"Plays have the power to bring about social change," said State Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, speaking at the diamond jubilee celebration of the State Theatre Competition. "Maharashtra being the land of saints has got ideological power."

Thorat spoke at the virtual inauguration of the competition. It was attended by the State Cultural Minister Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh, Minister for Cooperatives Balasaheb Patil, Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray and other department officials.

Thorat further said, that the last two years have been horrible for all, due to the outbreak of covid-19 pandemic and in general it was a very depressing atmosphere. "In order to put these memories behind, the State Government has gone ahead to organise the the theatre competition to infuse positivity and happiness."

Desmukh added that the state has been organising this theatre competition since the last six decades. "This is only one of its kind competition that nurtures talent and provides inspiration to theatre lovers," he said, while mentioning that the competition could not be held for two years due to the pandemic and this year tol, it was postponed due to the third wave. He asked all the participants to follow strictly the sanitizing protocols in order to protect themselves. Deshmukh added that the talented participants who did well would then we put through a workshop at Dadasaheb Phalke Film City. "We aim to make these talented youngsters more professional through these various workshops," he said.

There are six categories for participating which include Marathi, Hindi, Sanskrit, Children's, Musical and disabled children's plays. These competitions will run for next three months in which 150 organisations or groups will be participating.

*Mumbai Theatre Guide takes no responsibility for change in schedule.