Month-long theatre extravaganza begins
Festival comes with 111 national and international acts in its basket that includes folk and other theatre forms
In yet another season of spellbinding productions and engaging interactive sessions with legendary theatre experts, the National School of Drama (NSD), an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, inaugurated the 20th edition of Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM) in the national capital. 21-day-long theatre extravaganza will culminate in New Delhi on February 21.
The Minister of State for Culture (I/C), Governmant of India, Dr Mahesh Sharma, inaugurated the nationwide theatre spectacle at Kamani Auditorium in a program presided over by Dr Arjun Deo Charan, Acting Chairman, NSD Society. Renowned danseuse and theatre artiste, Dr Sonal Mansingh, eminent theatre director and former Director of NSD, Professor Ram Gopal Bajaj were the guests of honour at the inauguration function where Secretary, Ministry of Culture Arun Goel, IAS, was the special guest.
Speaking at the function, Dr Mahesh Sharma, said, "This country applauds those who give back to the society. A population of 132 crores is bound together by culture and art. Our art is our lifeline. We should use the power of art for the sake of humanity. Theatre Olympic helped create a new identity and BRM helped consolidate it. I request the Chairman and Director to change 20-25% invite for people who are new and young."
The festival comes with 111 national and international acts in its basket that includes folk and other traditional theatre forms, invitee plays, and productions by the students of National School of Drama.
The foreign plays to be staged include 'King Oedipus' (Bengali; Asim Das), 'Alien' (Tatar; Farid Bikchantaev), 'My Sweet Rotten Heritage' (English; Anasuya Subasinghe), 'The Open Couple' (Bengali; Sara Zaker), 'Macbeth' (Bengali; Israfil Shaheen), 'An Iliad' (English; Guy Roberts and Rebecca Greene Udden), and more.
The folk performances include 'Sunder Majh Ghar (Jhadi Patti)' (Jhadi boli; Anirudh Bankar), 'Abhimanaya Sundari Thirukalyanam' (Tamil; D. Elumalai), 'Raja Harishchndra (Maach)' (Hindi; Babu Lal Dewada), and others.
The students of NSD graduate program will grace the festival with acts such as 'Vacant Lot' (Apporva), 'Encryption' (Susheel Kant Mishra) and 'Privacy' (Ajay Khatri).
The invitee plays in the festival include 'Aurat! Aurat! Aurat!' (Hindustani; Naseeruddin Shah), 'Nirnoy' (Bengali; Arun Mukherjee), 'Prithibi, Rasta, Shabdo' (Bengali; Rudraprasad Sengupta), 'Parashuram Vijaya' (Sanskrit; Ajit Das), and 'Maya Megh' (Nepali; Tripurari Sharma) and others.
The festival this year commemorates the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, and will stage four plays based on his philosophy and life.
BRM 2019 will also include allied activities such as, 'Director's Meet', 'Living Legends', and 'Master Class'.
