A Theater Game with Tadpole Repertory about green GMO in India
Sonali Kadam has a vision for her country: the ambitious biochemist wants to give all of India access to high-quality food. To this end, she is conducting research in the laboratory of her genetic engineering start-up ‘Soma-Terra’ on a ‘super rice’ that is supposed to deliver reliable yields even under the most adverse conditions. Together with her business partner Raza Azmi, she believes in the advantages of genetically modified seeds – as long as they are developed responsibly: non-profit, regionally, in exchange with the farmers who will later use the seeds. But in this industry, it’s difficult to stay true to your ethical principles. The pressure of competitors, the industry’s poor image, and dubious shortcuts to success drive the founding team apart—and force them to make a decision with unforeseen consequences…
With A Seed Story, the Berlin-based game theatre collective machina eX tackles a topic that is relevant all over the world, but is often dealt with in different ways: the question of how to secure food supplies against the backdrop of the climate crisis. Does genetic engineering offer an opportunity to make crops more resistant?
For this new theatre game, machina eX is collaborating for the first time with the Indian theatre group Tadpole Repertory. The outcome is a play about genetic engineering in India: about concerns regarding health and environmental damage, but also mistrust of the profit-oriented approach of international companies. In recent years, thousands of small farmers have been driven to ruin by the use of genetically modified seeds. At the same time, hunger is also a pressing problem in emerging India.
In A Seed Story, twelve players in Berlin meet two performers in New Delhi. They condense the international discourse on genetically modified plants in a fictionalised setting. With screen transmission, robots and duplicate props, a fast-paced cat-and-mouse game emerges in which performers and players share a common experience in two rooms far apart.
Premiere / Venues
Premiere on 06. November 2025 at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin
Credit: Barbara Lenartz
Concept: machina eX, Tadpole Repertory /// Performance: Krittika Bhattacharjee, Prashant Prakash /// Direction: Neel Chaudhuri, Anton Krause /// Text: Neel Chaudhuri, Lena Vöcklinghaus /// Interaction Design, Programming: Anuj Chopra, Lasse Marburg, Sebastian Arnd /// Assistant Programming: Benedikt Kaffai, , Subodh Pareek /// Dramaturgy, Game Design: Clara Ehrenwerth, Anton Rose /// Interface und UX Design: Elisa Haubert /// Szenography and Costume Design: Barbara Lenartz, Hriturekha Nath /// Videography: Anuj Chopra /// Sound Design: Matthias Millhoff /// Robot’s support for ARKA (loan from the production “Nessun Dorma”): Markus Schubert /// Production Management: Sina Kießling, Neel Chaudhuri /// Internship: Neil Bhatia
Production: machina eX. Co-production: HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Funded by: Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt, Hauptstadtkulturfonds.