BROMANCE COMEDY WITH EXPLOSIVE CHEMISTRY CAPS OFF Q THEATRE’S MATCHBOX SEASON
After selling out at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in 2021 and a two-week, sold-out season at Basement Theatre, Boom Shankar is back with a bang for Q Theatre’s MATCHBOX 2023 Season.
Boom Shankar is an explosive bromantic comedy written and performed by Aman Bajaj and Bala Murali Shingade and directed by Ahi Karunaharan. The show explores all things to do with love, life, bomb defusal and the importance of selecting the right type of yoghurt. Tackling profound ideas through a comedic lens, Boom Shankar is guaranteed to have you laughing out loud in your seat.
Shankar Shinde is a fresh graduate of BDSM (Bomb Defusal School of Manukau). His expertise and nerves are tested when he is confronted with his first real-world challenge - will he rise to the occasion? He is forced to tap into all his training, unconventional coping mechanisms, divine intervention and sheer dumb luck, as he manoeuvres through his most unexpected and strangest adventure to date.
Co-writer and performer Aman Bajaj is a writer, actor and director who has performed in numerous productions ranging from Gary Henderson’s Tigerplay, Tom Sainsbury’s The Foreign Monologues and Prayas Theatre’sSwabhoomi: Borrowed Earth, Dara, and Rudali. He was a writer and host on the youth current affairs show, DBrief, which was funded by RNZ and has acted in the Auckland Theatre Company/Prayas Theatre show, A Fine Balance, directed by Ahi Karunaharan.
The other half of the writer-performer duo behind Boom Shankar is Bala Murali Shingade. Bala is an award-winning writer, director and actor working in theatre, film and television. Theatre credits include numerous works with Prayas Theatre, including A Fine Balance (2019) and Yātrā (2020), and zombie apocalypse comedy The Best Cafe In The World (2022). Screen credits include comedy TV series Homebound 3.0 (2023) and upcoming series, Miles From Nowhere and Raised By Refugees (Season 2). Bala also directed the short film Perianayaki (2022), which premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival, winning four awards including NZ’s Best Short Film. In 2020, Bala was one of six recipients of the inaugural Arts Foundation Springboard Awards, which recognises and nurtures emerging artists in various fields.
Bala returns to Q following his stint as one of the Q Theatre Residents in 2022. “It was a real treat to work with Bala as part of the Q Residency last year and we can’t wait to see what he brings to the stage for Boom Shankar.” says Q Theatre Programme Director, Sarah Graham.
Directing Boom Shankar is the multi-award-winning industry powerhouse, Ahi Karunaharan. Ahi has worked as a director as well as a producer, writer, actor and dramaturg. His directing credits include Auckland Theatre Company’s recent Basmati B*tch, My Heart Goes Thadak Thadak with Silo Theatre, and Tea, which was part of the 2018 Auckland Arts Festival.
So, what can audiences expect from this re-developed version of Boom Shankar? Aman and Bala speak on the topic saying, “Since our last iteration of the show, we have spent a lot of time developing the script to bring it to the next level. We’ve added new jokes, we’ve added depth to our characters and made the journey clearer and more engaging. At the heart of it, our show aims to bring people together. We want everyone who comes into that theatre as strangers to leave as friends with a smile on their face, feeling a real connection to those around them.”
Boom Shankar is being presented as the final show for Q Theatre's MATCHBOX 2023 Season. MATCHBOX is dedicated to supporting artists in developing and presenting performing arts works.
Read more about MATCHBOX 2023 and the other shows in this year’s season here.
Boom Shankar plays
6 - 16 September
Q Theatre, Loft
Tickets available from the Q Theatre website.