Syaah Hashiyon ki Roshni by Kaj Himmelstrup

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The Play
Syaah Hashiyon ki Roshni revolves around three people who are caught in an isolated place situated near the merging borders of two regions which may have a common ethnic background. The dialects spoken by the characters differ from each other, aggravating the conflict further to the level of violence.
The whole world, including India, stands at a juncture where internal boundaries are being created due to political reasons. Marxists, Jihadis, Hindu fundamentalists and other such groups have emerged in the last decade or so due to political dissatisfaction and nonchalance of the government’s attitude towards civil liberty and human rights. This play is an attempt to touch the depths of the human psyche by permeating through the layers of culture, religion,
ethnicity and language.

Director’s Note
Many opinions are made and many are changed when the characters of this play start questioning each other. The situation may have been caused due to war. But a much more sinister battle is happening within the confines of one’s soul. These characters meet at a point where no ideological jargon can support their voices. It is a situation where no pretensions or false notions find a place.

The Director
Rajesh Singh was born in West Champaran district of Bihar in 1979. He completed his graduation from Bihar University and studied theatre at Shri Ram Centre for performing arts. After completing the course he worked with the Sahitya kala Parishad repertory and Shri Ram Centre repertory. Then, he studied at National School of Drama, New Delhi with specialization in Theatre Techniques and Design. He also took training in music from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Delhi. In 2008 he was awarded with INLAKS Scholarship and went to London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, UK for a course in Theatre Design, Direction and Stage Management. After completing his NSD & LAMDA training he engaged creatively with many theatre groups as designer, director and music designer and also actively participated in various theatre workshops organized by National School of Drama, Extension
Department as a resource person. He was awarded the Mahindra Award for Excellence in Theatre Arts for Sound design of the play Laila Majnu. Currently, he is working as the artistic show director for the musical theatrical production in Kingdom of Dream Company, Gurgaon. He is also running a theatre company Flying Feathers Art Association.

The Playwright
Kaj Himmelstrup is a retired teacher, musician and playwright from Denmark. He was the member of the Board of the Danish Dramatists' Association for 8 years in the 1970s and the federal representative of the Danish Art Council. He has written many screenplays for television and is the recipient of numerous awards. Some of his famous plays are Clatta, The Mansion, The Dear Little Ones, Black Laces Green Olives, Richard’s Guest and The
Spoilsport amongst others.

Cast & Credits
Man : Teekam Joshi

Girl : Nidhi Mishra
Soldier : Shaurya Shanker
Light Design : Govind Singh Yadav
Scenic Painting : Aruna Malik
Sound Design : Sandy
Poster & Brochure : Vishala R Mahale
Backstage : Mazibur Rehman, Souti Chakraborty
Original Playwright : Kaj Himmelstrup
Hindi Translation : Nalini R Joshi
Scenic Design & Direction : Rajesh Singh

Manohar Khushalani

Manohar Khushalani

Prof. Manohar Khushalani is a former Visiting Faculty at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi. The courses he taught were: Animation & Graphics, Non-Linear Editing for Film and Radio and Theatre Appreciation.  He has won a total of nine Excellence in Teaching awards for all the courses he has taught at IIITD Earlier he retired from Government of India as Director Environment Management, Central Water Commission and held many senior positions in the Government Based on a Belief that Culture and Environment are the two keys to global sustainability , Manohar Khushalani has launched two portals: A Portal on Environment and Water called One Vorld at url: www.onevorld.org and two Ezines on Culture called Stage Buzz at url: www.stagebuzz.in He has taught extensively in varied subjects such as Dam Safety, Instrumentation, CAD, IT, Animation, Theatre, Newspaper Editing. He has conducted Courses on Environment Management, Water Shed Development, Team Building and Personality Development. He was an Expert Member of Prasar Bharti’s Committee for Grading & Short listing Films for Telecast on all channels of Doordarshan.  He is a Radio Anchor for All India Radio and has moderated several programs for the Rajdhani Channel He is a well-known Theatre Actor/Director and Critic, has been involved in theatre since 1977. He has worked as an actor in over 50 plays with almost every leading director/Actor in the Country including Badal Sircar, Feisal Alkazi, Amal Allana, M.K. Raina, Anuradha Kapoor, Maya Rao, Manohar Singh, Prasanna, Rati Bartholomew and Sushmita Mukherji. He has been active in the social sector as a street theatre activist. As a member of Workshop Theatre, Theatre Union and Prayog, Khushalani has participated in street plays taking up major social issues such as dowry, bride burning, Sati, banned medicinal drugs and communalism. Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Can’t Pay Won’t Pay, both directed by him, received rave notices from critics and audiences alike. Other plays directed by him include Badal Sircar’s, Sagina Mahato and Boris Vian’s Empire Builders for Ruchika Theatre Group. Khushalani has also acted in a few films such as Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi , Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Café and Pradeep Krishan's Annie Gives Those Ones. He is an Animator & Graphics Designer and has directed a number of documentaries. He also held a number of Honorary positions and was President of North India Films Association, He was the Chairman of  Jury for UGC CEC Educational Films Competition and has been on their Preview Committee since last many years. He was on the preview committee of Door Darshan Channel 3, was a visiting Professor at National School of Drama, New Delhi, and Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, AJKMCRR, Jamia Milia Islamia and Professor in Media at FICT, Delhi  He has judged a large number of Drama Competitions and conducted a number of Theatre / Management Games Workshops with Institutions such as AIIMS, NTPC, CWPRS, NWA, Karve Nari Prakshishan Sansthan, FICT, IIT, MAMC, Gargi College, KNC, Tagore International School and Vivekananda School. He is a Theatre Critic for IIC Diary, has also been a Columnist with Midday and Pioneer Daily and wrote Column's Called Culture Cocktail and Footlights Respectively. He was also the Guest Editor for an issue on Folk Theatre of ICCR Journal Horizons. He has written for Times of Indian, Hindustan Times, Blitz, Hard News, Hindu Business Line, Theatre India & Art Times. He has designed dams and hydraulic structures for the Government. He is a programmer and has developed Engineering design software in Fortran. He is a co-author of Irrigation Practice & Design (Vol 1 to5 - 1500 pages) published by Oxford & IBH and sponsored by National Book Trust. He has been a Director, Environment and Sociology, at the National Water Academy, Khadakwasla and Director, Environment Management Directorate, Central Water Commission and Member Secretary, National Environmental Monitoring Committee for River Valley Projects. He was also Director of Instrumentation Directorate in the Dam Safety Organisation. He was Chief General Manager and Head of Water Resources at Scott Wilson and is an accredited consultant with numerous other organizations He is a Delhi Public School, BITS Pilani, IIT Delhi and FTI Pune Alumini. He was also the President of BITS Pilani Alumni Association, Pune.

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