Bharat Rang Mahotsav to host 111 plays in 6 cities, will celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi  

The 20th edition of Bharat Rang Mahotsav, the annual theatre festival of the National School of Drama (NSD), will bring to theatre lovers of six cities its bouquet of plays, interactive sessions and other cultural events from Friday.

The international theatre festival will kick off in Delhi on February 1, bringing a diverse range of Indian and international productions comprising 111 shows in multiple languages.

The opening play 'Karanth ke Rang', directed by Amod Bhatt, is a medley of songs composed by late BV Karanth, a stalwart of Kannada and Hindi theatre.

The 21-day festival will celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, and four plays will be staged on the life, philosophy and principles of Bapu.

Delhi will host 89 plays: 25 plays in Hindi, 16 in Bengali, 5 in Kannada, 2 in Marathi, 2 in Odia, 2 in Gujarati, 2 in Manipuri, 3 in English, 2 in Assamese, 2 in Malayalam and 1 each in Maithili, Telugu, Nepali and Sanskrit, in addition to 15 global plays.

The festival also brings eight folk performances to theatre aficionados in the city.

International productions from countries such as Bangladesh, Poland, Russia, Sri Lanka, the Czech Republic, Italy, Nepal, Romania and Singapore as well as non-verbal, folk and multi-lingual performances will enthrall the audience.

"The Delhi performances will be held at Bahumukh and Chahumukh (7.30 p.m.), Open Lawn (6 p.m.) and Abhimanch (8.30 p.m.) at the NSD's Bahawalpur House campus as well as Sri Ram Centre (4 p.m.), LTG (5.30 p.m.), and Kamani (7 p.m.) auditoriums," a statement by NSD said.

"We have tried to accommodate as many young theatre enthusiasts as we can, since the institution aims to foster the growth of young talents through the platform of BRM," Suresh Sharma, Director In-charge, NSD, said.

Apart from the spellbinding performances and interaction with thespians and eminent personalities from the world of theatre, the festival in Delhi will also have seminars on theatre: 'Is Modern Theatre Inclusive?', 'Notion of State and Representation', 'Unrepresented Form', and 'Non-Governmental Curating and Funding Policy'.

The youth forum shows will comprise performances by dramatic societies of nearly 50 colleges in Delhi while ambiance performances will bring folk dance and other traditional performing art forms.

Noting that the art of theatre is the oldest and the strongest medium that conveys human emotions, NSD director Suresh Sharma said, "NSD will arrange parallel festivals in Dibrugarh, Varanasi, Ranchi, Mysore, and Rajkot."

The 20th Bharat Rang Mahotsav will culminate on February 21.