The Urban Theatre Project

The lab

The Urban Theatre Project is a laboratory for research, incubation and performance. The idea is simple: give artists a comfortable room, time, and an audience that sits close, so a piece can be investigated further than any rehearsal room allows.

Since the doors opened on 6 July 2024 the house has taken three pieces from first draft to world premiere, hosted a resident photographer, welcomed companies from across India and from the UK and Belgium, and run workshops with practitioners from Broadway to Auroville. Some seats are always pay what you can.

A workshop in the studio: participants sit in a circle on the floor between the teak doors.

Ways to work here

Incubation
Develop a new piece in the house over weeks or months, with readings and showings along the way, ending in a first run for a real audience. Item and Labor Day Reunion were made this way.
Residency
Stay in the house while you investigate a piece. The residency room, the library and the studio are yours between the programme.
Hosting
Bring a finished piece for a run of one to six nights. We handle the room, the lights, the seats and the audience.
Workshops
Teach or take one. Visiting practitioners run two-day to week-long intensives; we keep the groups small and some seats pay-what-you-can.

Made here

Recent workshops

  1. Fri 3 to Sun 5 JulTo Be A MoverSadhwi Majumder6 to 9pm, then 12 to 3pm
  2. Sun 31 MayThe Performer's Instrument, an Alexander Technique workshopDipankar Panth10am to 2pm
    ₹1,000, five scholarships
  3. Sun 10 MayThe Strangers' Choir10.30am to 1.30pm
  4. Sat 21 to Sun 22 FebBody & SoundVivek Vijayakumaran, Pangambam Tyson Meitei10am to 1pm
  5. Wed 26 to Sun 30 Nov 2025Analyse This, a workshop for playwrights, actors and directorsMahesh Dattani, with Bhasha CentreWeekdays 6 to 9pm, weekend 11am to 1pm
  6. Fri 21 to Sun 23 Nov 2025Ensemble Assemble: collaboration and the neutral maskBella RahimFriday 6 to 9pm, Sunday 11am to 2pm
  7. Wed 19 to Thu 20 Nov 2025ClowningKaren Houge6 to 9pm
  8. Sat 13 to Sun 14 Sep 2025The Physical Brain: Calcutta EditionRonita Mookerji10am to 12pm
    ₹1,500; ₹900 drop-in

All dates

Propose something

Write to us with what the piece is, where it is in its life, who is involved and what you need from the house. We read everything and reply to everyone. We say yes to work that needs a room like this one, and we will tell you quickly if it does not.

ninadsamaddar@gmail.com

Who has taught here

  • Mahesh Dattani
  • Adishakti, with Vinay Kumar and Nimmy Raphel
  • Dr Stan Denman
  • Arundhati Ghosh
  • Alexander Wright of Wright & Grainger
  • Karen Houge
  • Bella Rahim
  • Shubham Roy Choudhury
  • Dipankar Panth
  • Tanmay Dhanania
  • Kat Kai Kol-Kes
  • Diya Naidu
  • Ronita Mookerji
  • Sadhwi Majumder