03rd September 2024 – Mumbai, India – The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and London’s Soho Theatre are thrilled to co-present Patchwork Ensemble’s reprised version of their hit show – The Gentlemen’s Club to audiences across two continents. This partnership marks a significant milestone in international theatre, highlighting the dynamic exchange between two of the leading art centres from India and the UK. The Gentlemen’s Club, which presented at the NCPA in 2015 as a part of the Centrestage Festival, will be set for its much-awaited second run from the 27th and the 28th of September in the Experimental Theatre. Following its run in India, the production will make its way to London, where it will be showcased at Soho Theatre, marking its international debut.
The show invites the audiences to enter Mumbai’s pulsating underground club scene and follow the exhilarating lives of the city’s drag kings, headlined by the enigmatic Rocky, also known as Shammsher. Rocky’s act is a tribute to the legendary Shammi Kapoor and the golden era of Hindi cinema. Alongside Rocky, a diverse ensemble of women embraces the art of drag, delivering a cabaret-style performance that transports you to a gritty, hidden world where you can be anyone you desire. Featuring a dazzling mix of dance, music, and projection, this show unfolds an exciting and provocative narrative celebrating artistes and their exploration of masculinity.
Speaking about the collaboration between the NCPA and Soho Theatre to co-present Patchwork Ensemble’s production – The Gentlemen’s Club, Mr. Bruce Guthrie, Head, Theatre & Films, NCPA, commented, “The collaboration represents a unique opportunity for the NCPA to expand its international reach and for Soho Theatre to engage with the growing thespian community in India. Through this partnership, we aim to elevate the local theatrical experiences and celebrate the mutual love for arts between the two thriving cities of Mumbai and London.
The Gentlemen’s Club is a playful, yet powerful presentation and we are certain that the audience will receive it very well. We are excited to bring it back to the NCPA yet again and expose it to the audience globally.”
Ms. Pooja Sivaraman, Creative Associate at Soho Theatre, shared her excitement about the show:
“Soho Theatre has been working with Indian artists for over a decade and bringing their work to audiences around the UK. Last year we achieved historic milestones by presenting Zakir Khan at the Royal Albert Hall and supporting Urooj Ashfaq’s win of ‘Best Newcomer’ at the Edinburgh Fringe. We are now carving out a similar space for Indian theatre makers and their development of new writing.
This collaboration marks what we hope is the first of many co-presentations of theatre with the NCPA to platform stories by bold Indian voices. The Gentlemen’s Club is a joyous exploration of Indian masculinity, and we are certain it will be a hit with our audiences on Dean Street. We are so proud to facilitate the exchange of contemporary work by South Asian artists.”
About NCPA:
The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, is India’s premier cultural institution. Inaugurated in 1969, it was the first multi-venue, multi-genre cultural centre in South Asia. The NCPA is committed to preserving and promoting India’s rich and vibrant artistic heritage in the fields of music, dance, theatre, film, literature and photography, as well as presenting new and innovative work by Indian and international artists from a diverse range of genres including drama, contemporary dance, orchestral concerts, opera, jazz and chamber music. Today, the NCPA hosts more than 700 events each year, making it India’s largest and most holistic performing arts centre.
About Soho Theatre:
SOHO THEATRE is London’s most vibrant producer of new theatre, comedy, and cabaret. Opened in 2000, bang in the creative heart of London, we are one of the country’s busiest venues with a buzzing bar and a year-round festival programme, broad-based and accessible with a queer, punk, counter-culture flavor. Work extends far beyond our home with a UK and international touring programme and connections; presenting shows and scouting talent. We are the UK’s leading presenter of Indian comedians from the burgeoning scene there.
To create theatre we nurture new playwrights, commission new work, have our writing awards, the Verity Bargate Award and Tony Craze Award, our commissioning programme Soho Six where we collaborate with new writing companies on a year-long co-commission with an artist to culminate in a new play and, we produce and present new plays. With comedy and cabaret, we identify, develop and produce exciting new talents and present some of the biggest international stars. Our filmed comedy can be seen on our digital platform, TV and international airlines and we are working towards opening a new second London venue, Soho Theatre Walthamstow.
SOHO THEATRE INDIA is the UK’s leading producer of Indian comedy and works with artists of South Asian heritage from around the world. A home for South Asian theatre since the venue opened in Dean Street in 2000, Soho Theatre has been touring work to India for over a decade. It has delivered the flagship Primary Playwrights programme and Soho Theatre Labs workshops there. When stand-up comedy emerged in India around this time, Soho Theatre was quick off the mark, introducing new comedic voices to UK audiences, in London, at the Edinburgh Fringe and around the country. Soho Theatre has filmed several artists for Soho Theatre’s on-demand streaming platform Soho Player, Prime Video UK and international airlines, with Soho Theatre being the first choice venue for many filmed comedy specials.
In 2017 Soho Theatre presented the inaugural comedy tent at the annual Diwali on the Square festival. And since 2019 Soho Theatre has presented UK and international comedians in Mumbai in partnership with G5A and OML among others. In 2022 Soho Theatre appointed its first ever India-based Comedy Producer to bring even more Indian comedians to the UK.
Indian and South Asian work is a major feature of Soho Theatre’s year-round, festival-style programme. The venue also works in partnership with larger spaces such as Eventim Apollo and the Royal Albert Hall to bring popular Indian comedians to even bigger audiences. In 2023 Soho Theatre brought five Indian and South Asian acts to the Edinburgh Fringe. One of the performers, Urooj Ashfaq, won Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, the first India-based comic to win in the award’s 40-year history. Recently, in another first, one of India’s most-loved comedians, Zakir Khan, who Soho Theatre regularly brings to the UK, became the first Indian artist to headline a sold-out Royal Albert Hall, and the first to perform in Hindi.
About Patchworks Ensemble:
The Patchworks Ensemble is a theatre company that strives to create relevant and surprising theatre. Their work is process-based, starting with explorations and workshops, from which emerges art that is organic and owned by all the artists and collaborators involved. This process helps create a united spirit and combined ownership of stories for an engaged audience.
