Do You Know This Song?

curator

  • Quasar Thakore Padamsee & Sankar Venkateswaran

This is a piece about loss and grief. It is also a story of love, finding one's voice, and rediscovering the power of song.

Over the course of a year, Mallika Taneja collected interviews, piecing together the story of a long-forgotten voice. She uncovered a narrative of dreams made and broken, of a voice that yearned to reach out but found itself shackled in domesticity. From fragments of fading memories, this voice and its songs have been carefully reconstructed and brought to the stage.

Revisited. Reimagined. Restrung.

Accompanied with her harmonium, a microphone, and childhood toys and objects, the performer returns as an adult to search for the person she lost—a singer, her songs, and much more. Who was she? Where did she go? And most importantly, why did she get lost? In seeking answers, the performer embodies different aspects of herself and, at times, assumes the role of the lost singer.

We now listen to these once-unheard songs through a hauntingly familiar story. As the performer ventures into the realm of not-forgetting, we embark on a journey through darkness, learning to navigate by song.

Mallika moves fluidly between searching, singing, and narrating a tale of grief, inviting the audience to join her in this exploration of memory and identity.

Duration: 90 minutes


CREDITS:

Performance, Artistic Direction:
Mallika Taneja

Dramaturgy:
Hansa Thapliyal

Lighting Design:
Sangeet Shrivastava

Sound Design:
Chayan Adhikari 
Bindhumalini N

Scenography:
Sangeet Shrivastava with Hansa Thapliyal 
Vijay Kate
Tanuj Arora

Original Text:
Mallika Taneja

Text Collaboration:
Rajesh Nirmal

Production:
Aman Mohammadi
Drishti Chawla

Doll Makers:
Hansa Thapliyal
Aman Mohammadi
Drishti Chawla

Songbook Design:
Bindhumalini N

Tailoring:
Muzammil
Praveen Kumar

Production Managing:
Drishti Chawla

With the voices of:
Banwari Taneja
Bindhumalini N
Chayan Adhikari
Kajal Ghosh
Nadeera Zaheer Babbar
Sudha Thapliyal
Suhasini Taneja
Sunanda Achar

The piece is based on interviews and conversations with:
Banwari Taneja
Elizabeth Achar
Geetika Thapliyal
Hansa Thapliyal
Kajal Ghosh
Maude Gonsalves
Nadira Zaheer Babbar
Nandini Guha Rajagopal
Oona Gupta
Raj Babbar
Sudha Thapliyal
Suhasini Taneja
Sunanda Achar

Co-Production:
The WEB network: La Maison de la danse CDCN Uzès GardOccitanie
WPZimmer
Beursschouwburg
Black Box Teater
Tanzquartier Wien
Frascati Productions | LES SUBS-Lyon (FR)
Points communs-Nouvelle Scènenationale de Cergy-Pontoise / Val d’Oise
Kaserne Basel
Zürcher Theater Spektakel
Nationaltheater Mannheim
SPIELART Theater festival

The Foundry - Kala Academy
20 DEC // 03:00 PM - 04:30 PM, 06:00 PM - 07:30 PM

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