Chekhov ki Duniya by Neil Simon

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The Play
Chekhov ki Duniya is a collection of six short stories by Chekhov. Cheenk: The story is filled with irony. It includes “The Sneezer” who cannot apologize enough to a blustering general for splattering a sneeze on his head at the opera. Surgery: The story of a man with a toothache faced with what looks like medieval instruments of
torture and an inexperienced dental assistant. Shikari shows a man-about-town using a husband as the conduit for his attempted seduction ofthe man’s wife, Irena. Besahara Aurat: It features a wild woman with a nervous disorder who tries to extort money from a banker. Dooba Hua Aadmi: It is the story of a man who earns by ‘drowning’.
The Gift: A tale of a very concerned and dedicated father who thrusts his shy, 19-year old son into manhood.

Director’s Note
This collection of stories from Chekhov touches every major human emotion. I wanted this width in emotional panorama for this production. I wanted this play to be an emotional journey for the audience. So while I have used music and lighting to make the emotional experience come alive I ave kept the stage bereft of any major set that may distract. The characterization is so strong that  as a Director my job really was to make the actor understand the character, the circumstances and the emotional state rather than tell them what to do. This gives tremendous freedom to the actor and an immense satisfaction to me to see the play unravel. The actor and I begin to think on the same wavelength as the play progresses. This allows for experimentation, discussion and innovation, making the entire process and the final product truly delightful to the actors, me and hopefully for the audience.

The Director & Adaptor

Ranjit Kapoor joined the National school of Drama, where he specialized in Direction, winning the Best Director Award when he qualified for his diploma in 1976. Ranjit Kapoor is well known also as a translator and adaptor of plays, and an actor and a writer of screenplays. He has directed a number of television serials, written dialogues for popular films such as Jane Bhi Do Yaron, Mohan Joshi Haazir Hon, Woh Saat Din, and Bandit Queen, as well as screenplays for Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, Khamosh, Lajja, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Mangal Pandey, Halla Bol and other films. He has written songs and composed music for several films and directed feature films viz.
Chintu ji starring Rishi Kapoor, and Jai Ho Democracy. He is a recipient of the Sahitya Kala Parishad Samman of Delhi, Shikhar Samman, the Sansui Award, and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

The Group
The first production of The Entertainers, New Delhi was Lomar Vesh directed by Shailendra Goel. Ek Ghoda Chhey Sawaar, Court Martial, Kaua Chala Hans Ki Chaal, Mera Dost Bhootnath, Ek Sansadiya Samiti Ki Utthak Baithak, Afvaah and Chekhov ki Duniya are some of its major productions. The group has performed extensively for the Sangeet Natak Akademi, NSD Annual festivals and World Performing Arts Festival in Lahore. In the year 2007, its play Chekhov Ki Duniya was nominated for five awards at the prestigious Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards.

Cast & Credits
Chheenk
Clerk Ashwin Chadha
Clerk’s Wife Mukta Singh
General Amitabh Srivastava
General’s Wife Tabbasum
Surgery
Padri Shailendra Jain
Dr.’s Assistant Brij Bhushan Shukla
Shikari
Peter Ashwin Chadha
Husband Amitabh Srivastava
Wife Mukta Singh
Besahara Aurat
Bank Manager Amitabh Srivastava
Assistant Wamiq Abbasi
Besahara Aurat Poonam Girdhani
Dooba Hua Aadmi
Writer Sunil Upadhyay
Aadmi Wamiq Abbasi
Sipahi Shailendra Jain
The Gift
Father Amitabh Srivastava
Son Sunil Upadhyay
Prostitute Mukta Singh
Chekhov (in all stories) Sunil Upadhyay
Lights Raghav Prakash
Costume Anila Singh
Music Operator Daniyaal Abbasi
Music Design Ranjit Kapoor
Playwright Neil Simon
Adaption & Direction Ranjit Kapoor

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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