The Prithvi Theatre Festival 2015...Mumbai's significant theatre festival...
November 4, 2015 12:22:27 PM IST MTG editorial
The Prithvi Theatre Festival is one of the symbolic theatre events in Mumbai. The festival is in its 36th year and the line-up looks promising. Apart from new theatre productions, circus events, stage talks and music gigs will also be part of the festival. When asked Kunal Kapoor, trustee at Prithvi Theatre, about the selection of the plays for this year's edition, he said, "Every year we engage with our theatre groups and get proposals on new productions that they would like to present at the festival. It is tough selecting them as some of them are premiere productions. We go by looking at the theatre group, language, past performances and try to mix the old with the new."
He believes that theatre festivals are a time to celebrate and re-discover theatre for the audience as well as theatre professionals.
Here is the line-up for the festival that will take place from November 5 to 15, 2015:
Thursday, Nov 5, 8pm and Friday, Nov 6, 6pm and 9pm: Indian Ensemble's present KAUMUDI.
The play is inspired by Anand's Malayalam novel Vyasam Vighneshawara and Jorge Luis Borges' essay Blindness. The two-hour long play depicts the story of an estranged father-son duo.
Saturday, Nov 7, 6pm and 9pm: Akvarious Productions present BOMBAY DYING, which is a seventy-minute long play about three characters in Dadar (East). The play is directed by Akarsh Khurana.
Sunday, Nov 8, 11am: Neeraj Arya's Kabir Cafe
This band is on a quest to ensure that Kabir's verses are accessible and comprehensible through contemporary music to the rest of the world. They intertwine his verses with using pop, reggae, rock, folk fusion and even Carnatic music.
Sunday, Nov 8, 6pm and 9pm: Ansh theatre group presents MAA IN TRANSIT
The protagonist meets his mother while she is transitioning from life to death. The play is written and directed by Makarand Deshpande.
Monday, Nov 9, 8pm: SOI Chamber Orchestra will present the first performance in India of famed composer Vanraj Bhatia's Sinfonia Concertante. The programme, conducted by Piotr Borkowski, will also feature works by Mozart and Sibelius.
The dance performance is a retelling of the entire Mahabharata from the point of view of Gandhari, the iconic queen with the blindfold. It is inspired by Irawati Karve's interpretation of the character of Gandhari in her text Yugant, one of the first contemporary interpretations of the Mahabharata.
Wednesday, Nov 11, 12pm and 4pm: Rambo Circus presents unique circus experiments in a theatrical avatar.
The play is set in January 1948 in Palestine where the British Mandate is ending. The UN is voting on who will control what part of the land. In the midst of political hullabaloo, Ali is in love with Nada. Her father won't let them marry because his brother Yusuf is 'odd' with his own eccentric, child-like point of view.
Friday, Nov 13, 6pm and 9pm: The Hoshruba Repertory's EK PUNJAB YEH BHI, directed by Danish Husain.
The two-hour-long play depicts four contemporary Urdu tales of human frailty by the veteran Urdu poet and short-story writer Ali Akbar Natiq from Western Punjab.
Saturday. Nov 14, 6pm and 9pm: The Primetime Theatre Co presentsGAUHAR, directed by Lillete Dubey.
The play traces the story of one of India's first mass media superstars at the turn of the last century.
Sunday, Nov 15, 7.30am: Udayswar at Prithvi presents Devaki Pandit. She received initial training of music from her mother Smt. Usha Pandit followed by Pt.Vasantrao Kulkarni, Padma Vibhushan Ganasaraswati Kishori Amonkar and Padmashree Late Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki. A renowned artiste in the world of devotional music, she has performed at several occasions presenting bhajans, abhangs and many such styles of devotional music.
Sunday, Nov 15, 4pm and 8pm: The Carnival presents regular actors at Prithvi Theatre.
For the complete schedule of the festival and other details please visit the Prithvi Theatre website: http://www.prithvitheatre.org/
Mumbai Theatre Guide takes no responsibility for change in schedule.
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