Bratya Basu inaugurates 5th National Theatre Festival

Kolkata: State Science and Technology minister Bratya Basu inaugurated the fifth edition of National Theatre Festival at Rabindra Sadan on Sunday. Theatre activist Arpita Ghosh was also present on the occasion.

"We have been organising the National Theatre Festival for the last five years. I would like to point out that after 2011, the craze of theatre has increased drastically. We are grateful to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Indranil Sen (minister of state for Information and Cultural Affairs) for their support," said Basu, who is also a theatre personality. The eight day festival will be held at Rabindra Sadan, Minerva Theatre and Madhusudan Mancha.

"We receive applications from the performers. This year, there will be 25 plays. The theatre festival, being organised by state theatre repertory Minerva Natya Sanskriti Charcha Kendra and West Bengal Information and Cultural Affairs department, will be held across three venues (Rabindra Sadan, Minerva Theatre and Madhusudan Mancha) till February 23. The festival will offer different genres of theatre from primitive folk theatre to urban plays and dance drama," Ghosh pointed out.

Besides acclaimed stage productions from Bengal, select plays from New Delhi, Assam, Maharashtra, Bihar, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura and Jammu will also be staged during the festival.