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Hypokrit Theater: Launching Alternate Worlds

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hether it be real life or stage life, everything gets enhanced with collaborations and connections. Hypokrit Theater Company was created by ‘the other’ – minorities proudly telling their own stories, stories which cut across color, gender and sexualities. This audacious little company started four years ago and has evolved through ups and downs and growing pains.

Its co-creators Arpita Mukherjee, Shubhra Prakash and Molly Elise gathered drama buffs, supporters and friends to celebrate the launch of Hypokrit’s 2018 -19 season with a bash at Mykonos Blue, with plenty of wine, music and beautiful people. They were surrounded by the people from their past and present, by people who had stood by them in tough times and others who had been mentors to them. As Arpita Mukherjee noted in acknowledging them all and the hard times, “Theater is like falling in love with a bunch of people and then hoping no one breaks your heart. It’s a collaboration that can leave us the most vulnerable.” Surrounded by the theater community, she added, “So many have said, ‘This is the moment  –  I hope it lasts’. This is the moment so help make it last! The dream is bigger than ever  because theater should reflect the world we live in!”

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he indomitable Mira Nair, patron saint of all aspiring artists, was the chief guest and the one everyone wanted to hear. She joked, “It’s a great pleasure to see you all in such high heels – and with such high visions! I remember starting here in the same city that is beloved to us all in a time when I had to spell the country I came from – I-n-d-i -a. Even though I didn’t set out to raise any flags, it was really lonely in the beginning.”

Nair, who has always been a trailblazer, recalled that when her first film ‘Salaam Bombay!’ was up for the Oscars, the presenters could not even get her name or Sooni Taraporevala’s name correctly. India certainly seemed very far away!  She added, “It’s beautiful to see you have become beacons for our voices and as we have grown and demanded a home in the theater, in films, in performance, in opera and in singing.”

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]hubhra Prakash, co- founder of Hypokrit, mentioned that in the current political climate  when leaders are not held accountable for the violence against women, Hypokrit decided to focus on women’s stories and this season they have a formidable lineup of women playwrights: “This year we decided to take a bold step and forge forward with a season that does push the story of women forward in all their bravery and their persistence.”

This season Hypokrit is showcasing Tamasha, an arts festival dedicated to South Asian artists. In 2018-2019, Tamasha is featuring 9 South Asian female playwrights and presenting their work in readings over the course of the year. It is partnering with New York institutions to host each presentation. Tamasha’s 2018 playwrights are all women – Sharbari Zohra Ahmed, Aditi Brennan Kapil, Dipika Guha, Deepali Gupta, Rohina Malik, Divya Mangwani, Deepa Purohit, Riti Sachdeva, and Madhuri Shekar

In an innovative collaboration, the institutions which will be hosting these presentations are noted mainstream ones – LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater, New Georges, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Public Theater, and WP Theater.

Hypokrit:  Launch of the New Season 

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]inorities have long been invisible, reflected only on their own ethnic mirrors – now this innovative new initiative will ensure that these bold new stories are told in their own voices with their own cadences and spirit, but on the larger canvas of New York City.

So get ready for some insightful theater from people who look like you and me, and who tell our shared,  untold stories, which in reality spring from the seed of universality. For global audiences which cut across manmade boundaries and labels, this is both a triumph and a treat.

As Mira Nair told a room full of young aspiring artistes, actors and playwrights:  “Theater enriches our lives and without that art, we would be paupers.”

For more details – http://www.hypokritnyc.org/

Little Black Book – Hypokrit’s Launch Photo Gallery

Meanwhile, what’s a celebration without music and vino and camaraderie? There was plenty of all of this at the new season’s launch party and the photos prove it.

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