We love theatre as much as we love music, art, food, fashion and film. The Hindu Theatre Festival 2016 promises a heady mix of satire, dance, comedy and avant-garde practice.
The 12th edition of the festival, which was launched in Chennai in 2005, begins on September 6 in Bengaluru and runs for three days at Ranga Shankara.
This year it runs in three cities — Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and stages a total of nine unique productions. Here is a look at the three plays staged in town.
YatagarasuProduction house: J Productions and Dur Se Brothers
A coming-of-age story about seven classmates and their journey to discovering courage, wisdom and compassion, Yatagarasu is a comedy, with elements of hip hop, jazz, bharatnatya and contemporary dance forms.
Director Yuki Ellias says the play talks about how “children deal with emotions and find out who they are and who they want to be in life.” Written by Nikhil Katara and Yuki, the story of building friendships, relationships and a future will be enjoyed by people of all ages, and “will leave you feeling warm inside,” says Yuki. Of the cast of Amey Mehta, Reshma Shetty, Tapas Boro, Shruti Mishra, Jimit Thacker, Manisha Malakar, Gaurav Sharma, Jigar Mehta and Anjana Bapat, Yuki says, “Among nine of our actors, seven are primarily dancers.”
White Rabbit, Red RabbitProduction House: QTP
Written by Nassim Soleimanpour who was forbidden to leave his native Iran, the play has travelled the world in his place. Darius Sunawala and Arundhati Nag act in the play where every performance is unique with a different performer and a script in a sealed envelope on stage. With no rehearsal, and no director, the internationally-acclaimed White Rabbit, Red Rabbit is a potent reminder of the transgressive and transformative power of theatre.
LorettaProduction House: Arpana
Set in the ‘70s on an island in Goa, Pundalik Naik’s Loretta (adapted to English by Milind Dhaimad) tells the story of Antonio Moraes, a landlord, who lives a comfortable life, surrounded by helpers including bakers, gardeners, a Man Friday and motley village folk.
Antonio is protective about his island and is a great champion for the Konkani language.
Things change when Antonio’s son, Rafael, returns from Mumbai with his Anglo-Indian girlfriend, Loretta, after completing his education. While Rafael doesn’t care too much for his father’s love of Goa and Konkani culture, Loretta who is looking for roots, falls in love with the island. Antonio insists that Loretta has to learn Konkani if she wants to continue living in the island.
Starring Danish Husain, Abhijit Bhor, Rozzlin Pereira, Saattvic, Kailash Waghmare, Shilpa Sane, Asif Ali Beg and Shailesh Hejmadi, the satire is directed by Sunil Shanbag.
The Hindu Theatre Fest 2016
The Title Sponsor of the event is YES BANK. The Associate Sponsor is Telangana Tourism. The Merchandise partner is Focus Art Gallery. The Mobility Partner is Ola. The Gift partner is Terra Earthfood and the Event manager is evam.
