Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts is back this November to showcase and explore Indian and Singapore-Indian identity and culture through the performing arts. This year, the festival features some of India and Singapore’s best-known names in theatre, dance and music, who celebrate the power of stories and folklore, through both traditional and contemporary mediums.

Leading Singapore comedian Kumar stars in The Great Indian Mix – Kumar Spills the Tea, a new work specially commissioned by Esplanade on Indian culture in the Lion City and beyond. From the melodious songs of Bollywood to the spicy tales of South Indian masalas, Kumar is going to spill the tea about the quirks and complexities of the Indian experience. Whether you’re Indian or not, come enjoy this roller-coaster of laughter as Kumar touches on everything from family dynamics, wedding extravaganzas, superstitions and festive frenzies to the age-old tussle between traditional values and modern aspirations—all served with a side of sharp social commentary and Kumar’s signature wit.

In her solo work FORBIDDEN, world-renowned contemporary kathak dancer and choreographer Aditi Mangaldas poses the question: why are women the world over sanctioned, judged, controlled, hounded and punished when they find the courage to embrace their own desires, in both conservative and liberal societies? Through her performance, she ponders the myriad ways in which women are routinely persecuted the world over just for being themselves, and the courage needed to reclaim their sexuality. Esplanade has co-commissioned FORBIDDEN together with London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre and the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai.

Emerging writer Shiv Tandan explores a young man’s move from sedate Singapore to over-the-top Mumbai in the comic play Fistful of Rupees. Presented by India’s Stone Paper Stories, the play was featured at Tata LitLive! Mumbai Literature Festival 2018 and in the same year, named runner-up at the International Sultan Padamsee Playwriting Awards, one of the most sought-after awards for English language dramatists in India.

Local theatre company Agam Theatre Lab adapts laugh out loud British comedy The Play That Goes Wrong, and brings audiences to Twin Murder in the Green Mansiontransporting audiences to worlds both familiar and fantastical. Get ready to chuckle as we follow a woefully misguided troupe of players at the Chutney Drama Society’s opening night performance of Pachae Bungalaa, Rettae Kolaedaa, with hapless actors, mangled words, technical gaffes and sabotaging scenery in a quest to arrive all in one piece at the final curtain call.

The festival continues to provide a stage for the next generation of artists. Making his Singapore debut, Bollywood playback singer and popular crooner Armaan Malik will regale audiences with the hits that catapulted him to superstardom like Main Rahoon Ya Na Rahoon and Pehla Pyaar. At just 28 years old, he’s already amassed more than 10 billion streams for more than 250 songs in a dozen different languages.

Feted young music composer Sean Roldan and his band present an evening of their well-loved songs, establishing himself in the Tamil indie music scene with his cutting-edge compositions for some of the finest films over the last decade.

Carnatic 2.0 features renowned musician-composer Mahesh Raghvan with violinists Nandini and Ragini Shankar from Taraana. If you want to know what the future of Indian classical music sounds like, then this show is for you! This double bill features young classical musicians who put their unique contemporary twists on established musical traditions. 

One of India’s top indie bands, When Chai Met Toast, makes a welcome return to the festival, while Euphonic Masala from the festival’s Fusion Beats mentorship programme presents a night of wedding songs in BARAAT.

Stories and folklore have the power to transport us to realms beyond our imagination. They carry the collective wisdom, traditions, and legends of our ancestors and connect us to the roots of our shared humanity. Children aged four and above are invited to immerse themselves in the story of Four Friends and the Hunter (a Panchatantra tale) written by Aishwariyah Shanmuganathan and directed by Rani Kanna & Kalah Rajes Kannan from A K Theatre, teaching audiences about the importance of friendship.

Finally, Naga Mandala by India’s Punyah Dance Company centres around the popular folklore of Rani and a shape-shifting snake told through bharathanatyam dance and gigi pada, where artists become narrators, actors and storytellers. The company will also be holding a programme about approaching choreography in Indian classical dance.

Complementing this wide array of programmes is a line-up of free performances and activities, as well as workshops and talks, from a Mandala Dot Painting Parent-Child Workshop to Bollywood Dance. Get ready to explore everything about Indian culture, from bold expressions of female divinity and desire, to incisive reflections on Indian culture within cities and across the diaspora, or simply kick back and relax with some of the hottest Indian bands and musicians today, as Kalaa Utsavam 2023 welcomes you back to another exciting edition this November.

Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts 2023 runs from 17th to 26th November 2023. Full programme and lineup available here