A Room in India is experimental French theater by Ariane Mnouchkine (pronounced noosh-KEEN) and her Parisian company Théâtre du Soleil.
Mnouchkine wrote the play in response to the November 2015 militant attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Tragedy turned into comedy.
Mnouchkine is multicultural. She houses refugees in trailers at the Cartoucherie, her home theater on the eastern edge of Paris. Like many social venues in France, the theater is a squat. The 100 members of the theatre company come from 26 countries. Setting the play in India makes sense because India is a very multicultural country.
A Room in India is a series of woman’s dreams about her French theatre troupe. It is touring India when the director disappears. The actors are left on their own as the world starts falling apart around them. She is left to her own imagination.
It’s how a lot of Americans feel living under the Trump chaos machine. Naturally, the production was threatened when our administration in its genius delayed the approval of visas for Afghani theater members. I guess we have to protect America from thoughtful theatre.
The woman dreams through various world theatre traditions, and especially the Terukkuttu style of theater from South India. It is one of the great Asian theatre traditions.
A Room in India in New York City
A Room in India is at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan’s Upper East Side from December 5 – 20, 2017. From $45
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A Room in India Tickets
Phone
(212) 933-5812
Online
armoryonpark.org