Natak Company

Natak Company is a Pune-based theatre troupe. Its previous members include Nipun Dharmadhikari, Amey Wagh, Siddharth Menon, Alok Rajwade, Abhay Mahajan and Parna Pethe. In 2018, the group celebrated its 10th anniversary by organising a theatre festival at Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagruha, Kothrud.[1]

Natak Company

Natak Company
Formation	2008
Founded at	Pune, India
Type	Theatre troupe
Official language	Marathi

History

The troupe formed in 2008 as a collaboration between the students of Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce and Fergusson College.[2] The founding members were Amey Wagh, Nipun Dharmadhikari, Siddharth Menon, Alok Rajwade, Parna Pethe, Abhay Mahajan, Gandhaar Sangoram, Dharmakirti Sumant, Soumitra Gapchup, Ravi Choudhary, Siddhesh Purkar and Sayali Pathak. It grew to around 150 members.

Since being staged in 2009, their play Dalan has received positive response.[3] The troupe performed in Italy's Universo Teatro in 2010.[4] In 2014, in the memory of Tanveer, Rupwedh Pratishthan awarded the group an amount of 1.3 lakhs.[5] In 2016, they staged their play Sindhu, Sudhakar, Rum ani Itar at NCPA's Pratibimb Marathi Theatre Festival.[6] They revived Satish Alekar's play Mahanirvan, which was performed at Vinod Doshi Memorial Fest and National School of Drama's Theatre Olympics in February 2018.[7] In 2019, they started a year-long series of talks related to theatre, called Kaan Drushti. It was curated by Parna Pethe.[8]

Plays

The troupe is known for its experimental works[9] and revivals of Marathi classic plays, such as Mahanirvan.[10] Other plays include Sutti Butti, Don Shoor, Patient, Binkamache Sanwad, Tem, Dalan, Sindhu Sudhakar Rum ani Itar, Aparadhi Sugandh, Natak Nako, Shivachritra ani ek, Chakra, Ek Divas Mathakade and Mi...Ghalib.[5]

Selected Plays

First show	Title	Translated Title	Writer	Director	Plot summary & Cast	Refs
2009	Geli Ekvis Warsha	In the last 21 years	Dharmakirti Sumant	Alok Rajwade	A coming-of-age play centred around a recently graduated protagonist and his personal struggles Cast: Amey Wagh, Siddharth Menon, Saylee Pathak & Manali Bibikar	[11]
	Sutti Butti			Nipun Dharmadhikari	Based on the Russian story Disobedience Holiday by Sergei Mikhalkov.	[12]
	Tidha	Entanglement	Saaket Kanetkar	Saaket Kanetkar	The play deals with a protagonist who has the Oedipus Complex. The story is about how he decides to tread a different path. Cast: Siddharth Menon, Gautam Reddi, Anuja Sathe, Ankita Parad	[11]
	Dalan		Based on short story by DM Mirasdar	Nipun Dharmadhikari	A comedy set in a small village in Maharashtra about a teacher who can guess whether the mother of a student would be good-looking, by looking at the child. Cast: Amey Wagh, Alok Rajwade, Depti Bawiskar, Amruta Bhagwat, Saurabh Daftardar & Amol Gokhale	[3][13]
	Zaada Lawnara Manus	The Man Who Plants Trees		Dharmakirti Sumant	A musical play	[13]
	Don Shoor	Two Bravehearts		Alok Rajwade	Based on a story by Anton Chekov. It revolves around two travellers who meet and talk to each other as the story progresses.	[14][15]
2010	Institute of Pavtology	-	Santosh Shintre	Alok Rajwade	A satire on the problem of hooliganism. Cast: Abhay Mahajan, Aditya Patil, Akshay Tanksale, Soumitra Gapchup, Siddharth Menon, Ruturaj Shinde, Kaustubh Deshmane & Suraj Parasnis.	[16]
2014	Binkamache Sanwad	Pointless Conversations	Dharmakirti Sumant	Alok Rajwade	It deals with the state of lack of ideals in the current youth.	[5][17]
2016	Sindhu, Sudhakar, Rum ani itar	Sindhu, Sudhakar, Rum and Others	Ashutosh Potdar	Alok Rajwade	A dramatic retelling of the classic play Ekach Pyala. The story begins with Rama and Raghu, costume designers preparing towards a period film, based on the play.	[18]
2018	A Doubtful Gaze at Uber at Midnight	-	Dharmakirti Sumant	Alok Rajwade	The story revolves around Saket and his conversations with his cab driver. It was performed first at Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa. Cast: Siddharth Menon	[19]
	Mahanirvan	The Dread Departure		Satish Alekar	It is a two-act play in Marathi, set in a chawl in Pune. The story revolves around Bhaurao, a chawl dweller who struggles to convince his wife that he died in his sleep. It was first staged in 1974. Cast: Nachiket Devasthali, Siddharth Mahashabde, Sayalee Phatak	[7][20][21]

Recognition

• Cycle (Purushottam Karandak in 2005).[9]
• Dalan (Thespo in 2008)
• Geli Ekvees Varsha (Thespo in 2009)
• Best Play for Don Shoor (Purushottam Karandak in 2009)[14]
• Best Set and Best Actor for Don Shoor (Sawai Karandak in 2009)[14]
• Best Play and Best Actor in Lead Role (13th Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Award in 2018)[22]

References

1. Bhanage, Mihir (5 June 2018). "One reunion for Natak Co; a giant treat for Puneites". Times of India. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
2. Shetty, Anjali (27 May 2018). "Pune's Natak Company: A decade of theatrical, artistic triumph". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
3. Nambiar, Shruti (23 March 2012). "Two Good". Indian Express Archive. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
4. Banerjee, Jasodhara (8 February 2017). "30 Under 30: Alok Rajwade is daring in the issues he addresses in his plays". Forbes India. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
5. "९ डिसेंबरला 'बिनकामाचे संवाद'" ['Binkamache Sanvaad' on December 7]. Loksatta (in Marathi). 1 December 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
6. Phukan, Vikram (5 August 2016). "Classic Marathi theatre, refurbished". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
7. Ramnarayan, Gowri (22 March 2018). "Reviving a four decade old play". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
8. Shetty, Anjali (29 March 2019). "Natak Company to host third edition of Kaan Drushti on March 31". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
9. Unnithan, Vidya (10 June 2018). "Relative value: Act ten". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
10. Phukan, Vikram (31 August 2018). "Retelling a classic tale of urban dystopia". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
11. Ranade, Arundhati (31 October 2009). "Students in playful mode". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
12. "Art-fully yours". Indian Express. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
13. Brahme, Nitin (31 July 2009). "Two for company". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
14. Ranade, Arundhati (28 January 2009). "Three cheers!". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
15. Shetty, Anjali (15 September 2011). "Playing the best!". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
16. Khandekar, Aashay (1 August 2014). "Black magic". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
17. Ghosh, Suktara (19 July 2015). "Mark their word". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
18. "Experimental plays rule theatre fest stage". The Times of India. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
19. Kulkarni, Kimaya (11 September 2018). "Destination not known". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
20. Gadge, Kasturi (2 September 2018). "Iconic play Mahanirvan to get revived". Mid-Day. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
21. Gokhale, Shanta (29 March 2018). "Natak Company: Laughing to the grave". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
22. Unnithan, Vidya (29 April 2018). "A striking win". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 18 March 2019.

External links

• Official website