The Death of Galileo

Among the artefacts, they discover a telescope, which becomes the point of departure for the story of Galileo — his discoveries, struggles, confinement and unceasing search for truth. As the night progresses, Galileo’s time and the present time begin to unfold simultaneously, revealing parallels between social realities in two different historical moments. The members of the demolition group are themselves caught between disillusionment, violence and self-deception. Their encounter with the museum and with Galileo stirs their conscience, and while one group remains adamant, the other begins to question its reasons for wanting to destroy the museum. An internal conflict begins, between the path they’ve chosen, to raze the museum for their pride, and the path their conscience wants to guide them towards. Experimental music anchors the play in the present moment, voicing the characters' contradictions and a call to act for co-existence. The performance draws on Brecht’s distancing effect alongside character expression, an actor-development process emerging from Rajkumar Rajak’s research. Cast Galileo Galilei: Ramratan Gugalia Andrea and Roman Pope: Mohit Vaishnav Vihan and Barberini (Narrator): Adnan Khan Yoginder and Hitler: Aftab Noor Vijay and Sipahi: Ashish Dhap Balveer and Roman Sanyasi: Chitaranjan Nama Dhyan and Astronomer: Karan Kumar and Shubham Meghwanshi Bruno and Ludovico: Aman Tasera Bruno’s Mother and Hamid’s Mother: Raina Raha Rajak People of Rome and Chorus: Rajwanti Tamoli, Vijaylaxmi Tasera, Niana Raha, Ayush Kesarwani Crew Director: Rajkumar Rajak Music Design and Composition: Garvit Gidwani Music Assistants: Aman Tasera, Chitaranjan Nama and Harmendra Sartaaj Lighting Design and Operation: Ravi Kumar Pathak and Harmendra Sartaaj Costume Design: Shubham Meghwanshi, Raina Raha Rajak and Aftab Noor Props Design: Firoz Alam Production Managers: Raina Raha and Mohit Production Supervision: Ajeet Bahadur Produced by: Ex-tra An Organisation and Community Theatre Tonk About the Artists Rajkumar Rajak Rajkumar Rajak is a theatre artist whose practice connects theatre with education and with communities. His artistic journey has been shaped by a persistent curiosity about the relationship between the actor’s body, mind and emotions, their socialisation, and how these shape their character and performance. Much of his theatre practice has grown through working with non-actors from rural and small-town communities who, through sustained engagement in his productions, have evolved as actors and, in some cases, developed their own content and language of theatre. Rajkumar has been finding his own pathways for actor development through experimental rehearsal processes. His practice-based research, Actorgy, explores the actor as a social-historical body and the development of character through relationships, interaction and performance. His directorial work includes Suraj Ka Satwaan Ghoda, Hawalaat, Bhukhwasi Bhand and The Death of Galileo. He worked with the Azim Premji Foundation as a teacher educator for twelve years, and designed its Arts Education Internship. He has also received a new performance grant from the India Foundation for the Arts (2009-10), and the Ministry of Culture’s Junior Research Fellowship 2014. Ramratan Gugalia Ramratan Gugulia has been engaged in theatre for the past 10 years as an actor, lyricist and director. He began his journey with Eklavya, directed by Rajkumar Rajak, where he played Dronacharya and also wrote the lyrics. He has since performed a range of roles in Bade Bhai Sahab, Jyot