Bangla theatre troupes steal the limelight

Bangla plays manage to secure wide stage of this year's Bharat Rang Mahotsav – Asia's biggest theatre extravaganza organised by the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi. Commencing from February 1 till 21, this grand theatre festival will showcase 13 Bangla plays out of total 95 plays selected.

The theatre festival is a rich mix of plays from 12 countries and several states of India. The participating countries includes Brazil, Nepal, Israel, Romania and many more. "We had hundreds of entries from across India and over 70 from different countries," said Waman Kendre, Director, NSD.

Plays from Urdu language faced bad luck in this edition of International Theatre festival as there is no selection of Urdu play.

The menu of performances reinforces the theme of this year's festival, "Whose theatre is it anyway?" The theme underlines, as Kendre and NSD's Professor Tripurari Sharma explains, 'the need to connect theatre to masses as it should not be confined into any border."

"Mahotsav is one of the best platforms we have to present all the elements which are native to the Indian Theatre – a reflection of the Indian Theatre. This year's showcase of Classical, Indian Narratives, Folk performances along with Modern plays will show the depth and width of Indian theatre.

Bharat Rang Mahotsav is not just about modern World Theatre Practices but it also focuses on rural, folk, classical and traditional theatre. With such exchange of knowledge and culture NSD aims to be the ultimate platform of theatrical and cultural exchanges in theatre not only in India but among other countries as well, where theatre is still alive." said Waman Kendre.

It is with this attempt to include allied arts in this year's festival, that the programs includes a series on living legends, which will provide the audience with an opportunity to interact with luminaries from different disciplines like photography, dance and music.

Various discussions and seminars will also take place around the theme. Some traditions, like "Meet the Director", where the audience can interact with directors of the plays staged the previous day, have been continued.

The inaugural ceremony, scheduled for February 1, at Kamani Auditorium will see 'Uttara Rama Charitham,' as the first play of the festival which pays tribute to Kavalam Narayna Panikkar. The festival will also travel to other parts of the country with plays being showcased in Agartala, Patna, Pune and many other cities.