Darkroom V4.0 – An Immersive Sensory Storytelling Experience (Multi-lingual)
1 Show | Multiple Stories | Multiple Experiences
#sensoryexperience #immersivetheatre
TRIGGER WARNING! STORIES OF RAPE AND CHILD ABUSE Run Time - 105 Mins | 1hr 45Mins (No Intermission)

Rangaai Theatre Company presents a unique variant of experimental theatre; that touches upon Antonin Artaud’s (1930) Theatre of Cruelty and Surrealism along with elements that harness the senses of the audience to make them encounter the unexpressed emotions of the subconscious. Darkroom V4.0 is an attempt at bringing to light the traumatic state of mind, loss, and indignation of mankind through a series of South Asian stories.

Upon arrival, you interact with some characters, and some sensory elements, along with 30 microstories all revolving around the themes and the emotions of Darkroom V4.0. The name of the performance hints at the treatment given to these stories. Darkroom essentially refers to the process of developing photographic films onto light-sensitive photographic paper through various techniques such as dodging and burning. This is carried out with the aid of red light also known as safe light.

In order to conceptualize this process, Darkroom V4.0 takes the form of Blackbox intimate theatre wherein each step is amplified dynamically. While these stories are considered photographic films, the audience’s psyche is the photographic paper; and the performance itself is the development process created by performers, singers, musicians, make-up and lights, sound, and smell. All these facets lend the art of storytelling a distinctive twist Rangaai Theatre Company’s production aims to establish a trend of shared theatrical experience.

Darkroom V4.0 uses ideas such as projection, sounds, smell, and live music to evoke Theatre of Cruelty and engage the audience in real time. It merges classics with its modern tryst of absurdity; giving the performance a holistic sense of reality running parallel to collective subconsciousness.

Stories Segments:
1. Khol Do (1952) - Saadat Hasan Manto - English/Urdu - Blindfolded
2. Sensory Experience Choose A Story - Interactive micro story segment
3. Durga Poojo (A True Story) - Anonymous - English/ Bengali - Theatre of Cruelty

TIMES
For evening performances, doors open at 7:10 pm, and the show at 7:30 pm.
For Matinee performances, doors open at 1:40 pm, and the show at 2 pm.

Saturday, 8th April, 2023 @ 2 PM (Multi-Lingual Performance)
Saturday, 8th April, 2023 @ 7:30 Pm (English Version)
Sunday, 9th April, 2023 @ 7:30 Pm (English Version)

About Rangaai Theatre Company
(Est. Feb 2016 in Mumbai, India)
The word Rangaai is used to refer to the Goddess of Theatre; as our mother who gives birth to and nurtures the artist in us throughout our life on stage. With this in mind, the Rangaai Theatre Company is dedicated to ushering experimental and artistic pieces onto its audience.

We do this by means of introducing both new and old theatre techniques from around the world. But not to restrict ourselves to the theatre alone, we innovatively look into other artistries to find resemblances and replicate them in our performances. Our forte lies in designing immersive sensory theatre experiences for our audiences.

We began our journey in 2016 in Mumbai, India with our first version of The Darkroom Project. Since then we have performed more than 350 shows of 20+ productions at 30+ intimate black box spaces in 5 major cities in India. And now we begin our adventures in Toronto with Darkroom V4.0 for Canadian audiences

About The Director:

Tushar Tukaram Dalvi is a seasoned theatre practitioner from Mumbai, now residing in Toronto. He is a multi-disciplinary artist who dabbles in Acting, Directing, Light design, and Film making. He has been acting on stage since 2006 and worked with noteworthy theatre directors in Mumbai. In 2016, he founded the Rangaai Theatre Company which specializes in creating immersive and sensory-based theatrical experiences for intimate and alternate spaces. His work tells compelling stories reflecting contemporary social issues by interweaving fiction, various mediums, and interactive elements.

Cast & Crew

Akul Anandur (Dramaturg)
Akul Anandur is a brilliant poet and writer. Mathematician by academia and a writer/ performer by passion. Many of his poems about Science, math, Society, and the absurdity of life have been published in several journals and publications in India. He is also an excellent playwright who dares to cover life’s absurdity with a sense of humor. He has been associated with the Rangaai Theatre Company for the last 3 years and also writes and performs for the troupe.

Amalan Das
Amlan is an artist who dabbles in acting, storytelling, dancing, and everything in between. He has been part of the performing arts scene for more than a decade now. He has been working with production companies across GTA and has been part of numerous stories. He is very excited to be working with Rangaai Theatre Company in their latest production.

Pradeep Venkatesan
Pradeep Venkatesan, who grew up in a suburb of Mumbai, is a budding theater/drama enthusiast based out of Toronto. Pradeep enjoys writing short stories,  and is a proficient self-taught guitar player, and an audiophile. He is extremely excited to be exercising his creativity through different acts with Rangaai Theatre Company.

Sachin Gupta
Sachin is an aspiring theatre actor in Canada. He has previously worked as a theatre artist with several renowned groups in India and has been pursuing performing arts for the last 10 years. He is passionate about the craft and has performed in various festivals and cultural events.

Shriyanshi Quanoongo
Shriyanshi is an emerging actor. She is currently majoring in drama at Cawthra Park Secondary. In 2021, she was part of the ensemble for her school’s annual musical “Matilda”. She is also associated with institutions like the National Theatre School (NTS) and was one of the finalists of the international event – the monologue slam competition, in Poland organized by ETTC globally in July 2021. Shriyanshi was part of two Hindi Shorts “Flag” – “Dhwaj” and “Khosla Ka Ghosla”, for SAWITRI’s Hindi Shorts Theatre Festival 2021. Recently, in April 2022, Shriyanshi was part of a Hindi play “Happy Anniversary, Darling”, for SAWITRI’s Hindi Shorts Theatre Festival 2022. In August 2022 she performed at the Mississauga Multilingual Fringe Festival 2022, organized by SAWITRI Theatre Group, she produced and performed her own show “Charlie the Chaplin”, and was also a part of the Youth Ensemble Group with The Hive Performing Arts. She was also in an online production of “Disdained”, with The First Step Theatre Company. She is currently involved in the National Theatre Festival of Ontario as a director of “Spring”, representing her school at the Districts, working with Mizaaj Arts on one of their productions, “Bookh,” as an actor, and is excited to work with Rangaai Theatre Company on their immersive theatre piece.

Siddhesh Talpade
Siddhesh is a new Canadian who is proud to be associated with Rangaai Theatre Company, Toronto. Originally from India, Siddhesh has worked with Manitoba Marathi Mandal performing in many South Asian regional dramas, dances, and musical performances while he lived in Winnipeg. Siddhesh has a passion for vocalization and singing. He is a trained health professional and has worked in the Health Information Sector. In his spare time, he loves to travel and enjoy art and different cuisines. 

Shivam Dwivedi
Shivam Dwivedi is a theatre actor and dancer from Mumbai, India, and now in Toronto. He has been a part of production plays such as Darkroom 2.0, The Proposal, Untitled, and Hayavadana. Apart from acting his interest also lies in Arm wrestling. He is a professionally trained Arm wrestler and has won several competitions on national level in Arm wrestling in India.

Terms & Conditions:

TRIGGER WARNING: STORIES OF RAPE AND CHILD ABUSE. 
Audiences are free to leave the show at any point between the show if they are uncomfortable 
Tickets once booked cannot be exchanged or refunded
An Internet handling fee per ticket may be levied. Please check the total amount before the payment
We recommend that you arrive at least 20-30 minutes prior at the venue for a seamless entry 
It is going to be an immersive theatre experience where we may take you through different spaces and different stories, so seats are optional and we would suggest guests are mentally prepared to stand through most of the event or offer a seat to those who need it most.
The performance intends to evoke emotions such as fear and also make audiences uncomfortable so as to feel empathy toward the protagonist.
Please do not purchase tickets if you feel sick
These terms and conditions are subject to change from time to time at the discretion of the organizer