Shillong: Enigmatic Hills Productions, a Shillong-based storytelling company, recently concluded a landmark initiative in Mumbai that brought together emerging voices in Indian theatre, offering a powerful showcase of independent artistry.
The ten-weekend acting workshop, titled Actor in the Play, culminated in a public theatre production called Underground: Tales from Mumbai, staged on July 26 and 27 at Chaubara by Veda Factory, Aram Nagar, Andheri West.
Directed by acclaimed international theatre personality Glenn Hayden, the workshop was designed as an intensive professional development space for actors.
Over the course of ten weekends, eight selected participants worked closely with Hayden, exploring acting techniques suitable for both stage and screen. The program also featured masterclasses by Bollywood professionals Asif Ali Beg (Voice) and Neha Vyaso (Intimacy Direction), adding depth and range to the training experience.
What set ‘Actor in the Play’ apart was its deep investment in original Indian content. As part of its mission to support independent artists, Enigmatic Hills Productions commissioned four young Indian playwrights – Priyanka Charan, Vijay Prateek, Gaurav Venkatesh, and Mrinal Mathur to write the plays that would form the final performance.
These five short plays, collectively titled Underground: Tales from Mumbai, were staged across four public shows over two days and drew audiences from the film and theatre industry as well as the general public.
“This is probably the first time a Shillong-based company has created this kind of footprint in Mumbai’s theatre and film space,” said Lakhinandan Boruah, filmmaker and Director of Enigmatic Hills Productions, who produced and led the entire program.
He said, “We are committed to creating safe, serious spaces for artists to develop their work, and to champion new, independent voices in the process.”
Building on the momentum, Enigmatic Hills Productions is now developing another large-scale theatre production set to premiere in Mumbai later this year – a bold adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, reimagined in the vibrant and volatile world of 1970s Bombay.
The production will be staged at the iconic Royal Opera House, often hailed as Mumbai’s cultural crown jewel and the only surviving opera house in India.
For this ambitious project, Enigmatic Hills Productions is collaborating with the esteemed Aditya Birla Centre for Performing Arts, further solidifying the company’s growing footprint in the national performing arts landscape.
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The company, which is also working on two Hindi films this year, sees its theatre work as part of a larger mission to bring compelling, socially grounded storytelling from Northeast India into national and international creative conversations.
Enigmatic Hills Productions is headquartered in Shillong and continues to operate at the intersection of theatre, film, training, and community-driven storytelling.
