Oscillating between being delightfully dumb and randomly profound, The Age of Prison is a live and interactive theatrical performance that draws heavily from the times we live in.

An absurd tale of two prisoners who are stuck in what seems to be a dystopian prison. These prisoners are destined to entertain their Jailor who is keeping a close eye. And the Jailer is you, the audience!

The prisoners play to entertain themselves and their jailor (the audience). They dance, cry, laugh and sometimes fight, all in hopes of breaking out of the prison. Above all, they must try and make sense of their deliberately nonsensical existence, a quandary that lasts for eternity. Unlike them, it's safe to say that their fate lies in the hands of whoever is watching.

Laced with 21st century anxieties, this absurd comedy questions freedom and images, including yours.

Experts might say that the age of Prison comes from a world that seems devoid of meaning. But who listens to experts anymore?

Written & Directed by Ankit Verma

Performers:

Ankit Verma

Rashmi Mann

Humhu

Camera: Ananya Shinde

Set Design: Samia Iqbal

Sound & Visuals: Tito 

Ankit Verma, who?

Ankit Verma is a Bombay based Performance Artist who experiments with theatre in the digital media space. He has done immersive theatre with The Crow Experience in Delhi and then moved on to acting in multiple ad films and obscure Indie movies. His most recent project, a one-of-a-kind performance piece which he wrote, directed & performed, was done for Verve’s special digital issue.

Rashmi Mann

Rashmi is an actor and a fashion model. She started her theatrical journey in Delhi university, she took a hiatus from theatre when she started working at NDTV as a journalist, after which life brought her back to performance arts, since then she has performed and trained within various genres of performance ranging from physical theatre to folk style storytelling. You can find her taking walks, and talking to strangers around bombay when not working. She has an absurd love for coffee and cats.

Humhu

Humhu is a multi-disciplinary artist based out of Bombay. He juggles between acting in the theatre, being a fashion model and making images and films. His inquiries range from metaphysics to inherent queer culture in under-represented societies to trauma bonding to street FMCG in big cities. He doesn’t know when to start(or stop).

Show Notes

The show will be performed live and to access all the interactive features, it is best viewed on a desktop computer, laptop or a tablet. The show can be accessed via a phone as well but some interactive features will not be available.

On booking, the show link will be shared 24 hours before the show. Please make sure to give a correct email id and contact us on shows@harkat.in if you do not receive the link.

About the Harkat Virtual Interactive Stage

Theatre – as imagined for proscenium and even informal performance spaces – is a communal, and very physical experience, for both performers and the audience. A truly ‘for the internet’ platform, where we have retrofitted the Harkat physical space with state of the art capturing and streaming equipment, interactive tools and a technical team on standby. The Harkat Virtual Interactive Stage is a new form of art, a new medium if you will, to audiences and directors alike. It’s not theatre, it’s not film, it’s not a cheap mid-way and it’s not trying to be like anything else.

Supported by the Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai.

About Harkat

Harkat is an international boutique arts studio with a passion for film, new media, community art spaces and contemporary art. Based in Mumbai & Berlin, Harkat takes many forms and identities across disciplines & related creative industries. As an alternative performance & arts space, we have hosted more than 300 shows in the past year in the mediums of theatre, film, music, community projects & contemporary art. We support the new, unheard, upcoming, exciting, cutting edge, the political, the forgotten, nostalgic, melancholic, soul stirring, the beautiful & more. And that's what Harkat is. Harkat.

*(Money should not be a reason that you don't experience art. Sign up for a 'pay what you want' ticket on shows.harkat.in. We also have a special discount of 25% of for the students.)*