Numbers in the Dark
| Nominated for: | ||
| BEST PLAY | > | DIRECTED BY ATUL KUMAR AND PRODUCED BY THE COMPANY THEATRE (MUMBAI) |
| BEST DIRECTOR | > | ATUL KUMAR |
| BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR(MALE) | > | NAMIT DAS |
| BEST LIGHTING DESIGN | > | SUJAY SAPLE |
“Numbers in the Dark” deals with the concept of a young Indian adult, torn between the present of the 21st century and the weight of 5000 years of history. A vein is to a leaf what an individual is to a collective. The play is an exploration of the most pressing questions of our time relating to identity and collective memory. The play aims to explore the realm of individual truth shaped by our collective memory and a loss of identity, unable to rely on documentation, media, or even history, to tell us. The question confronts us: which truth is trustworthy? And, whose truth? The direction of the play was stimulated by characters in Harold Pinter’s “Mountain Language” that echo marginalization within our times, and Pinter’s Nobel Acceptance Speech that strikes a chord, reflecting the moral policing and authoritarian procedures that the contemporary world is subject to. Fragmentation, Italo Calvino’s mirror, sees characters endure the struggle for a cohesive whole. What is authentic identity? Is there one at all? Or are we just Numbers in the Dark?
Source Material-
Harold Pinter: Mountain Language and Nobel Acceptance Speech
Italo Calvino: The Mirror-The Target, World Memory, Solidarity, Black Sheep
Biographies
Atul Kumar has headed The Company Theatre since 1993. He trained in visual theatre with Philipe Genty in France, in Kathakali with Kudamaloor Karunakaran Nair in Kerala. He also trained in Kalerippayattu for 3 years. Atul has worked as an actor with numerous directors in India and abroad. He has directed many theatre productions that have toured internationally festivals and forums. TCT currently conducts national and international theatre workshops, forums, seminars, and conferences all focusing on issues for theatre. TCT is also set to launch an International Residency for Theatre Research and Performance in the near future.
Namit began as a classical singer and found his way to stage acting in school and college. Since then he has worked on Mumbai stage with directors like Atul Kumar, Imogen Butler-Cole, Nadir Khan, Chandan Roy Sanyal & Yuki Ellias. He recently finished the play President is Coming at the Writer’s Block Festival in Mumbai. Playing a myriad of roles in deverse plays and theatre forms, Namit has shown an amazing repertory of techniques and a rigour that he brings to each role he undertakes.
Sujay is an upcoming actor/director who has been working with The Company Theatre for the last 5 years. He has acted in plays like Voices, Noises Off and The Con Artist and co-directed the play Smell with Atul Kumar for the Writers’ Block Festival 2004. He is conducts theatre workshops for school and college students all over India. Sujay is now a permanent member of The Company Theatre and is working on the Youth section of EVAM – the International Residency for Theatre Research & Performance being set up in Maharashtra.
