I STAGE THEATRE FESTIVAL ( 08 AUGUST 2020 - 28 SEPTEMBER 2020)

PLAY: "TANSEN"

"A musical based on Indian Classical Music"

DESIGN AND DIRECTION- SUDHEER RIKHARI

GROUP: THE TRAILOGUE COMPANY

The company’s first production “Tansen” has been performed over 40 times in two years in various festivals including Northern Meetings Theatre festival (Russia), Panna Bharat Ram festival (Delhi), Theatre for Theatre Festival (Chandigarh), Minerva National Theatre Festival (Kolkata), Theatre Olympics by the National School of Drama (Bengaluru), Windermere Festival (Bareilly), Ranglok Theatre Festival (Agra) to name a few. The company’s second production “MEERA - Beyond Devotion” was also premiered in 2019 in Delhi and has won critical acclaim and appreciation from the audiences.

SYNOPSIS:

 Every artist has a journey. A journey of an endless search. A journey 

that is filled with ups and downs, acceptance and rejection, pain and 

satisfaction. The play “Tansen” explores this journey through the life of 

legendary Tansen. What was it that made him the great Tansen and what 

was his search till the end of his life.

 The play begins with a dilemma about “Ibadat” and “Ishq”. What is 

worship and what is love? Is the search of a destination called love or is 

losing your ownself in that search called love? Are worship and love the 

two sides of the same coin? Every artist comes across these questions at 

some point in his or her life, where a thought comes, whether the love for 

the art is enough or is it necessary to lose yourself in the worship of art. A 

point comes when he can’t decide whether he has achieved what he 

wanted or should he continue the search. And when he feels that he has 

achieved what he wanted, can he grow further? Also, can an artist feel 

liberated when he expects something in return from his search?

 The play “Tansen” explores these basic questions of every artist. 

The intention is to talk about the dilemmas of an artist and explore along 

with the audience, the factors that make an artist feel liberated and also 

what makes him feel caught in his own emotions, expectations and pride. 

“Tansen” is not only a documentation of Tansen’s life but also a parallel 

search of an artist that is never ending.

 The performance aspect of the play includes a wide range of 

theatrical devices. It consists of the three major elements of performing 

arts namely music, dance and drama which are blend together to say the 

story. The play also focuses on the journey of Hindustani classical music 

from its origin where it was performed in the form of “Dhrupad” till 

today’s “Khayal Gaayaki”. Therefore, it includes live music ranging from 

Dhrupad, Qawwali, Hori to Khayal Gaayaki along with live instruments 

namely Sitar, Tabla, Pakhawaj, Harmonium and Tanpura that give a 

different flavour to the play.

CAST:

Mohammad Faheem 

Ridhima Bagga

Sudheer Rikhari

Sudip Chowdhury- Tabla, Tanpura and Percussion

Roman Das- Pakhawaj

Sitar- Rashmi Dutt

Anil Mishra- Sarangi and Harmonium

CREDITS:

Writers- Mohammad Faheem and Sudheer Rikhari

Inspired by- Girish Chaturvedi’s novel “Tansen”

Choreography and Costume- Ridhima Bagga

Music- Sudheer Rikhari

Music Credits

Tero gun gaawe (lyrics and composition)- Pt. Vinay Chandra Maudgalya

Moorat Mann Bhaaye (lyrics and composition)- Gundecha Brothers

Surr mein rame tu hi (lyrics)- Gundecha Brothers

Har shai pe tera noor hai (composition)- Pravesh Mallick

Jaagiye Gopal, Shubh mahoorat, Laal Gopal, Aavan keh gaye- Traditional Dhrupads and khayal compositions

Stage Management- Deepak Rana

Lights- Rahul Chauhan

Sound- Varun Gupta

DESIGN AND DIRECTION- SUDHEER RIKHARI