The Prithvi Theatre Festival 2016...Local Mumbai groups will showcase new plays...
November 3, 2016 9:56:26 AM IST MTG editorial
It's time for Prithvi Theatre's annual festival to resume. Prithvi Theatre has been host since many, many years to established local theatre groups like Motley, Ansh, Yatri, Ekjute, among others, and makes it a point to invite them for its annual festival. This year, Motley led by Naseeruddin Shah, will open the festival with its latest production - RIDING MADLY OFF IN ALL DIRECTIONS. Apart from plays in the main theatre, plays will also take place at Prithvi House, where entrance is on a first come-first serve basis.
Here's a look at the schedule of the festival from 4th November to 10th November 2016:
Motley's RIDING MADLY OFF IN ALL DIRECTIONS RIDING MADLY OFF IN ALL DIRECTIONS is a continuation of Motley's attempt to bring literature on stage, this time in English. The writer is Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) a Canadian political scientist and teacher who was considered a humorist by economists and an economist by humorists. Performed by the entire Shah family, these pieces are a smorgasbord of Leacock's writings; they are ruminations rather than stories and have absolutely no connection with each other, hence the title.
Writer: Stephen Leacock Director: Naseeruddin Shah Cast : Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Heeba Shah, Imaad Shah & Vivaan Shah Show Date & Time - 4th November, 6 & 9 pm, Prithvi Theatre
Patchworks Ensemble's HARDEE CHICKEN Karen Dipnarin Ramparsad cooks up a storm in her kitchen- from exotic chicken curry recipes to fantastic voyages across the seas, Karen mixes and churns the magic of history and recipes into one delightful dish for the soul. Loosely based on the migration of Indians to Trinidad and Tobago in the late 1800s, HARDEE CHICKEN, is a piece devised by Puja Sarup, Sheena Khalid and Shikha Talsania and performed by Shikha Talsania.
Cast : Shikha Talsania Show Date & Time - 4th November, 7:30 pm, Prithvi House (Entry on First Come First Serve Basis)
Ideas Unlimited's SIKKA NI TRIJI BAJU Madhvi is the wife of the multi-millionaire diamond exporter Arvind Kothari and lives in a secluded sea-facing bungalow in Mumbai. On a rainy day when she is alone, Dhiru 'Sixer' - a top hit-man - manages to enter and overpower her. As Dhiru waits impatiently for his client's signal to kill her, Madhvi sits tied to a chair. She realizes that she has only moments to save herself. Who wants Madhvi dead? Why? Is Madhvi able to find a way out of this predicament? Is Dhiru really the killer he claims to be? Is Arvind really Dhiru's client? Based on Chazz Palminteri's play, FAITHFUL, SIKKANI TREEJI BAJU, is a thriller on the fragile themes of marriage, men and money" with unexpected dollops of humour.
Writer: Naushil Mehta Director: Manoj Shah Cast:Disha Savla, Jay Upadhyay & Pratik Gandhi Show Date & Time - 5th November, 6 & 9 pm, Prithvi Theatre
Playtrix's TOXIC TOXIC is a play about a relationship slowly unravelling, in spite of spirited efforts to keep it going. It is also about fresh beginnings, about how attraction and love square off against fidelity and guilt.
Writer: Shiv Subrahmanyam Director: Divya Jagdale Cast : Jaimini Pathak, Divya Jagdale & others Show Date & Time - 5th November, 7:30 pm, Prithvi House (Entry on First Come First Serve Basis)
D for Drama's DHUMRAPAAN Set in the smoking area of a corporate building over the period of a week, a bunch of office employees discuss appraisals, politics, and relationships, all the while dealing with their stress, fears, and insecurities. The play is a comedy about the rat race, how we cope with it, and what we put our throat and lungs through in the process.
Writer: Adhir Bhat Director: Akarsh Khurana Cast : Kumud Mishra, Shubhrajyoti Barat, Ghanshyam Lalsa, Siddharth Kumar, Taaruk Raina & Sarthak Kakar Show Date & Time - 6th November, 6 & 9 pm, Prithvi Theatre
Rangshila Theatre Group's GEET, GAAN AUR GATHA The play reflects on music in Indian theatre, tracing its rich journey. It brings to life musical forms, folk songs from various parts of the country, that have had an influence in shaping the music on stage as we know today....
Writer: Ather Jaffery & Avneesh Mishra Director: Avneesh Mishra Cast: Shridhar Nagraj, Santosh Tiwari, Geet Sagar, Natasha Azad, Niyati Kaul, Punarvasu & others Show Date & Time - 6th November, 7:30 pm, Prithvi House (Entry on First Come First Serve Basis)
Ekjute's MERI MAA KE HAATH (A journey of an extraordinary woman) The play is about Comrade Razia Sajjad Zaheer's life. An unusual true story of an ordinary woman, who was a political worker and a social activist. Nadira Zaheer Babbar re-lives her mother's eventful life. She was the wife of Comrade Sajjad Zaheer, an eminent Urdu Writer, Professor in Lucknow University and a public intellectual and activist himself at the helm of the Progressive Writers Association.
Writer: Nadira Zaheer Babbar Director: Makarand Deshpande Cast: Nadira Zaheer Babbar Show Date & Time - 7th November, 6 & 9 pm, Prithvi Theatre
Tpot Production's MAYDAY 'Mayday' is a partially farcical approach to a story inspired from the true events of the ill-fated flight MH 17 which got shot down over Ukraine last year. Another flight going in the opposite direction happened to be just 90 seconds away but did not get hit. Cruel luck or destiny...call it what you may. MAYDAY is the story of a few passengers and its crew, set on a Delhi - Amritsar flight. What happens when the flight actually is in danger? The play seeks to explore the relationships and bonds which tie people together in such a scenario through humour and music and song at 30,000 feet!
Writer & Director: Trishla Patel Cast : Santanu Ghatak, Dipana Patel, Mohit Agarwal, Prashant Amlani, Karan Desai, Kalpana, Aastha Deorah, Manali Panchal, Shruti Shrivastava/Veronica Gautam & Nakul Tomar/AAshitosh Solanki Show Date & Time - 7th November, 7:30 pm, Prithvi House (Entry on First Come First Serve Basis)
Yatri's HUM PANCH This is the story of a single mother who raises her four daughters with great difficulty and apprehension. She makes sure her daughters are equipped with good education to face the world. These girls are naughty but not ill-behaved. They are quite intelligent but not rude. Raising four daughters single handedly seem difficult but not impossible. How will they face life? See the mystery unfold in the play.....
Writer & Director: Om Katare Cast : Priyanka Kaul, Sonam Singh, Radha Bharwdaj, Keya Gupta/Kritiksha Sharma, Additti A. Narkar & Bhavana Rajagopalan/Babita Anant Show Date & Time - 8th November, 6 & 9 pm, Prithvi Theatre
Play On's RENOVATION Post their marriage, Anurag and Antara are found discovering the true meaning of their relationship. Along with all the other household items in need of repair, their love too needs some fixing! A peep into one of their 'regular' days now - what is the truth of their relationship? Survival? Settlement? Or is this what they call love?
Writer: Chandrakant Prabhakar Deshpande Director: Gagan Dev Riar & Mahesh Keskar Cast : Gagan Dev Riar/ Bhushan Vikas & Sariika Singh/ Mmanjiri Pupala Show Date & Time - 8th November, 7:30 pm, Prithvi House (Entry on First Come First Serve Basis)
Sarvannam's MEGHANI SARVANI-A MUSICALThis play is based on a very well-known Gujarati writer, freedom fighter, researcher, singer, poet, translator, journalist, editor of a newspaper Zhaverchand Meghani who was named "Rashtriya Shayar" by Gandhiji. His famous song is “More bani Thaanagat kare” which was used in a film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. His life is full of dramatic events. He went to prison during the freedom movement. He went to Kolkata due to family circumstances and learnt Bengali through reading shopping boards. He translated many Bengali poems into Gujarati giving a local flavour. He had a very good job in Kolkata and was taken to the UK for three months by his employer for a business trip with a view to settle him there but Meghani not only came back but also left the high paying job. He returned to Saurashtra and devoted his life to collecting folks songs, folk stories and folklore of the Saurashtra a region. He became a pioneer in this field.
Writer: Hiten Anadpara Director: Utkarsh Mazumdar Cast: Utkarsh Mazumdar, Rajul Diwan, Parignan Pandya Shah & others Show Date & Time - 9th November, 6 & 9 pm, Prithvi Theatre
Ansh Theatre Group's SHAKESPEARECHA MHATARA
Shakespeare's KING LEAR is haunting the world for 400 years; the battle between the father and the king within himself is lost. It is the curse of his own decision that exists even now. A new take on Lear, full of drama, melodrama, tragedy-farce, poetry and prose.
