Stage.

Prithvi Theatre · Mumbai's living room of the arts.

200 seats. A bonsai-and-jasmine courtyard café. Half a century of Indian theatre's most famous evenings.

Founded by Shashi and Jennifer Kapoor in memory of Prithviraj. The most-programmed independent theatre venue in India — Hindi, English, Marathi, Gujarati, often with the actor doubling as the director walking through the audience before curtain. Naseeruddin Shah's Motley troupe runs a multi-week residency every winter. The Prithvi Festival every November is a complete cultural week. Book 2-3 weeks ahead for popular shows; the bookmyshow.com calendar is the source of truth.

NCPA · National Centre for Performing Arts.

Five performance spaces — Tata Theatre, Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, Experimental Theatre, Little Theatre, Godrej Dance Theatre. The most institutional cultural venue in India. NCPA's Theatre Festival every October is the single best week for theatre in the country. Symphony Orchestra of India is based here. Hosts the Mumbai Film Festival some years. Tata Theatre alone seats 1,010.

Royal Opera House · India's only surviving baroque opera house.

Built 1911. Closed for decades. Restored to spectacular 1911 grandeur in 2016 by the Gondal royal family. Now hosts Aadyam Theatre's annual season, classical music concerts, and curated film screenings. The interior alone — gold-leaf, baroque ceiling, 700 seats — is worth the price of any show. Genuinely India's most-photographed theatre venue.

India Habitat Centre · Stein Auditorium & The Theatre.

A modernist Joseph Allen Stein-designed cultural campus. Stein Auditorium (415 seats) hosts the most-curated theatre programme in Delhi — touring international productions, NSD repertory works, the National School of Drama's biggest festival weeks. Combine a play with a meal at the IHC Eatopia food court before; or All American Diner after.

Akshara Theatre · Delhi's repertory institution.

Founded by Gopal Sharman and Jalabala Vaidya in 1972. The longest-running English-language theatre in Delhi. Sharman's adaptations of the Ramayana have been performed for half a century. Smaller, more intimate than IHC; gold-standard Delhi theatre experience.

Ranga Shankara · Bangalore's everyday-theatre venue.

Founded in memory of Shankar Nag. A play every single day of the year except Mondays — Kannada, English, Hindi, occasionally regional Indian languages in translation. 300 seats, intimate, the producer-team is culturally embedded. Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival every July is the city's biggest stage week.

Aadyam Theatre · the commissioned-play series.

Aditya Birla Group's commissioned theatre programme. Hires India's best directors and ensembles to produce 4-6 new productions per year, each touring Mumbai (Royal Opera House, NCPA), Bangalore, and occasionally Delhi. New plays you cannot see anywhere else. Tickets sell out in days for the Mumbai dates.