. For the first time, I felt depressed and tried therapy. The incident left me with a lot of questions. WHO recently declared loneliness a ‘global public health concern’. In India, 1 in every 5 individuals suffers from some form of mental health illness, and over 2.6 lakh cases of suicide occur in a year. Given these alarming numbers, considering and addressing mental health is still at a very early stage in India. In a post-pandemic world, the alarming rise in suicide, depression, and loneliness rates around the world shows that our pursuit of success and materialistic goals doesn’t lead us to genuine happiness and fulfilment. In the world of social media, because of personal, sociological, political, and geographical reasons, we feel disconnected more than ever before. We often witness instances where seemingly successful and happy individuals suddenly take their own lives. In spite of the number of self-help books, motivational speakers, and influencers preaching about finding life’s purpose, a significant portion of us are just trying to survive. Our individual perspectives play a significant role in shaping our lives. We tend to surround ourselves with like-minded people who share similar perspectives. We believe that our own perspective is the ultimate and only valid one. If we look closely enough, all the conflicts in the world are just a clash of different and opposing perspectives. The essence of Jump lies in the meeting of these two contrasting characters, identities, perspectives, lifestyles, and worlds within a highly unusual situation. About Collective Madness Every project for us is an attempt to find a unique connection with our audience around the ideas we believe in. Collective Madness Studios, established in 2004, is a platform for anyone who believes that theatre is a practicing art form and provides a space for those who are passionately attached to theatre. The studio has produced close to 20 projects, including musicals, adaptations and plays with social messages We believe in collaboration & experiential learning. It is at the heart of all our products & initiatives. Every individual human experience is a limiting one, so collaborating with others has become essential. Collaborations challenge one’s current understandings and help to see things from new perspectives. Cast and Crew: Actors: Vidushi Chadha and Sandeep Shikhar Writer & Director: Maneesh Verma Dramaturg: Akhshay Gandhi Associate Director & Lights: Vishal Scenography: Maneesh Verma and Dhanendra Kawade Production Manager: Monika Gupta Soundscape: Sahil Vaid Song Music Producer: Kaizad Gherda Song Lyrics & Music: Asif Ali Beg Song Singer: Shazneen Arethna Produced by Collective Madness Studios Special Thanks Kalyani Hiwale, Harsh Khurana, Tushar Pandey Jump is inspired from “Umbrella” written by Larry Pontius Commissioned by Serendipity Arts Festival 2023 Artistes Maneesh Verma Playwright & Director Maneesh Verma is an actor, creator, and adventurer who explores stories across various media, including theatre and design. His newfound love is mountaineering. He is a graduate of the National School of Drama and the founder, creative director, and producer at Collective Madness Studios. Additionally, he co-founded Ekalavya Art, an online theatre and acting training platform. Maneesh is a self-taught graphic/web designer and developer, as well as a professionally trained mountaineer from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi. With over 25 years of extensive experience in theatre and acting, Maneesh has been involved in 60 major theatre productions. He kick-started his career in 1996 as a pure actor but gradually evolved into a theatre-maker and producer. For the last 12 years, he has been producing theatre in multiple genres, including musicals, social dramas, comedies, and plays for children. His current focus and challenge are to explore innovative projects and ways to make theatre self-sustainable. Apart from being a professional actor, Maneesh is also a corporate trainer and regularly works with CSW Associates as a performance consultant on training projects for multinational companies like Goldman Sachs, Apple, Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Microsoft, Barclays, and others. Since 2007, he has worked in over a hundred productions, performing in Dubai, Japan, Hong Kong, and America. Vidushi Chadha Actor Vidushi Chadha is an actor, coach, filmmaker, and spoken word artist based in Mumbai and Los Angeles. She holds an MFA in Acting from the prestigious three-year drama conservatory at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Her teachers included Mirjana Jokovic, Rafael Lopez Barrantes, Marissa Chibas, Travis Preston, Heather Elhers, and Tony Smith. Vidushi has trained extensively in various acting disciplines. She studied Shakespeare acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, SOPE at Adishakti Theatre, and with renowned Delhi theatre companies like Tadpole Repertory, Atelier Theatre, Barefoot Theatre, and Crow. Her mentors include the renowned Hollywood acting teacher Lesly Kahn, casting directors Suzanne Ryan, Maribeth Fox, and Jamie Castro, and theatre veterans Anmol Vellani, John Britton, Anna Helena Mclean, and Rupesh Tillu. Her journey began at Delhi University Collegiate Theatre, where she performed and directed with the SRCC Dramatics Society, earning Best Actress Awards for three consecutive years. Internationally, she has credits at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, Theatre West, and the CalArts Centre for New Performance in Los Angeles. Vidushi teaches at Drama School Mumbai and guest trains at the Actor Prepares Studio in Mumbai. Currently, she is producing two plays by Smita Bharti. In the realm of spoken word, she has written for Swara Bhasker and Sayani Gupta in TLC India’s The Poetist episode. Additionally, she has won the Delhi Slam Poetry Championship and the Farrago Spoken Word Championship, the longest-running UK competition. Sandeep Shikhar Actor, Playwright & Poet Sandeep Shikhar is a writer and actor with 30 years of experience in the field. In 2002, he studied acting at the Sri Ram Centre for Performing Arts in New Delhi. He co-created the Bangalore theatre ensemble Indian Ensemble along with Abhishek Majumdar. Sandeep’s acting credits include working with several renowned theatrical directors and performing on national and international stages. His plays include ‘Treadmill’ by Indian Ensemble, ‘Naariyal Paani’ by Our Theatre, ‘Thook’ (co-written with Irawati Karnik) by Indian Ensemble commissioned by SchauSpielHaus Hamburg, Germany, ‘Deluxe Hair Cutting Salon’ by Mashaal Theatre Group, and ‘Open Cast’ by Mimansa Theatre and D for Drama Mumbai. His play ‘Treadmill’ was featured at the 2013 First Festival of Contemporary Indian Theatre in Paris. He co-founded the Anjuman Hindi poetry club in Bangalore. As a lead actor, he was nominated for three Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (Gasha 2013, Kaumudi 2015, and Muktidhaam 2018) and won Best Ensemble for Gasha. He has performed at all major national theatrical festivals in India, as well as in Freiburg, Germany, and Dublin, Ireland. He led acting workshops at Dance Art Theatre Boeblingen in 2016 and 2018. In 2012, he joined the Lincoln Centre Director’s Lab. Sandeep has worked as an actor and writer in Germany, Romania, Burkina Faso, Switzerland, South Africa, Belgium, and Brazil. He was the recipient of the Vinod Doshi Fellowship from 2016–2017. His web series and film credits include ‘Panchayat’ on Amazon Prime, ‘Home Shanti’ on Disney Hotstar, Netflix’s ‘Jaadugar’, and the movie ‘Joram’ by Zed Studios and Makhijafilms.