Involving experimentation in Theatre

Theatre enthusiasts can now get the best of theatre as The Embassy of France in India and its cultural network (Institut Francais en Inde and Alliance francaise de Pondicherry in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Government of Puducherry and Indianostrum Theatre, have invited Theatre du Soleil and its director Ariane Mnouchkine, Europe’s foremost experimental theatre director, to come to India with Ecole Nomade. 

A theatre workshop will be held in Puducherry where Ariane Mnouchkine along with  twelve artists of Theatre du Soleil will be participating to explain the intricacies of theatre to theatre enthusiasts from all over the country. This workshop will also be streamed on the website of Institut Francais en Inde for a limited period of time such that it has a wide outreach. 

Theatre enthusiasts from all across India have been encouraged to apply for this workshop. Auditions will be held for shortlisted candidates to select about 80-odd participants. 

These selected trainees will participate in the workshop to hone their skills and exchange creative processes and ideas.

Theatre du Soleil is an avant-garde stage ensemble founded by Ariane Mnouchkine (Ibsen awardee and best known theatrical director), Philippe Leotard and theatre students in 1964 as a collective of theatre artists in Paris. 

The company creates original theatrical works using a devising process based on physical theatre and improvisation.

Since the beginning, the roots of Ariane Mnouchkine’s work have been inspired by the traditions of Asian theatre (essentially Indian, Balinese and No), which she discovered through her encounters with Asia over long months. In 1987, she created L’Indiade or the India of their dreams, based on a test by Helene Cixous. Since several years now, she has been regularly hosting actors, musicians and other Indian artists in residence at the Cartoucherie, the Theatre du Solevil venue in Paris. 

Indianostrum theatre in Pondicherry is an eight-year-old theatre company founded by Koumarane Valavane, along with a few actors who were ready to pursue theatre with single-minded dedication. 

A Franco-Indian who started practising theatre at a very young age, Koumarane left for France in his early years for his studies, where he worked as an actor at Theatre du Soleil in paris. 

With rich experience of contemporary theatre gained in France, Koumarane returned to India in 2006 with the decision of exploring theatre at home by forming his own group in 2007.