MillenniumPost
Features

‘All the world’s a stage’

The stage is set for the 9th Asia Pacific Bureau (APB) meet of drama school at national Capital’s National School Of Drama. Fourteen schools from India, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, will gather at NSD premise for the annual meet, which is scheduled for October 19-25. Overall the festival will see the representation from twenty countries in form of observers, faculty and students 

Prof Waman Kendre, Director, National School of Drama, says, “This is yet another occasion where all Asia Pacific Bureau school will show their strength and exchange it to each other. This is also a platform for NSD to show rich Indian performance heritage and showcase contemporary and traditional theatre variety to the world”  The participating schools explore the nuances of different cultures in theatre performances and the technical aspects of it through the annual meet. This edition of the festival has an elaborate learning program for the participating schools. It will consist of festival performances, directors’ meet, interactions and workshops. Each school will conduct a workshop for all other participants providing a glimpse into the school’s training methodologies through a series of exercises for the participants. There will also be a practical session, where a studio space will be provided to each school to perform. Participating schools will perform a 45-minute student presentation, which will be held in the Flexible Performance Space at NSD. 

The theme of this edition of APB meet is ‘The strength of Asia in Contemporary Performance Culture.’ The confluence will examine contemporary performance culture in Asia, the elements of traditionalism, modernization and other factors that have contributed to it in terms of content, form and style. Tripurari Sharma, Professor, NSD, who is heading this edition of the APB meet, says, “Cross culture mixing and matching themes, stories and performative concepts are enriching for the art of theatre. “ The event will also delve deeper into the artistic capabilities of different Asian countries and how a cultural exchange between them and with the rest of the world could be facilitated. 

“Has Asia got anything unique to offer the world in terms of arts and culture? This is something that we will try to find answers to. We want our students to be able to make a mark in international theatre. They should also get to realise that they have an identity outside India as well,” Sharma said. To ensure that language does not become an impediment during interactions, the school has arranged for interpreters in Japanese, Chinese and Korean languages. NSD’s performances during the meet will include traditional art forms like ‘nautanki’, ‘chau’, ‘mallakhamba’ and sufi music among others.

About Asia-Pacific Bureau (APB) of Theatre School: The Asia-Pacific Bureau (APB) of Theatre School was established in 2008 under UNESCO’s International Theatre Institute. The aim of the Bureau is to promote interaction and exchange among Asia Pacific theatre schools. APB members meet annually for sharing, showcasing and experimenting with diverse performance practices and pedagogies of different countries and cultures in the region. Each year, APB meet is rotated amongst different member schools from countries across the Asia Pacific region.
Next Story
Share it