Covid times
It has been an unprecedented period of lockdowns and social distancing. This is what I have been doing in Covid times.
Written by Abhishek Majumdar
Translated to Kannada by Maithreyi Karnoor
Performed, shot and edited. by MD Pallavi
During the lock down there was a huge food crisis in various parts of the country. Millions of workers have lost their jobs and they receive very little support from the government regarding food and other necessities. Consequently, hunger is as much an epidemic as the virus is a pandemic.
The piece is about a family of three women , a mother and two daughters who tell each other stories and fake the food on their plate , in order to walk the hard line between hunger and dignity.
Premiered at the Firstpost Theatre Fest
Showed at Rangashankara’s Online theatre Festival
https://www.firstpost.com/art-and-culture/firstact-in-salt-a-woman-and-her-daughters-walk-the-hard-line-between-hunger-and-dignity-8818221.html
https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2020/oct/28/with-a-pinch-of-salt-2215750.html
https://indiaartreview.com/2021/03/11/abhishek-majumdar-playwright-director-theatre-labourer/
Signature tune for Sudhanva Deshpande’s audio Series
A Poem A Day From Sudhanva
An audio-graphic jugalbandi (duet) to reflect on and archive our days in lockdown. Initiated at the beginning of the COVID19 lockdown in New Delhi, an audio poem is shared and an artwork is created as a response everyday. The poems are read in English, Hindi and Urdu, and no poet is repeated in the selection.
The poems are selected and read by Sudhanva Deshpande and the artworks as responses to the poems are created by Virkein Dhar.
The audio poems are published as a podcast by Vinutha Mallya with the signature tune by M.D Pallavi.
FacEbook live concert
A home concert. For the Kenya Kannada Cultural Association.
A tribute to poet K S Nissar Ahmed.
Virtual singing village
A virtual choir concert to be performed on the 26th of August with facilitators and workshop participants from across the globe in an attempt to connect and be able to harmonise together.
Conceived and facilitated by Anna Helena McLean
Song for world book day
A song composed and performed for the online publication Ruthumana
Vachana written by Haavinahaala Kallaya
Composed and performed by MD Pallavi
Online music and voice workshops
Four batches of different kinds of workshops-
Voice training Workshop
Bhavageete Workshop
Beginners Workshop
Music and fun workshop for little children
Chai-wai & Rangmanch
A talk on ‘Finding you Rhythm’ for Coconut Theatre series of theatre talks
https://www.facebook.com/CoconutTheatre/videos/734049790715684/?v=734049790715684
WOMEN IN CINEMA
Moderated and chaired a round table conversation with filmmakers Ananya Kasaravalli, Champa Shetty, Kavitha Lankesh, Vrinda Samarth and Nandini Reddy
Hosted by the Filmmakers United Club
May Day concert
On 1 May 2020, the New Delhi based independent bookstore, May Day Bookstore, held an online May Day festival, featuring 11 performers/speakers from three continents. The whole show, lasting over 12 hours, was continuously live-streamed using exclusively non-corporate platforms, developed by the Free Software Movement. This is a film about how it all came together. Featuring Roger Waters of Pink Floyd from the US; Aisi Taisi Democracy from Mumbai and Delhi, India; Tania Saleh from Lebanon; José Delgado from Venezuela; As Cantedeiras from Brazil; Aamir Aziz from Mumbai, India; Aishe Ghosh from Durgapur, India; Martín Espada from the US; Jana Natya Manch from Delhi, India; Prakash Karat from Delhi, India; and M.D. Pallavi from Bangalore, India.
Rangashankara’s AHA Little cloud online festival
The importance and relevance of stories remain unchanged through the years; it is the way we move forward. It is with this aim and the extraordinary circumstances we find ourselves in that made us take our signature storytelling programme, "Little Cloud" (under AHA! - Theatre for Children) onto a digital platform. All the videos were shot during the COVID-19 lockdown with just phone cameras!
As Ranga Shankara’s Artistic Advisor, Arundhati Nag, puts it, "Today, more than ever before, as we look into the way we have conducted our lives and the kind of world we are going to bequeath to the little ones, we need to share with them stories. Stories that will enlarge their sense of self-sufficiency, respect for others, sense of justice, sharing, caring and many more ways to negotiate and shape the different world ahead."
Here Pallavi tells the story of The Elephant's Nose
reading a story online
Story reading for children in a series curated by Book Brahma.
A story from Nagaland ‘Nagalandina Chakhesang’. Published by Tanya Majumdar and translated by Nagesh Hegde
https://www.facebook.com/BookBrahma/videos/1981931768606935/
Online summer camp for children
An online summer camp with these lovely children.
There was music, craft, puppetry, storytelling, games, dance and lots of laughter.
Facilitated by MD Swetha and MD Pallavi
Masterclass in aid of artist relief fund
Unlocked: A series of ten masterclasses by theatre artists across India in aid of the artist relief fund.
The masterclass I offered was: Finding music and rhythm in performance
Conceived and put together by Offbeat Theatre
A song for launch of Naanu Gowri page
Composed and recorded a song for the launch of Naanu Gowri webpage.
Poem written by Ravindranath Tagore
Translated to Kannada by Naregallu Prahlad
https://www.facebook.com/naanugaurinews/videos/1414745028731084/?v=1414745028731084
Recitation of Brecht’s poems
A recitation of Bertolt Brecht’s poems for the May Sahitya Sammelan.
Times of india concert
A house concert for the Times of India publication
Facebook live concert
A home concert. A tribute to nineteen composers of Sugama Sangeeta.
A concert hosted by the Bhavageete group
https://www.facebook.com/Bhavageethegalu/videos/290468388742347/?v=290468388742347