Many Voices. One Collective Pulse.
A Hundred Charmers
A Living Act of Presence
Created by Roysten Abel, the work draws from communities historically pushed to the edges of society and culture. Rather than speaking about them, the performance speaks with them, through music, movement, testimony, and collective rhythm.
Like all of Roysten Abel’s enduring works, A Hundred Charmers remains vital because it is alive. The performers change. Contexts shift. Meaning deepens.
The performance
Raw
Collective
Defiant
A hundred charmers
A Theatre of Resistance and Joy
A Hundred Charmers is a contemporary performance work conceived and directed by Roysten Abel, engaging with the musical practices of snake-charmers from northern India. The project originated from a proposal by wildlife conservationist Bahar Dutt, who invited Abel to explore the possibility of creating a theatre work with snake-charmers whose livelihoods and cultural practices have been severely disrupted.
Abel’s response was a long-term research and field process across Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. This culminated in auditions involving approximately one thousand snake-charmers and the formation of a one-hundred-member ensemble. The work re-contextualises the ‘been’ – a wind instrument traditionally played solo – within a large collective structure, allowing music to function as dramaturgy.
The performance incorporates live narration by the director, situating the work within its social, logistical, and political realities, including the challenges of securing passports and visas for international touring. The project reached a significant milestone with its presentation at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples.
A Hundred Charmers resists exoticisation, instead positioning its performers as contemporary practitioners of a living knowledge system, articulated through scale, sound, and presence.