It is time to create a native modern improv theater of India. We have a long tradition of improvisation in music and theater. Somehow those native traditions have not created fresh ways to inform modern improv theater as a theater of 'roots' in India as far as I know. I could be wrong.

However this is what I would want to see develop in the land of my birth: a movement-based improv theater with the following characteristics:

1. Circular rather than linear logic

We can create much more layered, much more complex theatrical threads that can be woven together than is done in the western tradition.

2. Use of multiple languages

We all have the unusual gift of being fluent in more than two, often three or four languages. What happens when all the different languages are used in the same set of constraints or scenes? I have seen this happen most memorably when I taught an improv workshop in a small Rajasthani village and the results were spectacular.

3. The use of Indian humor

We all know what that means. There is a particular sense of humor shared across the subcontinent. Yet when we improvise very often we use the humor of English. This is much more than the language used. Even when using English, can we connect with our intrinsic Indian humor and bring it into the play? When we play characters can we bring in the amazing range of characters we meet every day of our lives? Can we we sharp and make a mental note each time we notice a very Indian situation or character and bring that into our play?

This is just me speculating. But I think when that happens something very fresh and new will emerge. Perhaps it already is. If so, please let me know.

May the pulse be with you!

Abhay

Image: Peter Sellers with director Blake Edwards during the filming of The Party. With a largely improvised script, Peter Sellers brought out Indian humor beautifully. Photo credit.