Balancing Act Productions

The Butler Did It- A Hilarious Whodunnit is about a theatre group that bungles through a murder mystery and creates more of a comedy of errors. The only mystery is in whether they will get through the show in one piece. Backstage shenanigans, actors trying to upstage one another and the show’s technical’s failing them - all create even more hilarity in what should have been a serious drama. A new screwball comedy from Balancing Productions starring Divya Palat, Aditya Hitkari, Anu Menon, Dinyar Tirandaz and Michael Nazareth among others !

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YouTheatre 2016- This year saw over 27 shows being performed over a single weekend! Supporting 4 charities again- YouTheatre started with the singing of the national anthem by the Blind school and the performance of the anthem being done in sign language by the Deaf School. There wasn't a dry eye in the house!

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YouTheatre 2015- A Fringe like celebration of talent, this year saw over 15 shows being performed over a single weekend! Supporting 4 incredible charities, YouTheatre celebrated art in it's truest and highest form acknowleging new theatre groups, stalwarts and even those who were handicapped or economically challenged. 

 

The Jury- The first of its kind, a Courtroom Comedy- 'The Jury' was a sneak peak in to a jury room where jury members debated, argued and bullied their fellow members to come up with a verdict. The case was loosely based on a real life case and was a farcical look at Indian society, the jury system and the legal process.

 

Faulty Towers -The Dining Experience- All the way from London’s West-end Balancing Act Productions staged an interactive dining experience across India- the first of it’s kind in India where the audience was served a meal by the actors during the course of the act. The hotels were transformed in to Faulty Restaurants where diners arrived as guests and then were taken on a gastronomic journey filled with incredible theatre.

 

 

YouTheatre- The ULTIMATE ARTISTIC CELEBRATION which allowed everyone a platform to learn and create through the arts. Shiamak taught Dance, The True School of music taught music and Divya Palat taught theatre to people who just wanted to learn. A 3 Day intensive workshop culminated in to Master class showcases to encourage new talent. Performances were also done by new theatre groups who were awarded. Through YouTheatre 4 NGOs were also given a platform to perform, talk and create raising both funds and awareness.

 

 

The Verdict- An interactive courtroom drama featuring Tanishaa Mukherji (Kajol’s sister) and Madhoo (of Roja fame) where the audience decided the final verdict The play had two premieres at the Taj and then played to full houses across the city. ‘The Verdict was the grand finale of BAP’s Anniversary Year.

 

Balancing Act 10th Anniversary Celebrations- With Imps (Improvisational shows), Comedies , stand ups, musical performances and even a single show of ‘A Personal War,’ - the Anniversary Celebration showcased the best of BAP’s repertoire.

 

'‘The Best Of’- A selection of some of the best BAP Comedies over the last 10 years were showcased at The Club, Mumbai.

2013 May -2+2- 4 short satirical comedies premiered at the NCPA and the Comedy Store to begin the BAP 10th Anniversary Celebration Year.

2012 December ‘Imps- Back to the Basics!’- Imps was back with a bang with a full house the audience got to laugh, clap and enjoy some new talented Improvisers, watch THREE incredibly interesting plays from three debutant directors!

 

 ‘A Personal War’- THE SHOW PREMIERED & OPENED at the SYDNEY FRINGE FESTIVAL and the MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL making it THE ONLY INDIAN SHOW to have traveled FOUR CONTINENTS winning the HIGHEST HONORS and ACCOLADES IN EACH CONTINENT! SBI Bank supported us in Sydney.

DIVYA PALAT, the Director and Producer won the Award for BEST DIRECTOR, BEST PRODUCER, BEST WRITER and BEST PERFORMER- a HUGE ACHIEVEMENT and a FIRST for ANY INDIAN DIRECTOR.

 

 FourSome- This show PREMIERED AT THE KALAGHODA FESTIVAL & THEN TOURED THE COUNTRY WITH THE TAJ GROUP OF HOTELS & THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND. Four laugh riots exploring duos facing different romantic dilemmas made for one uproarious evening!

2011 March - June - ‘Love Bytes’ An ALL INDIA TOUR of this hilarious laugh riot took India by storm! The show was a SUPPER THEATRE event at Taj Hotels across the country and was sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland!

 

 Love Bytes- A new fabulous romantic comedy was premiered once again at the Kala Ghoda Festival to a packed house and standing ovations!

 

 A Personal War- THE SHOW PREMIERED & OPENED at the NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL, where not only did it win rave reviews , DIVYA PALAT, the Director and Producer won the Award for EXCELLENCE IN DIRECTION, a FIRST for ANY INDIAN DIRECTOR.

ALL THE PROCEEDS FROM THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL WAS ALSO HANDED OVER TO THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE MUMBAI.

 

 A Personal War- Did a single show as a send-off show for the CONSUL GENERAL OF AMERICA FOR INDIA , UNION BANK OF INDIA AND THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE MAHARASHTRA.

 

Let’s Talk About Love A new romantic comedy premiered at the Kala Ghoda Arts festival 2010. A hall that fits 150 people was packed to it’s rafters when we had 0ver 500 people came in to watch and cheer!

 

 A Personal War- THE SHOW PREMIERED & OPENED at the EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL, THE LARGEST ARTS FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD.

2009 September- ‘A Personal War.’ Did a single show for the POLICE COMMISSIONER MR. SIVANANDAN AND A FEW POLICE OFFICERS WHO WERE AT THE TAJ & OBEROI DURING THE ATTACK OF 26/11.

ALL THE PROCEEDS FROM THE EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL WAS HANDED OVER TO THE COMMISSIONER TO BE USED BY THE POLICE FORCE FOR BETTER EQUIPMENT.

 

Imps- Summer Extravaganza!- 300 People squeezed in to a hall which usually held no more than 100 people to laugh, clap and enjoy new talented Improvisers, watch five plays and see some wonderful short films!!! A visual and creative treat!

2009 May ‘Starring U & Me!’ Our hilarious romantic comedy was once again HOUSEFULL -5 days prior to the show and we ended BOTH SHOWS with STANDING OVATIONS.

 

A Personal War- 2611- Standing ovations and full houses in both town and in the suburbs...2611 touched a core in every audience member’s heart.

 

Starring U & Me!- A Romantic comedy that featured ADITYA HITKARI & DIVYA PALAT in the leads for the FIRST TIME ON MUMBAI STAGE!

2009 February- 2611- A powerful dialogue between characters and the audience about the tragedy that unfolded on the horrific night in November when Mumbai was under attack!

 

krEAte- a collection of 9 short films was PREMIERED at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2009.

 

Imps- Back to Basics- Back with new talent and new games-we had another PACKED HOUSE at NGMA.

 

Imps- Back to the Original- Back with new talent and new games, hilarity reigned true at Imps at the NGMA again!

 

Arcus- India’s FIRST HINDI MEGA MUSICAL for Children!

 

The hilarious combination of ‘The BEST OF IMPS....’ and ‘NO LAUGHING MATTER- A treat for theatre-goers and first- timers alike!

 

krEAte- A collection of 7 short films was PREMIERED at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2008.

 

No Laughing matter- premiered as part of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2008.

 

Imps...the best of - This premiered as part of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2008.

 

The Wizard of Oz- DIVYA PALAT played DOROTHY in ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ The play was directed by ADITYA HITKARI Each of the other PRIMARY CAST MEMBERS were renowned stage, television or film actors including Tom Alter, Dolly Thakore, Vivan Bhatena, Yashwant Singh, Gauarav Sharma

From the moment you entered the Auditorium Audiences walked down the yellow brick road to the magical land of Oz! ,the entire auditorium was completely transformed to the fantastical Oz in

preparation for a journey that Dorothy and the audience would soon take!

The play was staged on such a huge scale for the first time in India and had actors singing the hugely popular Award winning tunes live on stage, like the classic ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ and ‘We’re off to see the Wizard!’

 

Short film for Nanhi Kali directed by Divya Palat- With this short film BAP now ventures into film-making .We started with Nanhi Kali, an NGO that promotes Education for the Girl Child.

 

The Return of The Imps- With plays, performances to music and our all time favourite improvisational comedies- we had another full house and another WINNER on our hands!!!

 

Imps—the Winter Dhamaka- Directed by Divya Palat and with over 75 new talents on stage, the ‘Imps-Winter Dhamaka’ made a statement--- if you had the passion, you definitely COULD ACT. With Improvisational Acts, musical performances and even some heartfelt, poignant monologues, Imps literally had something for EVERYONE!

 

My Way- directed by Divya Palat starring Aditya Hitkari among several new talents. A brand new exciting Improvisation Show which leads on to 4 spectacular original plays. The plays reflect strong opinions of today’s youth. Combined with witty dialogues and intelligent humour; each play is an original story !. ‘My Way’ was a break through in English theatre as it was the first time such an unconventional method had been adopted for debutant directors and such a multi-play format had been applied to theatre. With ‘My Way’, BAP was actively promoting new and original story ideas, youth theatre, new directors and authors and new talent.

 

Imps-the Club- directed by Divya Palat- a special customized performance of ‘Imps’ our Interactive Comedy with specially created games, a totally different, interactive script and lots of fun!

 

The Fashion Awards directed by Divya Palat- This was the first time the ZEE Fashion Awards ever had theatre performers doing skits and we are proud to say that we were their ONLY CHOICE. During the Course of the Award Ceremony, Actors seated in the audience got up and did short comedy performances aping stereotypes in the Fashion Industry. A huge hit and wonderfully televised!

 

‘Imps’ directed by Divya Palat- India’s first and only Improvisational Comedy. With this BAP made theatre Interactive. With Interactive TV coming of age, the concept of Interactive Theatre took Mumbai by storm! Actors played games with the audience, performed on audience suggestions and kept the audience rolling in their seats.A hilarious comedy, we promoted English theatre in a completely new avatar. ‘Imps’ features two Improvisational Acting teams. They interact with the audience playing theatre games based on suggestions from the audience. The teams play against each other vying for the AUDIENCE’S APPLAUSE. The louder the applause, the more they score on the ‘Clap-O-Meter.’ At the end of the show the team with the most points wins!

 

The Graduate- This spectacular musical was directed by Divya Palat and starred Zeenat Aman, Raageshwari , Aditya Hitkari, Hosi Vasunia among 54 others! The play was a full-fledged musical with live singing on stage by an Acapella band who sang Simon and Garfunkel songs live. The play had 17 live set changes and was performed at the Theatre. Each set weighed approximately 900 kgs! It was a huge success and arguably India’s finest Musical Theatre Extravaganza.

 

The Verdict- Our premiere production was directed by Divya Palat and starred Hosi Vasunia, Tanaaz Currim, Aditya Hitkari, Vivan Bhatena, Anu Menon (Lola Kutty) among others. This was India’s first Interactive Courtroom Drama where the audience decided whether the accused is ‘Guilty or ‘Innocent.’ 11 Jury members were chosen at random from among the audience and they decided the fate of the accused. After they pronounced the Verdict, the actors then continued with the ending of the play which revealed the real truth!

The play premiered at The Taj as part of the Centenary Celebrations.