Two years of the pandemic and the resulting lockdown were tough on society and brought all cultural activities to a halt. The year 2022 slowly picked up with small events and shows but the mega multicultural festivals were still paused.
2023 moves ahead with hope that challenges everyone to witness PAST FORWARD-- the theme of the most awaited annual Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, which is back this year in all its glory. Various artistes, artisans, performers from various cities will be in Mumbai's Kala Ghoda locales from 4th till the 12th of February 2023, exhibiting their art, skills, performances and shows in various categories of this multicultural, multilingual saga of events.
One of the most engaging verticals is Theatre. The famous writer Oscar Wilde once said, "I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being."
This year, the Theatre vertical presents a diversity of plays ranging from a solo performance to mega shows with 50 plus performers on stage. Resonating the main theme of the Festival, PAST FORWARD, the Theatre vertical's theme for this year is Flash Forward. Plays will be performed at three venues -- the audiences can witness a proscenium set up in YB Chavan Centre, an intimate immersive experience in NGMA and Street Plays can be watched at Cooperage Bandstand Garden with an arena set-up. Over 30 plays will be performed at these three locations, ensuring that no two forms or languages conflict with each other and the viewers don't end up missing any of them.
Through plays that are premiered at KGAF to successfully running productions that rarely happen in Mumbai, a bouquet of titles and storylines has been curated, in which Content is King. An array of themes and genres will be staged. Tribute will be paid to martyrs and freedom fighters through a lyrical-drama performance PRANAAM BHARAT. Helping the dying arts forms like DASTAANGOI, CHITRAKATHI and Pantomime, will be shows titled DASTAAN-E-BADI BAANKA, CHITRAKATHI and CLICK.
A mythological visual treat that blends, story-telling, dance, drama and live music depicting the untold love-stories of Ramayana can be seen in PREM-RAMAYAN performed by artists from New Delhi's Films and Theatre Society. Celebrating womanhood through a solo-play by Juhi Babbar Soni, titled WITH LOVE, AAP KI SAIYAARA, a spine-chilling suspense thriller starring Girish Kulkarni, WHOLE BODY MASSAGE; a love-story of deaf-mute girl with a music director starring Jay Kapadia in the entertaining ISHARON ISHARON MEIN; a father and daughter bonding in today's technological world is presented by Manoj Shah in his Gujarati play MR. APPLE, based on the life of Steve Jobs and his daughter; beholding history through THE BOSE LEGACY, based on letters from Subhash Chandra Bose performed by Joy Sengupta and team.
The black box intimate fringe performances by Akvarious Productions "LIFE ITSELF, D for Drama - GHATNAAYEIN, Makrand Deshpande's "ANNAPURANA HAAZIR HO, Aranya's - RANGAAI, Rangbaaz's "EK RUPIYA and Padatik's "DOSH, The Maharashtra state-level winning productions titled; STAR, RHASPARVA & TO RAJHANS EK from Jiraaf Theatre, BEST Kalakrida team and Social Networking Forum/SAPAN. are among the watchable good plays at KGAF'23.
For keen learners, there will a Voice Workshop by VIVA Voice Academy and a Traditional Laavani workshop by Gauri Jadhav and Akshay Malvankar from B Spot Production, presenting APSARA AALI, LAAVANI and promising to get the house be part of this folk art form and learn its nuances.
About Kala Ghoda Arts Festival: The Kala Ghoda Association was formed on 30th October 1998 with the aim of maintaining and preserving the heritage of the Kala Ghoda area - South Mumbai's beloved art district. This was made possible by the coming together of various art galleries, patrons and concerned citizens. Since then, they have successfully conserved the bustling crescent-shaped arts district.
The Kala Ghoda district is renowned for the rich concentration of heritage buildings, art and cultural spaces, such as museums, art galleries, boutiques, restaurants and educational institutions. The precinct attracts food connoisseurs, fashion designers, architecture enthusiasts among a host of creative talent. The constant bustle of heritage aficionados is an ode to the rich legacy of the precinct.
*Mumbai Theatre Guide takes no responsibility for change in schedule.
