Gigs at warehouses and stations, theatre in restaurants

MUMBAI: Earlier this week, the 156-year-old Richardson & Cruddas industrial estate in Byculla got a makeover.
A warehouse inside the complex had its rusting facade splashed with colour. Technicians milled about on the makeshift stage and fussed with lights, lending the finishing touches for a first-of-its-kind event.
On Saturday, Richardson & Cruddas plays host to an indie band competition, organized by music platform NH7.The venue will house a pop-up recording studio, enclosed in Plexiglas, a screen-printing station and art installations. It is the first time a warehouse has been used for a live music event.
Arjun S Ravi, co-founder of NH7, said, “You can't have a regular rock show or gig here. This place has history. When you walk into it, you feel something amazing can happen.” The venue started out as a bungalow, converted into a foundry by the Englishman, Noble Carr Richardson, and went on to become western India’s largest mechanical engineering company.
Ravi said the 15,500-sq ft warehouse can fit 2,000 people and has plenty of parking space. Even as rentals for regular performance venues shoot up, a clutch of performing arts groups have been exploring alternative spaces for gigs, cultural talks, and plays. Theatre companies such as QTP, Tram Theatre and Gillo have taken productions to living rooms, restaurants, fitness centres and art galleries.
Those like Choiti Ghosh of Tram Theatre have been compiling databases of alternate venues they have tried out, so that others can utilize them. Theatre director Quasar Thakore Padamsee recalls the time they staged Khatijabai of Karmali Terrace inside a flat on Nepean Sea Road. The team had expected about 30 people to attend, he says. Over a hundred showed up. The play was performed in natural light.
The National Streets for Performing Arts initiative opened gigs up to hordes of commuters alighting from trains at Virar, Borivali, Bandra and Churchgate. Musicians play everything from Uttaranchali folk and Sufi songs, to Marathi sangeet and country tunes on railway platforms, on a rotating schedule through the week. Set up in 2012, the initiative is still going strong.
Also chugging along is the Mumbai Local programme, launched by Junoon theatre company. Since January this year, the team has organized talks and discussions at venues like the Somaiya Vidyavihar campus and the Maharashtra Mitra Mandal library in Bandra.