Playwright: Bratya Basu
Director: Sujan Mukhopadhyay
Group: Chetana, Kolkata
Language: Bengali
Duration: 2 hrs 10 mins

The Play
The childless couple of ancient Athens, Greece, King Xuthus and his gorgeous wife Queen Creusa, seeks the blessing of God Boreas and then visits God Apollo’s temple in Delphi. Priestess Daphnis informs Creusa, daughter of King Erectheus, about the oracle of God Apollo that the royal couple will soon bear a male child, Doris. But till the prophecy comes true, they will have to adopt the attractive and handsome young man, Ion, who has grown up in the temple and crown him the prince of Athens. While King Xuthus happily agrees to obey the divine command, the Queen does not. As the King goes ahead with the plan of the adoption ceremony Creusa loses her cool and conspires with her servant Danius to kill Ion by poisoning his drink. Danius fails to carry out her order and gets caught red handed. Aghast, Ion returns to the temple of Delphi. Creusa admits her role in this conspiracy publicly. King Xuthus has no option but to initiate the trial for justice in a democracy. The arguments and counter arguments in the trial come to an abrupt end after the sudden appearance of Delphi’s chambermaid, Pythia. The truth about Ion’s birth leaves the royal couple stunned and overwhelmed…

Director’s Note
There lies an innate resemblance in almost all the stories of tragedy of human conflicts and political conspiracies; and of the great wars waged by men. The most significant resemblance lies in their staying relevant throughout the years. Therefore, to rediscover the age-old mythical tale of ‘Ion and Creusa’, Bratya Basu penned Queen Creusa, a tragic-satire. In the play, where the people demand retribution for a sacrilegious crime committed by the Queen herself, the hypocrisies of the elite are elucidated and illuminated as the fallacies hidden in the constitutional structure.

The Director
Sujan Mukhopadhyay has acted in about 30 plays and written several scripts for theatre, television and cinema. He was awarded the Stagecraft Award for Ghasiram Kotwal and Popular Viewer’s Choice Award for Don..Take Bhalo Lage. He has performed in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Chennai and all the major cities of India, as well as USA. He has also directed a Bengali feature film Chocolate (available on Netflix).

The Playwright
Bratya Basu is an accomplished theatre artist, a playwright and director who started his career as a sound operator. He is a theatre thinker and activist, and has served Bengali theatre for nearly 20 years. His plays have been staged by eminent directors and a compilation of his plays has been published in three volumes.

The Group
Chetana was founded in 1972. It has produced 33 full-length Plays and 13 short Plays in its journey of 46 years. Chetana received numerous awards and citation from various cultural institutions. It has organised a number of Theatre Festivals, Seminars and Workshops etc., and performed in all the districts of West Bengal and in almost all the major cities of India. Chetana has staged different plays in the Theatre Festivals organised by the National School of Drama and Sangeet Natak Akademi. It has toured USA and Canada with its productions in 1980 and 1990. Chetana performed Mareech Sangbad in Bourdeaux (France) in 1999. Sponsored by the ICCR it took part in the Ibsen International Theatre Festival held in Oslo (Norway) in 2004 and performed in London (UK) the same year.

Cast & Credits
Rani Creusa                         Nivedita Mukhopadhyay
Glaucas                                Supriya Dutta
Raja Xuthus                         Shaheb Chattopadhyay
Ion                                       Subhra Sourav Das
Eziptus                                Tarun Bhattacharyya
Senior Priest                        Amitabha Ghosh
Danaus                                Sushovan Guha
Orion                                    Rahul Sen Roy
Petroclus                              Rajat Narayan Bhattacharya
Clotho                                  Somrashmi Ghosh
Lachesis                               Monalisa Das
Atropos                                Ashmita Ghosh
Pythia                                  Ruma Bakhuli
Daphnis                               Santwana Banerjee
Singer                                  Daayaad Mukherjee
Chorus                                Parikshit Ghosh, Debashis Naskar, Biswajit Nayak,  Prateek Banerjee, Parag Roy, Sayan Maji

Music                                    Prabuddha Banerjee
Light                                     Soumen Chakraborty
Sound                                  Anindyo Nandy
Costume                             Prabal Mondal
Make-up                              Ayon Ghosh
Set                                       Partha Majumdar
Vocalists                              Dipanwita Chowdhury, Dibyendu Mukherjee, Sujan Mukhopadhyay, Shaheb Chattopadhyay, Prabuddha Banerjee, Bodhisattwa Banerjee
Assistant Director                Snehansu Biswas

Playwright                              Bratya Basu
Director                                  Sujan Mukhopadhyay

Contacts
Chetana
131, N.S.C. Bose Road, Govt. Housing Est.
Block-7, Flat 2 Kolkata – 700040, West Bengal
M: +91 9433075751, 9830253530
E: chetanakolkata.1972@gmail.com
sujanmukhopadhyay@gmail.com

Watch Prof. Khushalani’s review of the play and interview with the director –

https://youtu.be/9x4IIdxNTPU?t=3724

Playwright: Mahakavi Bhasa
Director: Hafiz Khan
Group: Ankur Rangmandal Samiti, Madhya Pradesh
Language: Malwi & Rajasthani
Duration: 1 hr 10 mins

The Forms
Maach is a folk theatre form of Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, started in Ujjain by Guru Gopalji of Bhagsipura.
Turra Kalangi form of poetic and musical dialogues was jointly initiated by two saints Tukhangir and Shah Ali. Tukhangir was a Gusaain saint who wore saffron clothes and worshipped Shiva. Shah Ali was a Muslim Faqir who wore green and worshipped Shakti. Yet, both these forms have some common features.
The Play
A Brahmin family is passing through the forest where the exiled Pandavas are dwelling. The family encounters Ghatotkacha who is in search of a human for his mother Hidimba’s meal. He holds the family captive and asks them to decide who should accompany him. The eldest son of the family being dear to the father, and the youngest to the mother, the middle son is the only choice left to be handed over to Ghatotkacha. Being the middle one he is called ‘Madhyama’. Madhyama is thirsty and requests Gatotkacha to be allowed to go to a nearby pond for water. Ghatotkacha agrees and asks him to return quickly. But Madhyama gets delayed and Gatotkacha starts calling out to him, “Madhyama…Madhyama…” Bhima, who was passing by, and he too being the middle son (Madhyama), thinking that someone is calling out to him, reaches where the family is being held captive. On hearing the story of the family, he offers himself as Hidimba’s meal, on the condition that Gatotkacha defeats him in a duel. Gatotkacha defeats Bhima in a wrestling bout and takes him to his mother only to discover that Bhima is his father.

The Director
Hafiz Khan graduated from National School of Drama in 1981. He has been actively working in theatre, especially in the field of Children’s theatre. He has been the founder member of the TIE Company of NSD. He has also been a part of many theatre workshops organized by NSD all over the country. As he was born and brought up at Ujjain, the local folk forms have always attracted him. The present production is the result of one such workshop.

The Co-Director
Born on 11th of October 1963 in village Nayakhe of district Ujjain, Babulal Deora, at the age of 15,
joined Lokarg and Tejati Maharaj Katha Group and started his association with the folk theatre ‘Maach’. His initial inspirations were Guru Shri Siddheshwarji Sen and his elder brother Ratan Maharaj Lokesh Sen. He started as a chorus singer in the group. He continued the tradition after his guru died.

Director’s Note
I had conducted a workshop on Turrakalangi in December 2014 at Ghosunda, Chittor village. The workshop began with Kalangi Ustad Mirza Akbar Baig Kaghzi and Turra Ustad Narayanji Joshi, and around 20 artists of Turralalangi. I felt as if I was transported to Indra’s Darbar 300 years ago where Turrakalangi was Khayal, and Khayal was Maach. If one was to forget the intricacies of music and Rag-Raginis, then one finds that the form of rhythm, melody, abhinaya, singing and storytelling are all common in both. Thus, we selected Madhyam Vyayog of the great Sanskrit playwright Mahakavi Bhasa to be presented as a bouquet of Turrakalangi Khayal and Maach by the artists of Ujjain.

The Playwright
Mahakavi Bhasa (5th Century B.C.) was an Indian playwright who wrote in Sanskrit. His plays were lost to the world until 20th century A.D. when his manuscripts were rediscovered. Some of his available plays are Swapnavasavdutta, Pratibha-Natak, Panch-Ratra, Madhyam Vyayog, Doot Gatotkach, Urubhangham, Karnabharam, Hari Vansh, Abhishek Natak etc.

The Group
In the past four decades Ankur Rangmanch Samiti Ujjain has organised numerous theatre festivals, theatre camps, workshops and theatre productions. The primary objective of the group is education, literacy, health, social sciences and social justice. It uses regular theatre, children’s theatre, educative theatre, folk theatre, literature and art as its medium. The group has participated and organised events in collaboration with the Ministry of culture (Govt. of India), Sangeet Natak Akademi, National School of Drama (New Delhi), Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad, Madhya Pradesh Museum, Kalidas Akademi Ujjain and many local organisations. Malwa Maach organised in 1999, 2005, 2007, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 have been known for a wider promotion of this folk tradition.

Cast & Credits
Sutradhaar1                                 Babulal Deora
Sutradhaar2                                 Rajesh Bhati
Hidimba                                       Vishnu Chandel
Ghatotkach                                  Narendra Bhanvariya
Brahmin                                       Tikaram Bhati
Brahmani                                     Seema Kushwah
Son 1                                           Dilip Chauhan
Madhyam (Son 2)                        Sonu Bodana
Son 3                                           Chirag Chandel
Bhima                                          Sudhir Sankhla

Harmonium                                 Ramesh Aswaar
Dholak                                        Pappu Chauhan
Tek                                              Raju Bhati
Synthesizer                                 Nilesh Manohar
Costume & Make-up                   Vishal Mehta
Stage Management                    Irshad Khan
Set                                              Ivan Khan
Light Operation                           Amit Bhandari
Production Design                      Kailash Chauhan
Stage Manager                           Prakash Bhatia
Co-ordinator                               Shailendra Vikal

Playwright                                  Mahakavi Bhas
Co-Director                                Babulal Deora
Director                                       Hafiz Khan

Contacts
Ankur Rangmanch Samiti
C/o Vishal Steel, 64 Fawara Chawk
Ujjain- 456001
M: +91 9868511508
E: hafeeznsd@gmail.com

Prof. Khushalani’s review of the play and interview with the director –

https://youtu.be/9x4IIdxNTPU?t=1956

Playwright: Girish Karnad
Translator: Sukesh Panda
Director: Nalini Nihar Nayak
Group: New Quest Repertory, Rourkela
Language: Odia
Duration: 2 hrs 15 mins

The Play
Almost all creation, be it animals, birds, trees or men, has two elemental components – male and female. Each wishes to keep the other under subjugation. Girish Karnad, in his play Nagamandal conveys that the companions should remain complementary to each other. Rani weds Apanna, who has the typical ‘I am the master’ role and expects his wife to submit unquestioningly to his shenanigans. Suppression of womanhood in this male-dominated society is a common phenomenon. The writer advocates gender-justice and freedom through Rani. By integrating folk tales into the play he has been able to create a drama of varied hues.

Director’s Note
Trouble in the universal yet intricately delicate relationship between a man and a woman creates an imbalance, a disturbing ripple. Incorporating this social message, the play Nagamandal by Girish Karnad really fascinated me. I am able to relate to folktales and legends of such essence, since they are prevalent in my culture, land, and people. Hence I was allured to recreate this folktale. And in doing so I used many indigenous and dying art-forms of Odisha like Mayurbhanj Chhau dance, Odissi dance and song, Sambalpuri dance and songs, etc. The music is played using classical instruments, for classical dance forms beginning with Ranapa to Odissi and Bharatnatyam. I have tried to make it a musical and choreographically expressive play, hoping it will be well received by the audience.

The Director
Nalini Nihar Nayak is a well-known theatre director, actor, designer, and music composer of Odisha. He is a trained Chhau dancer in the Mayurbhanj style and has won many awards like the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2012 in the field of theatre direction awarded by Sangeet Natak Akademi, Rajiv Gandhi Professional Award, National Youth Award, Baisakhi National Excellency Award, National Natya Vibhushan, and more than 200 Government & non-Government Awards. He has acted in 85 plays, directed 41 plays throughout India and abroad. He has participated in SNA Festival New Delhi; EZCC Festival; National Youth Festival; Inter-University theatre festival; Bharat rang Mahotsav and many more.

The Playwright
Girish Raghunath Karnad was an Indian actor, film director and Kannada writer. He is the recipient of Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India. For four decades Karnad composed plays, often using history and mythology to tackle contemporary issues. He was also active in the world of Indian cinema working as an actor, director, and screenwriter, and earning numerous awards along the way. He was conferred Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.

The Group
New Quest Repertory was established in 2003, under leadership of Nalini Nihar Nayak, with an objective to train young artists in theatre and to use their learning in professionally; to resurrect the dying art form of Odisha. It has participated in festivals organized by Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi, Yuva Pratibha Mahostav, and SNA New Delhi; and experimental theatre festivals hosted by EZCC, Kolkata; National Youth Festival by Ministry of Youth Affairs, Govt. of India; 18th Bharat Rang Mahotsav, NSD; National Theatre Festival by Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal; Konark Festival and many more across the country besides theatre festivals by Govt. and non-Govt. organizations.

Cast & Credits
On Stage                                                  Niranjan Acharya, Lalatendu Panigrahy, Pragyan Ranjan                                                                           Panda, Dwiti Krushna Panda, Swarup Ranjan Das, Chinmaya                                                                     Kumar Panda, Nabakishore Ghosh, Soumyaranjan Mohanty,                                                                     Pankaj Nath, Dinesh Mohanty, Surajsatapathy, Barsharani                                                                         Barik, Rashmita Das, Pinkiraninayak, Afreen Begum,                                                                                   Shubhasmita Singh, Manasi Das, Tanushree Parida

Sound                                                       Jasobanta Narayan Ray
Light                                                          Sagar Swaroop Swain
Set                                                            Chintamani Biswal
Make-up                                                    Ramesh Chandra Sahoo
Music                                                         Kailash Chandra Senapati
Props                                                         Amit Kumar Meher
Camera                                                     Dipankar Janah

Odia Translation                                       Sukesh Panda
Playwright                                                 Girish Karnad
Choreography, Light,
Design & Direction                                   Nalini Nihar Nayak

Contacts
Director, New Quest Repertory
TF-7, NIT, Rourkela 769008
Distt. Sundragarh, Odisha
M: +91 9937556626, 7978071741
E: nalinidrama@gmail.com

Watch Professor Khushlani’s review of the play and interview with directors –

https://youtu.be/9x4IIdxNTPU?t=124

Playwright & Director: Abhishek Garg
Group: Switch on Scurry Art Organization, Bhopal
Language: Hindi
Duration: 1 hr 10 mins

The Play
The central character of this story is Madhav, the best student in the ashram. Guruji is very happy with the helpful nature of Madhav and gives him a magic shankh which can fulfill all his wishes and desires. But Guruji puts a condition with this magical shankh that although whatever Madhav asks for himself will be duly fulfilled, but along with that his neighbour will get the double of the same.
So Madhav, out of jealousy, does not ask anything from the shankh, so that his neighbor shouldn’t benefit from it. In the end he realize his mistake. This play compels the audience to see where we are headed in the present society and its degenerating values.

Director’s Note
With the meaning of humanity gradually dying and man being totally self-driven, no one comes forward to help others and those who do make an effort, find themselves trapped. Thus I found this interesting folk tale apt in the context of present times. This play is a comic satire and the most important part is the style of the script and performance which has been woven around songs and poetic dialogues. This performance compels the audience to think and change its attitude and behaviour towards the world around it.

The Director & Playwright
The journey of playwright & director Abhishek Garg started in 2001 with Jabalpur’s Vivechana Rangmandal, in which he acted in various plays including street plays. He joined Bharatendu Natya Akademi, Lucknow in 2007 and after completing PG diploma in 2009, was selected by Theatre-in-Education (Sanskar Rang Toli) as actor-teacher (Acting). He completed his tenure there in 2016 and since then he is carrying forward his theatre activities with his own group Switch On Scurry Art Organisation.

The Group
Switch on Scurry Art Organization, Bhopal has been producing and performing plays since 2015. It started with a solo drama Nachani written by Bhanu Bharati. Since then the group has been staging plays every year viz. Kaggrajraj, specially designed for children, parents and teachers; two nukkad dramas, Bhagmabh and Cham Chama Chaat; and Jas Sangat Tas Rangat, performed in Yashodhara theatre festival organized by Tribal Boli and Vikas Academy of Bhopal, and selected for the 4th Minerva Theatre Festival (2019) organized by the Ministry of Culture of West Bengal. The group has also performed shows of its plays with the help of Sangeet Natak Academy, New Delhi and in different cities of Madhya Pradesh. This year it has produced a new play Jadu Mantar, based on a Bundeli folk tale, which will soon be staged at different theatres.

Cast & Credits
Guruji, Dhol (Padosi Bachcha1) Wasim Khan
Buddhia Ramesh Ahire
Hariya Rahul Jadhav
Maakhan Ashwini Mishra (Prabhu)
Rukmini (Rakku, Makhan’s Wife) Priyanka Garg
Gachar (Bachcha 1) Vivek Tripathi
Pachar (Bachcha 2) Tilak Sharma
Seth, Dhamaka (Padosi Baccha2) Priyesh Pal
Birju (Maakhan ka Padosi) Amitesh Pratap Singh
Lila (Birju’s Wife) Sangatna Bankar
Chorus All Artists

Stage Management Priyesh Pal
Stage Design Assistance Ashwini Mishra
Light Design & Operation Dhannulal Sinha
Music Shruti-Dharmesh
Rhythm T.S. Dharmesh, Prashant Shrivastav, Shrutdharmeet
Harmonium T.S. Dharmesh
Singers T.S. Dharmesh, Shruti Rawat, Shailender Soni,
Nikhil Bakare, Bhavna Navale, Swati Saraf, Priyanka Garg
Percussion Shruti Rawat & Priyanka Garg
Speed Control Wasim Khan
Costumes Design Priyanka Garg
Costume Making Rakesh Bhaiyya
Gond Painting Rashmi Acharya
assisted by Priyanka, Gunjan, Sangartana, Nupur, Priyesh, Amitesh, Priti, Tilak
Head-Gears Mukesh Prajapati
Stage Property Devendra Sharma (Joshi Ji)
Make-Up Sonam Sahni
Assistant Director Wasim Khan

Playwright & Director Abhishek Garg

Contacts
Director,
Switch on Scurry Art Organization
E-8, 290 Trilanga, Bhopal, M.P
M: +91 9717156005
E: abhishek81garg@gmail.com

Poet: Farid-ud-Din Attar
Director: Wendy Jehlen
Group: Anikaya, USA
Language: English (???)
Duration: 1 hr 20 mins

The Play
Conference of the Birds is an evening-length movement theatre work, conceived and directed by Wendy Jehlen and inspired by the epic poem of Farid ud Din Attar. It is a tale of a group of birds that set off in search of the mythical bird, the Simurgh.  Many of the birds abandon the quest. When the remaining birds arrive in the land of the Simurgh, they find themselves reflected… they are the Simurgh. We use Attar’s text as a frame for narratives gathered from refugees and other migratory people, symbolizing the journey that we, the diversity that is humanity, take together. It is a story of found community, of the necessity of difference. Conference of the Birds has been supported by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, The Boston Foundation, Jacob’s Pillow, Arts Emerson, Theatre Communications Group, New Music/USA and National Endowment for the Arts.

Director’s Note
Conference of the Birds poses the question: How can we be different together? The performance proposes an answer. Anikaya explores this question by translating contemporary migrant stories into dance. In the creation of the work, the company directly engaged with refugee and other migrant communities throughout the creative process. Through a community-based, artist-led process, we have created a framework within which a dynamic evolving presentation can happen – relevant to the moment. Conference of the Birds addresses many narratives at once. It addresses issues pertinent to religious and cultural minorities, gender and sexuality, refugees, and works to counteract xenophobia in its many manifestations – both in content and in the composition of the company. Re-contextualising this classical Sufi text illuminates current moment in history, bringing to full circle the idea that human history is a history of movement, mingling and entanglements.

The Director
Wendy Jehlen’s career has been marked by international explorations, study and creative collaboration. Wendy engages in collaborations across languages, culture, media and genres. Her work questions the boundaries that we imagine between ourselves, and seeks to break down these imagined walls through an embodied practice of radical empathy. Her unique approach to choreography incorporates elements of Bharat Natyam, Odissi, Capoeira, Kalaripayattu, West African dance, Butoh, and a wide-range of contemporary movement forms. Her emotionally powerful choreography has been created and performed in the US, Canada, Italy, India, Japan, Brazil, Benin, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Mali and Turkey. Her works include Delicateness in Times of Brutality (2017), a duet with Deaf Butoh artist Dakei; Entangling (2015), a duet inspired by Quantum Entanglement; The Deep (2015), a work for 25 dancers created in Brazil; Lilith (2013), a solo on the first woman; The Knocking Within (2012), an evening-length duet on a disintegrating relationship; Forest (2010), a journey through the archetypal forest; and He Who Burns (2006).

The Poet
Abū Ḥamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm, better known by his pen-name Farīd ud-Dīn Aṭṭār, was a Persian poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nishapur who had an immense and lasting influence on Persian poetry and Sufism. Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr (The Conference of the Birds) and Ilāhī-Nāma (The Book of Divine) are among his most famous works.

The Group
Anikaya’s mission is to break down the perceived boundaries between people, cultures and art forms. Our work has so far extended to the US, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, France, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mali and Turkey. Anikaya weaves together music, dance and storytelling to create works that pull from the full range of the body’s communicative capabilities. We incorporate traditional forms, internalizing them and then allowing them to reemerge as part of a new contemporary movement vocabulary. The result is work that is resonant of deep-rooted traditions, without being bound to any particular genre, place or practice. The ensemble includes performers from Benin, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, India/South Africa, Japan, Turkey and the US.

Cast & Credits
Dancers                                   Ibrahim Abdo (Egypt), Yasin Anar (Turkey), Sarveshan Gangen (South                                                      Africa/India), Kae Ishimoto (Japan), Danang Pamungkas (Indonesia),                                                        Luciane Ramos da Silva (Brazil)

Music created by                     Fraction (Eric Raynaud) (France), Shaw Pong Liu (USA), Shaho Andalibi                                                  (Iran/Canada), Deraldo Ferreira (Brazil/USA)
Light Design                            Stephen Petrilli (USA)
Light execution                       Gregory Casparian (USA)
Projection Design                  David Bengali (USA)
Calligraphy artist
& content consultant              Pouya Jahanshahi (Iran/USA)

Director/Choreographer        Wendy Jehlen (USA)

Contacts
Director, Anikaya
67 Dane St., Somerville, Massachusetts,
USA- 002143
M: +1 6178617930
E: wendyjehlen@gmail.com

Playwright: Dharmavir Bharati
Translation: Sukesh Panda
Director: Chavan Pramod R.
Group: Department of Dramatics, M.S. University, Vadodara
Language: Gujarati
Duration: 1 hr 30 mins

The Play
Prologue: The prevailing fight between power and survival in the world, the wrath of the blind age.
Act 1: Dhrutarashtra and Gandhari crying for their dying sons and eagerly waiting for Sanjay. The Vrudhha Yachak enters with his predictions.
Act 2: Ashwatthama transforms himself into a destructive being and tries to kill Sanjay and Vrudhha Yachak, Krutvarma and Krupacharya question Ashwatthama’s intentions.
Act 3: Yuyutsu enters Hastinapur after winning battle with Pandvas, and Gandhari dishonours him. Ashwatthama justifies his intentions, and Krutvarma and Krupacharya join his struggle.
Interlude: The Vruddha Yachak explains Andha Yug and the characters give a description of their world.
Act 4: Vidur and Sanjay narrate the details of Ashwatthama’s cruelty to Gandhari. Ashwatthama releases Brahmastra. Sanjay leads Gandhari to the corpse of Duryodhan. Gandhari blames Krishna and curses him.
Epilogue: Question – “How to save humanity?”

Director’s Note
This piece of work focuses solely on the thematic content of the play, rather than abiding by the conventional structure. It attempts to look beyond the barriers of time and space and emerges subtly and symbolically. The questions raised are regarding human tolerance and the atrocities of war, where women, children and youth are the major victims. “When will the world be peaceful?” is the quintessential quest. I have attempted to depict my perceptions about how various systems drive a region and its inhabitants into insoluble problems of restless society and political turmoil, where the sole sufferers are the common people.

The Director
A recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Ustad Bismillah Khan National Award for Theatre Direction, Dr. Chavan Pramod R. is a disciple of Guru Kavalam N. Panikkar, under whose guidance he pursued training of Natyashastra and Sanskrit Theatre. He also underwent the basic training of Kutiyattam at Kalamandalam and worked in-depth on different forms of Kerala. Dr. Chavan Pramod has done Ph.D., Masters and Bachelors in Theatre with 4 gold medals from the Dramatics Department, M. S. University of Baroda. Some of the plays designed and directed by him are Andhayug, Uttararmcharitam, Venisamhara, Ashadh Ka Ek Din, Waiting for Godot, Vikramorvashiyam’s fourth Act, Dak Ghar, Juloos, Hayavadan etc. His book Rang Saptak – An Anthology of Panikkar’s Plays Translated in Hindi has been published by Rajkamal Prakashan.

The Playwright
Dharmavir Bharati was a renowned Hindi poet, author, playwright and a social thinker of India. He was the chief editor of the popular magazine Dharmayug. Bharati was awarded the Padmashri for literature in 1972 and Sangeet Natak Akademy Award in playwriting in 1988. Prominent works by him include Gunahon ka Devta, Suraj ka Satwan Ghoda, Andha Yug etc.

The Group
Department of Dramatics, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda has nurtured a number of aspiring artists wanting to pursue theatre as profession. Along with the academic experience it also creates a platform for art events, festivals, workshops, seminars and research. It has started “Satur Theatre” to inculcate performance skills in the students and orient audiences for the Theatre Movement. It has been conducting the Manch Parva – National Theatre Festival since 2011.

Cast & Credits
Gandhari 1                                     Mallika Lokhande
Gandhari 2                                     Riya Doshi
Gandhari 3                                     Vaidesha Lobiyal
Dhrutarashtra                                 Shashank Jha
Ashwathama                                  Bhavesh Thakarel
Yuyutsu                                          Priyank Gangwani
Sanjay                                           Saket Chouhan
VruddhaYachak/
Western Dance                             Prashanjit Dey
Vidura                                           Mohammad Nawaz Khan
Krutvarma /Western Dance          Akhil Nair
Krupacharya                                 Hardik Soni
Prahari 1                                       Nirav Popat
Prahari 2 /Fashion Show              Himadri Vyas
Vyasa/Fashion Show                   Ivan MD Khan
Chorus 1/Western Dance/
Fashion Show                              Parth Nair
Chorus 2                                      Sanket Chouhan
Garba Dance                               Nupur Thaker, Shweta Jain

Music Composer
& Vocal                                        Vipul Barot
Music Composer
& Instrument                               Manish Barot
Music Arranger                           Birju Kanthariya
Music Operator                           Sanket Chouhan / Riken Chokshi
Light Design                               Rishikesh Karanjgaokar
Make-up                                     Gaurav Chaturvedi

Playwright                                  Dharmvir Bharati
Director                                      Chavan Pramod R.

Contacts
Dr. Chavan Pramod R.
Director, Department of Dramatics
Faculty of Performing Arts
The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
Opp. Sursagar, Nyay-Mandir, Gujarat
Vadodara- 390001
M: +91 9898822624
E: chavan_pramoduma@yahoo.co.in
chavan.pramod-dramatics@msubaroda.ac.in

Playwright: Henrik Ibsen
Adapter: Ila Arun
Director: K. K. Raina
Group: Surnai Theatre and Folk Arts Foundation, Mumbai
Language: Hindi
Duration: 2 hrs 20 mins

The Play
This is an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s controversial play Ghosts which was first staged in 1881 causing quite a stir. This is the story of the family of late Maharaja Kunwar Viraj Bhanu Pratap Singh, whose death is shrouded in mystery, talked of in whispers, and hidden in the inscrutable eyes of his widow, Yashodhara Baisaheb. As the story unfolds, we see the causes of the break-down of families, symbolised in the destruction of the havelis they inhabit. But yet the ghosts of the past cannot be destroyed. The play deals with the issue of domestic violence and suppression of women, whose voices are silenced by tradition and society. The voices of Ibsen’s women, just as the voices of women all over the world, need to be heard.

Director’s Note
Ghost is a family drama that deals with the conflict between generations due to changing human conditions, beliefs and customs which are handed down from one generation to another, thus degenerating the social system that was created to protect and nurture. These beliefs and customs turn into ghosts and keep haunting us in one way or the other. This relationship between past and future can make our present unbearable if not understood and analysed well. Ibsen had said “we sail with a corpse in cargo”. Therefore these ghosts need to be re-examined in the light of each individual’s experience, and socio-political and religious system he is confronted with. If not, the most gifted of society’s future generation will face destruction.

The Director
With over 30 years of experience actor, director and writer, K. K. Raina is a graduate of the National School of Drama, New Delhi. He joined Surnai theatre group as an actor but soon was entrusted with additional responsibility of direction. He has been directing and acting in all its plays since 1983 and is amongst the earliest members of the core group.
He has acted in over three hundred theatrical performances and directed over two hundred fifty shows. He has directed two short T.V. films and has been writing, directing and producing T.V. serials for Kashir Channel independently. He has acted in prime roles in over 30 Bollywood films and continues to do so. In the past he had acted in many T.V. serials.

The Playwright
Henrik Johan Ibsen (20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as ‘the father of realism’, and one of the most influential playwrights of his time. His major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll’s House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, When We Dead Awaken, Rosmersholm, and The Master Builder. He is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare, and by the early 20th century A Doll’s House became world’s most performed play.

The Group
In 1982, Surnai began its journey with the twin objectives of promoting the folk arts of India and staging contemporary plays which are thought-provoking and focus on relevant social issues. In 2016, the group re-established itself under the aegis of its newly-established Surnai Theatre and Folk Arts Foundation. This foundation is committed to the uplift of women, starting with the survival of the girl-child, her literacy, health and the seemingly insurmountable problem of child-marriage and widowhood. The Surnai Foundation, with its focus on folk theatre, puppetry, and traditional story-telling forms like the phad hopes to reach out not only to urban audiences but also to rural platforms to carry these themes to villages in far-flung areas.

Cast & Credits
Yashodhra Baisa                            Ila Arun
Purohitji                                          K. K. Raina
Yuvraj Bana                                    Rahul Bagga
Thomas                                          Rajeev Pandey / Gaurav Amlani
Reena                                            Mia Maelzer

Music Arrangement                       Ila Arun.
Sets & Lights                                 Salim Akhtar
Music Operation                            Sanjoy Daz

Adapted by                                   Ila Arun
Director                                        K K Raina

Contacts
Director, Surnai Theatre and Folk Arts Foundation
401, Paradise Apts, 7th Road, Santa Cruz East
Mumbai- 700055
M: +91 9820047176
E: antardhwani5@gmail.com

Playwright & Director: Pranjal K Saikia
Group: Team Indipity, Guwahati
Language: Assamese
Duration: 1 hr 30 mins

The Play
A retired teacher of Chengpung village of Assam and Nagaland border, Mr. Dharmeshwar Bora has a small happy family – his wife, a goat and a dog. Although Mr. Bora has had a dream to be a car owner since he was young, his dream became stronger with the provident fund money he received on retirement. On being a car owner, he realised that it is not easy to survive in a bordering village, due to car-lifters, militant’s etc. Day by day Mr. Bora became very possessive about his car, to the extent that the fear of losing his beloved car took away his sound sleep. The story takes a turn when Mr. Bora tries to save his car from such circumstances (Border miseries seem to have no end…..).

Director’s Note
Every border (national or state) has its own stories to tell. Living in a village of Assam and Nagaland border, I have experienced the border that has fear, relentless mountains and way-faring rivers. The border that has tasted blood, militant movements, illegal arms, cannabis (Ganja), banned pseudoephedrine tablets etc. The common and innocent people of bordering villages have endless miseries; their dreams are meant to be shot. This play deals with the struggle of their survival, aspirations, dreams and downfall.

The Director & Playwright
Pranjal K Saikia is a commerce graduate from Guwahati University and holds a diploma in Dramatic arts from the Himachal Cultural Research Forum, Mandi (Himachal Pradesh). Since then he has worked as an actor, theatre director, script writer and also theatre trainer in different parts of India including Delhi, Bhopal, Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. Few of the important plays that he has acted in are Lower Depths, Andher Nagari Choupat Raja, Gaatha- the 1st text, Ashaad Ka Ek Din, Yatra Subha Houk etc. His major directorial works are Badal Sircar’s Ballavpur ke Rupkatha and self-written Bhumura, Status Complicated, Indipity, Bhou, Kiri Daloi (Jaintia Play) etc. Apart from these he has worked with different NGOs on different social issues in Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Tripura. One of his plays Indipity was selected for the 8th Theatre Olympics, 2018, and his Play Bhou was selected for the inauguration of 20th BRM, 2019 at Dibrugarh. Both of these plays were written & directed by him.

The Group
Established in 2012 at Guwahati, Assam Team Indipity is a group of young and energetic Theatre Artists. Team Indipity conceived with the idea of raising consciousness about social and psychological issues through meaningful theatre activities. Right from its inception the group also conducts theatre workshops, street play in all over north-east. The group is dedicated towards establishing new practices of art forms in the drama world and to articulate talents both physically and mentally. The group has performed in various theatre festivals including 20th Bharat Rang Mahotsav.

Cast & Credits
Dharmeshwar                               Bora Monuj Saikia
Sakuntala                                     Rimjhim Deka
Naga Militants                              Arup Jyoti Rabha, Gokul Mipun, Utpal Hazarika
Goat                                             Monalisha Rajbongshi
Dog                                              Suraj Das
Villagers/Body Movements          Abhijit Chutia, Abhijit Roy, Kulumoni Bharali, Rijumoni Deori                                                                      Jyotishman Kaushik, Sanjiv Das Rakesh Bora, Bhaskar Dutta, Rinku                                                           Bora, Bidyut Bikash Borah, Desh Adhikari, Nandini Das, Achurjya Bora

Light                                            Tapan Borua
Music                                          Mandeep Mahanta
Costume                                    Rijumoni Deori
Production Manager                   Achyut Saikia
Assistant Director                      Gokul Mipun and Bhaskar Dutta

Playwright & Director                 Pranjal K Saikia

Contacts
Director, Team Indipity
Ivy Enclave, Flat No – 404, Bye Lane No. 9
Dr Zakir Hussain Road, Sorumotoria
Down Town, Guwahati – 781006
Assam, P.O- Dispur
M: +91 8638846349, 8638002401
E: teamindipity@gmail.com

Director: Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry
Group: The Company Theatre, Chandigarh
Language: Hindi
Duration: 1 hr 15 mins

The Play & Director’s Note
The play Gumm Hai has been sourced from many references including The Seven Stages of Grieving, a performance text by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman, and Anuradha Kapur’s play Nali Wali Larki.
The story begins with a child going missing in a village, and examines how an inexplicable loss irrevocably changes the dynamics within a family and the community. The varied skeins of narratives were dovetailed to examine and understand grief, loss, death, human affirmation and survival. This play was a way of engaging with the world, dealing with lost memories, and retrieval and archiving of these memories through performance and storytelling. The plays recurring leitmotif follows Pinki, a young girl of eleven who has gone missing from her village for two months. It portrays the broader, more abstract idea of something precious that has been lost, never to return. The narrative follows the experience of ‘everywoman’, chronicling her worldly grief and joys. This devised performance draws from traditional, popular and contemporary cultural practices, resorting fundamentally to the storytelling techniques that include song, dance and real life issues. Loss here is not communicated conventionally, but in an ironical, humorous and irreverent manner. However, despite the stories dealing with a subject that can be considered dark and brooding, the dominant atmosphere is one of affirmation, dance and song and sharing of stories.  The overall tenor is the resilience and strength of the human condition i.e. the instinct for survival.
During the process of putting the play together, we tried to juggle the role of the storyteller, the actor and the social commenter. We made no attempt to preach, judge or invoke any feeling of rancor on either the human or social condition, but to seek a human connection between the personal and the public.
Whenever one develops something new, whether it is an agglomeration of memories, anecdotes, songs, poems or personal or historical experiences, the aim is to uncover or discover the ‘internal logic’ of what appears to be a set of random, disjointed ideas. In this instance, the effort has simply been to tell a story within several stories, all coalesced together, to create a story of one’s own.

The Director
NSD alumnus, Dr. Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry has a master’s degree in the History of Arts. In 1976 she moved to Mumbai where she worked in schools and colleges, doing theatre workshops and children’s theatre. In 1979, she moved to Bhopal and was associated with Rang Mandal, a theatre repertory attached to the multi-arts complex, Bharat Bhavan. In 1984, she came to Chandigarh where she set up her own theatre group, The Company. Along with international teaching assignments, she has also been teaching in the Department of Indian Theatre, Punjab University since 1990. Under her guidance the group has participated in major national and international festivals. Dr. Chowdhry is the recipient of several awards including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Shiromani Bhasa Vibhag, Ford Foundation Award, and the Padma Shri which she received in 2011.

The Group
When Dr. Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry formed her own group, The Company in 1984 in Chandigarh, she was looking for a vocabulary for training urban actors in traditional forms that were available in Punjab. The Naqqal tradition, through which she explored her work, belonged to rural Punjab and did not have a well-developed theatrical tradition in terms of aesthetics, technique and style. By working with the natives for the last twenty-eight years, along with urban actors, a way of working has emerged which combines, through fusion and differences, a new way of looking at history, performance space, image and text. Most of the plays produced by The Company have been translated by the eminent poet Surjit Patar, with music composed by BV Karanth.

Cast & Credits
On Stage                                    Mahesh Saini, Davinder Pal Singh, Surinder Arora, Chaman Lal,                                                               Ambika Kamal, Gursewak, Gurnam

Singer                                        Pamela Singh
Musicians                                  Satnam, Meher Chand, Amarjit, Bhadur Chand, Ram Singh
Light Designer                           Daulat Ram Vaid
Associate Director                     Vansh Bhardwaj

Director                                      Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry

Contacts
The Company Theatre
H.No. 9 Sector- 4, Chandigarh- 160001
M: 9891186750, 9814202344
E: blackiron686@gmail.com

Playwright: Euripides
Director: Vasilisa Tepliakova
Group: Goloborodko’s Workshop, Russia
Language: Russian
Duration: 1 hr

The Play
The play begins with two gods, Athena and Poseidon, descending from the heavens to discuss the aftermath of the war between the invading Greek armies and the people of the city of Troy. Poseidon has supported the Trojans, whereas Athena has supported the Greeks. However, she has now turned against them since the Greek warrior, Ajax, raped the Trojan princess Cassandra in Athena’s temple, which the goddess sees as an act of great disrespect. As a result, she has called on Poseidon, as well as Zeus, to work with her and create stormy seas to punish the Greeks on their journey home. The gods exit, and the mortal plot unfolds. The stage shows a tent with the recently enslaved women of Troy. Hecuba, the former queen of Troy, laments the destruction of her city, and the horrible treatment her family has endured. The Chorus, made up of her former handmaidens and other noble Trojan women, joins her, and together they sing, wondering what will become of them when Greeks will be their masters.

Director’s Note
The Trojan Women is based on the play by Euripides with the same title. This performance is an effort to understand tragedy as seen today, and to make the ancient text contemporary, but at the same time trying to keep traditions of ancient tragedy intact. Without the use of any props we are trying to create theatre with bodies, voices and psychological Russian theatre. It is an eclectic production with modern sounds and electric lights but with a deep and tragic soul. We are not trying to make the play’s situation similar to the contemporary problems, but we hope that the audience will create its own associations.

The Director
Vasilisa Tepliakova is a young director from Moscow. She graduated and post-graduated from one of the best theatre universities in Russia – GITIS. Nowadays she is working as a teacher and director in the Institute of the Theatre Arts in Moscow. She is a specialist in contemporary theatre with all her performances very different and experimental, not only with regard to the text but with regard to the audience as well. Her performances as a director are Dear Elena Sergeevna (2017), The Slide (Moscow, 2018), The Trojan Women (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 2019), Yerma-Show (Moscow, 2019).

The Playwright
Euripides (480 – 406 BC) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians of whom a significant number of plays have survived. Euripides is identified with theatrical innovations that have profoundly influenced drama down to modern times, especially in the representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.

The Group
Institute of Theatre Arts’ Goloborodko’s Workshop is a group of young actors who are studying in Moscow in the Institute of Theatre Arts. They produce classical performances that are contemporary. The group’s method of acting is based on Stanislavsky’ system, with an attempt to deal with the psychology of the play while keeping it radical and contemporarily aesthetic.

Cast & Credit
On Stage                   Arina Rozhkova, Anastasia Belova, Marina Frolova, Ekaterina Berezina,
Anna Melnichenko, Olga Bogdanova, Svetlana Kuleshova, Timur Shukshin,                                              Mikhail Losev, Artem Komlev

Light & Sound           Oksana Kolesnikova

Playwright                  Euripides
Director                      Vasilisa Tepliakova

Contacts
Goloborodko’s Workshop
Botanicheskaya Street, 21, Moscow
Russian Federation, Russia-127427
M: +7 9055427370
E: anyabloggerofficial@gmail.com