The Madras Players
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The Madras Players
The Madras Players are the oldest English-language theatre group in Chennai, India. The Madras Players have staged over 240 theatre productions for more than 50 years. History The Madras Players has its origins from Kilpauk General/Mental Hospital in the Psychiatric Ward, a theatre group exclusively for the mentally disabled, that mounted comedies and bedroom farces in the early 1950s. In 1955, the British Council first hosted Robert Newton's ''Othello'' which featured a mix of British and Indian actors. Shortly after, the Madras Dramatic Society closed down, and bequeathed most of their props and make-up equipment to The Madras Players founding members N. S. Yamuna and Gayathri (Grace) Krishnaswamy. The group members in the early 1960s included Thambi Kadambavanam, Ammu Mathew, Girish Karnad, and Stewart Melluish. In their early days, the group staged British works from Terence Rattigan, Shakespeare, Ibsen, Osborne with the help of directors like John Shepherd and Peter Coe a ...
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Indian English
Indian English (IE) is a group of English dialects spoken in the republic of India and among the Indian diaspora. English is used by the Indian government for communication, along with Hindi, as enshrined in the Constitution of India. English is also an official language in seven states and seven union territories of India, and the additional official language in seven other states and one union territory. Furthermore, English is the sole official language of the Indian Judiciary, unless the state governor or legislature mandates the use of a regional language, or if the President of India has given approval for the use of regional languages in courts. Status After gaining independence from the British Raj in 1947, English remained an official language of the new Dominion of India and later the Republic of India. Only a few hundred thousand Indians, or less than 0.1% of the total population, speak English as their first language, and around 30% of the Indian populatio ...
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Gurucharan Das
Gurcharan Das (born 3 October 1943) is an Indian author, who wrote a trilogy based on the classical Indian goals of the ideal life. ''India Unbound'' was the first volume (2002), on artha, 'material well-being', which narrated the story of India's economic rise from Independence to the global information age. Published in many languages and filmed by BBC, it was called "a quiet earthquake" by the Guardian. The second, ''The Difficulty of Being Good'', is on dharma or 'moral well-being', and is "rich with learned musings on the epic, Mahabharata and its moral dilemmas" that speak to our day to day contemporary life. ''Kama: The Riddle of Desire'' is on the third goal of desire, and recounts a tale of "love and vulnerability, about self-doubt and betrayal, about wanting more of everything and being haunted by settling for less." Gurcharan Das graduated with honours from Harvard University in Philosophy. He had later attended Harvard Business School (AMP), where he is featured i ...
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Organisations Based In Chennai
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from the Greek word ''organon'', which means tool or instrument, musical instrument, and organ. Types There are a variety of legal types of organizations, including corporations, governments, non-governmental organizations, political organizations, international organizations, armed forces, charities, not-for-profit corporations, partnerships, cooperatives, and educational institutions, etc. A hybrid organization is a body that operates in both the public sector and the private sector simultaneously, fulfilling public duties and developing commercial market activities. A voluntary association is an organization consisting of volunteers. Such organizations may be able to operate without legal formalities, depending on jurisdiction, including ...
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Culture Of Chennai
The culture of Chennai, popularly called the "Gateway to the South India", is distinct from that of any other Indian city. Being a cosmopolitan hub, the city's culture reflects its diverse population that has resulted in a unique blend. Though a modern metropolis, Chennai continues to be traditional and conventional in certain ways. Traditional music, dance and all other art forms of Tamil Nadu are very popular in the city. One can find a peculiar cultural blend in city, from traditional foods to fast foods, from ancient temple architecture to modern high-rises, and from classical music and dance to the growing nightlife. Music, dance and drama The city is known for its classical music shows. Every December, Chennai holds a five-week-long ''Music Season'', which has been described as one of the world's largest cultural events. The Music Season encompasses performances (''kacheries'') of traditional Carnatic music by hundreds of artists in and around the city. This happen ...
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Amateur Theatre
Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as for aesthetic values. Productions may take place in venues ranging from the open air, community centres, or schools to independent or major professional theatres. Amateur theatre is distinct from the professional or community theatre because performers are usually not paid. Amateur actors are not typically members of actors' unions. Definition Opinions vary on how to define "amateur" in relation to theatre. Technically speaking, an "amateur" is anyone who does not accept, or is not offered, money for their services. One interpretation of this is: "One lacking the skill of a professional, as in an art". Another is: "A person who engages in an art, science, study, or athletic activity as a pastime rather than as a profession". An amateur a ...
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Theatre Companies In India
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing"), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe"). Modern Western theatre comes, in large measure, from the theatre of ancient Greece, from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into genres, and many of its themes, stock characters, and plot elements. Theatre artist Patrice Pavi ...
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Five Point Someone
''Five Point Someone: What not to do at IIT'' is a 2004 novel written by Indian author Chetan Bhagat. The book has sold over a million copies worldwide. The films ''3 Idiots'' and ''Nanban'' are based on the book. It was also adapted into a play by the theatre company Evam. Plot The book is narrated by Hari, with some small passages by his friends Ryan and Alok, as well as a letter by Hari's girlfriend Neha Cherian. It deals with the lives of 3 friends, whose elation on making it to one of the best engineering colleges in India is quickly deflated by the rigor and monotony of the academic work. Most of the book deals with two plot lines. One is the numerous attempts by the trio to cope with and/or beat the system. The other being Hari's fling with Neha, who just happens to be the daughter of Prof. Cherian (the domineering head of the Mechanical Engineering department of their college). It occasionally takes some dark turns, especially as it pertains to the families of the prota ...
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Chetan Bhagat
Chetan Bhagat (born 22 April 1974) is an Indian author, columnist and YouTuber. He was included in Time (magazine), Time magazine's list of Time 100, World's 100 Most Influential People in 2010. Five of his novels have been adapted into films. Family, education, and personal life Chetan Bhagat grew up in a traditional Punjabi Hindus, Punjabi Hindu family. His father served as a lieutenant colonel in the Indian Army and his mother worked as a scientist in Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He was schooled at the Indian Army Public Schools, Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan. He claims to have been an average student at 15. His love for writing began during his school years. He used to write articles for the literary magazine of his school and seeing his name printed on the magazine as a writer gave him intense pleasure. This encouraged him to write more in the coming years. Bhagat graduated with a B.Tech. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute ...
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Hayavadana
''Hayavadana'' (''meaning: Horse face'') is a 1971 Indian Kannada language two- act play written by Girish Karnad. The plot is based on Kathasaritsagara and Thomas Mann's retelling of Transposed Heads. Its twin play is ''Nagamandala'' (1988). Hayavadana presents the story of two friends ''Devdutta'' and ''Kapila''; and their love interest ''Padmini''. Characters *Bhagwata - the main narrator of the play *Devdutta - One of the two friends, A man of knowledge *Kapila - Devdutta's Friend, A man with great physical strength *Padmini - A beautiful woman, love interest of the two friends *Hayavadana - A strange creature with the Head of a Horse and body of a man *Actor-1 - An assistant to Bhagwata *Goddess Kali - the Goddess who brings Devdutta and Kapila back to life. *The Boy - Son of Devdutta and Padmini *Vidyasagar (only referenced) - Devdutta's father Plot Act - I The play opens with worship to Lord Ganesha. Bhagwata comes to the stage. He is a character in the Play and ...
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Midnight Hotel
Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. Solar midnight is the time opposite to solar noon, when the Sun is closest to the nadir, and the night is equidistant from dusk and dawn. Due to the advent of time zones, which regularize time across a range of meridians, and daylight saving time, solar midnight rarely coincides with 12 midnight on the clock. Solar midnight depends on longitude and time of the year rather than on time zone. In ancient Roman timekeeping, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise (i.e., solar midnight), varying according to the seasons. In some Slavic languages, "midnight" has an additional geographic association with "north" (as "noon" does with "south"). Modern Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, and Serbian languages preserve this association with ...
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Shreekumar Varma
Shreekumar Varma is an Indian author, playwright, newspaper columnist and poet, known for the novels ''Lament of Mohini'' (Penguin, 2000), ''Maria's Room'' (HarperCollins, 2010) and ''Kipling's Daughter'' (AngloInk, 2018), the children's books, ''Devil's Garden: Tales Of Pappudom'' (Puffin, 2006), ''The Magic Store of Nu-Cham-Vu'' (Puffin, 2009), ''Pazhassi Raja: The Royal Rebel'' (Macmillan, 1997), and his collected plays, ''Five & Other Plays'' and ''Midnight Hotel & Other Plays'', (collections of three plays each, both published by Adisakrit, 2019). Biography Varma was born in 1955 in Satelmond Palace, Poojapura, Thiruvananthapuram. His parents left Kerala and settled down in Madras when he was four. He studied in the Good Shepherd Convent, thMadras Christian College High Schooland the Madras Christian College, from where he completed his MA and MPhil in English Literature. He also did a course in Journalism from the Bhavan's College of Journalism and Mass Communication. He too ...
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