October 2026: Four Cities, Three Plays, One New Cohort
From a new playwriting cohort in Washington State to an Ambedkarite opera in Pune, a new Tibetan play in Dharamshala, and Des in Bareilly and Delhi.
10/19/2026
October: Four Cities, Three Plays, One New Cohort
An unusually full month, moving from the Olympic Peninsula to Pune, Dharamshala, Bareilly and Delhi.
1 October — Port Angeles, Washington
The inaugural Playwriting Cohort opens at Field Hall in Port Angeles, Washington.
2 October — Pune
Kavan, An Ambedkarite Opera at The Box, Pune, with Yalgaar Cultural Movement for Human Liberation and Nalanda Arts Studio.
Young Bejul and the people around him navigate desire and ambition while negotiating caste and class in a rapidly changing India. Written and performed entirely in poetry and song, drawing on Shahiri protest poetry alongside folk, rock and rap. Co-commissioned by The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi.
9 and 10 October — Dharamshala
Phayul, a Tibet Theatre production at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, Dharamshala.
A new play written by Abhishek Majumdar and directed by Lhakpa Tsering and Harry Fuhrmann, made with Tibet Theatre, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen and TIPA. Supported by NYUAD Arts and Humanities, Deutsche Tibethilfe, Tibet Initiative Deutschland, the Gesellschaft Schweizerisch-Tibetische Freundschaft and the International Campaign for Tibet.
27, 28 and 29 October — Bareilly and Delhi
Des, a satirical comedy set on the night of 14 August 1947, in the hours before India is free of the British Empire. A Nalanda Arts Studio production, winner of the Sanhita Rangmanch Puraskar. Written and directed by Abhishek Majumdar, performed by Sandeep Shikhar, Irawati Karnik, Avneesh Mishra and Ajeet Singh Pallawat, with music and sound design by MD Pallavi and scenography by Dhanendra Kawade.
Bareilly, 27 October. At the Windermere Theatre on Balwant Singh Marg, Civil Lines, as the closing act of the Rajkamal Kitab Utsav. The evening opens with a conversation between Abhishek Majumdar and the critic and scholar Amitesh Kumar on Kaumudi Aur Anya Natak, the Hindi collection of three plays published by Rajkamal Prakashan, followed by a signing.
Delhi, 28 and 29 October. At Studio Safdar, the play’s first time in Delhi, presented with Vaam and LeftWord Books, publishers of Des. The performance on the 28th is preceded by a book talk and signing. That show is now houseful, so two further performances have been added on Thursday 29 October at 5pm and 7.30pm.
Please book early.