Boosting the theatre culture
Representing a wide linguistic range, the festival scheduled from March 13 to 18 at Kamani Auditorium and Shri Ram Centre will culminate in an awards ceremony on March 19
A week-long national theatre festival which will be featuring plays in Hindustani, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Assamese (blended with gibberish) and a non-verbal play along with Hindi and English language plays. Representing a wide linguistic range, the festival scheduled from March 13 to 18 at Kamani Auditorium and Shri Ram Centre, New Delhi will culminate in an awards ceremony on March 19 at Kamini Auditorium.
The 15th edition of the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) Festival, has announced its list of nominations for 2020 which represents diverse themes from different regions across the country and the winners will be announced at a red-carpet awards ceremony on March 19.
With the aim of increasing not just awareness but also appreciation of theatre across India, the festival will recognise the best theatrical productions and performances of the year, along with their makers and facilitators, providing a major boost to the country's theatre industry.
The festival's nomination list features diverse plays in different languages such as 'Ekadashavtar' (Marathi), a political satire based on mythology; 'Mickey' (Marathi), a modern Shakespearean tragedy; 'Bhaskara Pattelarum Thommiyude Jeevithavum' (Malayalam), deals with tyranny, social struggles, love and freedom; 'Every Brilliant Thing' (English), an uplifting play about love, life, family and mental health; 'For the Record' (English), which questions the ideas of representation and Indianness; 'Ghoom Nei; (Bengali), a working-class manifesto which runs through the highway of a dark and broken society reaching towards light, are few among others.
The festival will also stage a musical play, 'Gagan Damama Bajyo' based on the life and times of Sardar Bhagat Singh. Written, composed and directed by actor-playwright-poet Piyush Mishra, the musical showcases the inspiring life story of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, explores the varied and humane elements of his life and breaks the often resorted-to fundamentalist image of him.
Also keeeping the rich culture in mind, the festival has included a Hindustani play 'Chaheta', which explores the psychological scars of a survivor of a traumatic event. 'The Old Man' an adaptation of the Hemingway classic 'The Old Man and the Sea' will be performed in Assamese. It brings out the eternal conflict between human society and nature and deals with loneliness, hopelessness and optimism.
The theatre festival has received over 385 entries this year.
