This article is adapted from “A Staged Intervention”, published in the January 2026 edition of ON Stage, NCPA’s monthly magazine. The piece explores a landmark collaboration between the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, and London’s Soho Theatre, two institutions deeply invested in the future of new writing and contemporary theatre practice. This article offers insight into process-driven theatre-making, international collaboration models, and the role of institutions in building sustainable creative ecosystems.

A Staged Intervention

In a unique collaborative effort between the NCPA and London’s Soho Theatre, new narratives from worlds apart will intermingle at the staged reading of the award-winning new play Little Brother.

Northern Irish playwright Eoin McAndrew’s Little Brother begins with a trepid late-night phone call between siblings Brigid and Niall. The latter stands by the river with a plastic bag and lighter fluid, and right after the line disconnects, he sets himself on fire. An uneasy question hangs in the air: can love be the antidote for self-destruction?

Set in modern-day Belfast, Little Brother is an episodic modern tragicomedy that, last year, competed against 1,700 entries to win Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award, one of the most prestigious and oldest awards for new writing in the UK. After a successful production at Soho Theatre that opened to rave reviews, a staged reading of the play will be presented at the NCPA’s Experimental Theatre this month, which marks the beginning of a new collaboration between the two leading cultural institutions to develop and support new writing in India.

Soho Theatre operates at the intersection of theatre, comedy and cabaret with storytelling at its heart. It has had a long-standing relationship with the performing arts scene in India, with theatre productions from here travelling to London and vice versa—The Gentlemen’s Club, presented by the NCPA, had a 12-day run at Soho in 2024, and a robust exchange involving stand-up and spoken word artistes from India and the UK.

“The NCPA has been working with Soho for the last four years. Under our collaboration on this new writing project, a series of workshops will be held in Mumbai and Delhi over the next two years,” notes Bruce Guthrie, Head of Theatre and Films at the NCPA.

The initiative will see eight emerging playwrights, four from Mumbai and four from Delhi experience Little Brother and, in response to the reading, write their own full-length plays. These works will be produced at the NCPA and travel across India and to London, with generous support from the British Council.

Participating writers will receive one-on-one dramaturgical support and take part in a workshop at the NCPA with Soho Theatre’s Associate Director (Literary) Max Elton, and Mumbai-born, London-based Creative Associate Pooja Sivaraman. McAndrew will travel to Mumbai to attend the staged reading and engage with the Indian writers. For a young, award-winning playwright to witness a fresh interpretation of his work and directly inspire a new generation of writers in another country adds a different dimension to the exchange of artistic vision.

Yet, it is imperative to ask: why stage a dramatised reading rather than a full production? For Guthrie, it’s about the distinct power of the medium itself. “This is an intimate reading happening at the Experimental Theatre… I would like to have as much focus on the script as possible and not create moments that take away from it.”

Director Rachel D’Souza introduces live music to accompany the reading, which features a cast including Amba Suhasini, K. Jhala, Dheer Hira, Santanu Ghatak and Lekha Parida. The article goes on to unpack the emotional density of staged readings, their role in testing dialogue and structure, and their unique ability to capture audience attention without spectacle.

At its core, Little Brother is a story about sibling love, mental health, and systemic failure, told through an intimate theatrical form that places writing front and centre. The collaboration reflects a belief in shared discovery, peer learning, and the value of giving emerging writers space to be heard, by audiences, institutions, and each other.

The Article is written by Neelakshi Singh