24 hours Global Marathon of Theater Artists Fighting COVID-19
- 20th - 21st July, 2021 -

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'A HowlRound for India: A 24-hour marathon of COVID-19 talks with the global theatre community' is a first-of-its-kind event taking place on 20th - 21st July, 2021. It begins at 6:30 pm IST / 9 am ET on Tuesday and ends at 6:30 pm IST / 9 am ET on Wednesday.

In this event, over 100 artists from more than 30 countries will come together to spotlight the devastating effect of Covid-19 in India, and to highlight the important work theatre makers around the world have done through the pandemic as artists, relief workers, dissenters and survivors. We keep saying that theatres were shut, but was the theatre really shut?

So many theatre practitioners world over were involved in relief work. They were also involved in raising important political and ethical questions during this time, which is ultimately a key feature of the theatre.

This non-stop 24-hour long conversation also offers a space for theatre artists in their myriad capacities as creators, citizens, activists, caregivers, and witnesses to reflect on their personal and political experiences of this global crisis, and share related readings or performances. These artistic responses will pay tribute to the tragic losses borne by the artist community during the pandemic.

Apart from the artists, two non-artists in the Indian roster of speakers are P Pavana and N Venugopal, the daughter and nephew of Varavara Rao who will be speaking about their family's collective experience through the pandemic.

Some of the prominent international names joining the online marathon of readings and talks in honour of the Indian theatre community's efforts in fighting the virus are Anne Bogart, Richard Schechner, Carol Martin, Daniel Wetzel, Basil Jones, Anne Cattaneo, Guillermo Calderón, Sahar Assaf, Iman Aoun, the Pina Bausch Company and Paper Moon.

Joining from the home turf are
Surjit Nongmeikapam are Nicky Chandam alongside Abhishek and Tanvi will be Sunil Shanbag,
MD Pallavi, Anurupa, Vivek Vijayakumaran, Ajithlal Sivalal, Moloyashree Hashmi,
Komita Dhanda, Sreeja KV, Deepa VM, Puja Sarup, Nuhar Bansal, Nisha Abdulla,
Diya Naidu, Onaiza Drabu, Dakxinkumar Bajrange, Kaustubh Naik, Titas Dutta,
Sajal Mondal, Madhusree Mukherjee, Hanne M De Bruin, Dhammrakshit Randive,
Perungattur P Rajagopal, Mumal Tanwar, Sapan Saran, Rupali Bhave, Pradeep Vaiddya,
Gunduraju, Sambhaji Bhagat, Manzoor Ahmad Mir, Shakuntala Nagarkar,
Savitri Medhatul, P Pavana, N Venugopal, A Mangai, Ponni Arasu, Krishna J Nair and Sadhashi Bhaskar.

Surjit Nongmeikapam is an Imphal, Manipur-based choreographer and performing artist. He did his B.A. Choreography from Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography. He is also an award-winning (PECDA) choreographer for his pieces Nerves (2014) and Folktale (2016).

Nicky Chandam is a passionate and enthusiastic story-seeker. She explores stories through the medium of photography, written words, the oral tradition of storytelling and listening. She is also the founder of Octave Foundation.

They are slated for Hour 19 of 24
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm IST / 3 am – 4 am ET / 21st July, Wednesday

This free virtual event can be accessed at all times during its 24-hour duration on the HowlRound Theatre Commons website: https://bit.ly/3hLDOso
Instagram: @howlroundforindia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/howlroundforindia
Twitter: @howlround4india

This event is organized by Frank Hentschker, Director of CUNY's Segal Center; Abhishek Majumdar, a playwright/director from Bangalore, India; and Mumbai-based director/producer Tanvi Shah.

'A HowlRound for India' is a way for us to share with the world our solidarities and alliances as theatre-makers, and reflect on the nature of our global community, not distanced by the virus.