A Seed Story (2025)

A Theater Game with Tadpole Repertory about green GMO in India

Sonali Kadam has a vision for her country: the ambitious biochemist wants to provide all of India with access to high-quality food. To that end, she is conducting research in the laboratory of her genetic engineering startup, “Soma-Terra,” on a “super rice” that is expected to deliver reliable yields even under the most adverse conditions. Together with her business partner Raza Azmi, she believes in the benefits of genetically modified seeds—as long as they are developed responsibly: for the public good, on a regional basis, and in collaboration with the farmers who will eventually use the seeds. But in this industry, it’s hard to stay true to one’s ethical principles. Competitive pressure, the industry’s poor image, and questionable shortcuts to success drive the founding team apart—until they are forced to make a fateful decision…

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 theater game, machina eX is collaborating for the first time with the Indian theater group Tadpole Repertory. The result is a play about genetic engineering in India: it addresses concerns about health and environmental damage, as well as mistrust of the profit-driven nature of international corporations. In recent years, thousands of small farmers have been driven into bankruptcy by the use of genetically modified seeds. At the same time, hunger remains a pressing problem for the population, even in an emerging economy like 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.

Credit: Paula Reissig