IHC Theatre Festival to bring to stage finest of Indian theatrical traditions from September 22

New Delhi, Sept 1 (PTI) A promising line-up of plays by theatre veterans like Makarand Deshpande, Akarsh Khurana, Jyoti Dogra, and Manav Kaul is set to captivate audiences at the upcoming India Habitat Centre Theatre Festival.

While the festival officially begins on September 22, IHC will stage a curtain raiser play, “Tumhare Baare Mein”on September 16, written directed by actor and playwright Manav Kaul.

According to the organisers, the festival brings a curated selection of pan Indian theatre, encompassing a diverse range of classics, translations, adaptations, and originally devised scripts.

The wide-ranging mix of stories reflect the multifaceted nature of Indian theatre, which “draws on shared histories and engages with compelling socio-political realities”.
“We are delighted to be back with the Festival. This year, we have upped the ant to host A Play a Day’. The festival, this year, features 12 plays, a book discussion, a 35mm screening of a film on Indian theatre, workshops and interactions. Theatre lovers are going to be spoilt for choice and get to enjoy some outstanding and unforgettable theatre,” said Vidyun Singh, creative head programmes, Habitat World, India Habitat Centre.

This year’s line-up will bring a mix of diverse genres from Mumbai, Bengaluru, Guwahati, Imphal and Pune, catering to audiences of all ages.

The festival will begin with Victor Thoudam And Bimal Subedi’s non-verbal play “The Departed Dawn” on September 22 to show a refugee’s eternal and heartbreaking search for a home.

On September 23, director Saurabh Nayyar will present “Golden Jubilee”, a satire based on Hindi writer Harishankar Parsai’s “Film Katha”, followed by Makarand Deshpande’s survival Hindi drama “Siachen” the next day, which portrays three Indian soldiers stuck on the Siachen glacier.

Director Abinash Sarma will bring to stage “The Proposal”, an English adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s famous play “A Marriage Proposal”, on September 25.

“Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta”, the Marathi adaptation of UK-based playwright Sam Steiner’s “Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons” (2015), will be directed and brought to stage by Mohit Takalkar on September 26. The romantic comedy will attempt to show how words can conceal and how apparent banalities can carry value and meaning.

The festival on September 27 will provide insights into the plurality of pan Indian theatre traditions through “Indian Theatre” documentary, directed by Jabbar Patel.

Indian-Iranian actor-director Faezeh Jalali will present English and Hindi play “Afterlies” on September 28, a comedy about life, death and the afterlife. On September 29, Akarsh Khurana will stage “The Verdict”, an English play based on American author Barry Reed’s novel of the same name.

The IHC Theatre Festival will stage three plays on September 30, including “Ee Gida, Aa Mara (This Plant, That Tree)” and “Chippi, The Chipkali” dedicated to children, and “Dekh Behen 2” by Prerna Chawla and Shikha Talsania, which is inspired from American writer Alan Ball’s “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress”.

The festival will come to an end with director Srinivas Beesetty’s Hindi play “Namak”, based on Abhishek Majumdar’s English play “Salt”, revolving around a family of three women who are trying to make ends meet during the pandemic.

The concluding play on October 1 will be Jyoti Dogra’s “Maas”, a commentary on society’s gaze on “a fat, female, middle-aged body”.