Playwright: Govind Ballal Deval
Director: Ravindra Khare
Group: Bharat Natya Sanshodhan Mandir, Pune
Language: Marathi
Duration: 3 hrs 10 mins

The Play
Originally, Mruchchakatika (The Little Clay Cart) is a ten-act Sanskrit drama written by Shudrak, an ancient playwright, sometime around the 2nd century. The play is set in the ancient city of Ujjayini during the reign of King Pālaka, The central story is that of a nobleman Charudatta, who falls in love with a wealthy courtesan Vasantasena. Despite their mutual affection the couple’s lives and love are threatened when a vulgar courtier, Samsthānaka, also known as Shakara, begins to aggressively pursue Vasantasena. We would like to mention that this Marathi play Mruchchakatik had been written by Govind Ballal Deval in 1887. The characters are drawn from the mundane world. It is peopled with gamblers, courtesans, thieves, and so on. Though Vasantasena is a courtesan, her exemplary attitude and dignified behaviour impress the audience. The nobility of the characters does not stem from their social conditioning but from the inner virtues and behaviour.

Director’s Note
The subject of Charudatta – Vasantsena from Shudrak’s Sanskrit play, although translated in Marathi but with the same name Mruchchakatik, is very attractive & appealing to the audience in general. Many traditional singing forms & ragas add to the popularity of this production. This musical is interestingly woven with traditional Kathak dance which is the highlight of the play. It also depicts the earlier traditions of Central India, sometime in 3rd century, and also the politics in that particular era, bearing similarity to the contemporary one.

The Director
Ravindra Khare is a well-known actor on Marathi stage & media. He has also composed a musical Nishabda Majgharat, which won prizes at state level and also in Marathi drama competition in Delhi. He is closely associated with Bharat Natya Mandir Group for more than 40 years now and is the Trustee of the institution. He has directed more than 15 Marathi musicals and lends his voice to many ad-films, and also acts in TV-serials by renowned directors. He has produced, directed & edited many plays for AIR Pune.

The Playwright
A well-known Marathi playwright, Late Shri Govind Ballal Deval (1855-1916), has written Durga, Sharada, Shapsambhram, Sanshayakallol, Zunzaarrao, Vikramorvashiya and many other plays. He composed the lyrics and music of many songs in Kirloskar’s play Shakuntal. Deval worked for a few years at Kirloskar Natak Mandali as a playwright, actor, and director. After his move to Pune in 1894, he founded Aryoddharak Natak Mandali; and also worked with Bal Gandharva’s newly established Gandharva Natak Mandali. He was the first drama guru of legendary Bal Gandharva.

The Group
Bharat Natya Sanshodhan Mandir is known to be the oldest Marathi theatre education institution since its foundation in 1894 in Pune. It is producing, organising, performing dramas & conducting dance & music classes since then. The institution completed 125th year of its existence in October 2019. It has a well-stocked library with many rare manuscripts, old photographs, material related to drama and several rare drama scripts which have been written in the past 150 years.

Cast & Credits
Maitreya Ram Sathaye
Sanvahak Sanjay Dole
Sutradhar / Sharvilak Sanjeev Mehendale
Veet Rajan Kulkarni
Karnapurak / Nyayadhish Abhay Jabde
Rajshalak Shakaar Anand Panse
Shodhanak Vishwas Pangarkar
Radanika Aparna Pendase
Madanika Kavita Tikekar
Dancers Maitreyi Nirgun, Radhika Bhinge, Bhagyashree Kulkarni,
Revati Sant, Samrudhdhi Pujari
Vasantsena Gauri Patil
Charudatta Charudatta Aphale

Music Accompaniment Rahul Gole (Organ)
Omkar Deodhar (Tabla)
Lights Shubham Kute
Sound Jayadeep Nemade
Drapery Rakesh Gholap
Make-up Madhav Thatte
Back Stage Viththal Hulawale, Abhijeet Gaikwad, Jitendra Sutar
Team Manager Vijay Kumar Potdar

Playwright G. B. Deval
Director Ravindra Khare

Contacts
Bharat Natya Sanshodhan Mandir
1320, Sadahshiv Peth, Pune- 411030
Ph: 020-24471614, 24481614
M: +91 9422303676, 9822026425
E: bharatnatyamandir@gmail.com

RUINS IN REVERSE
(A devised performance based on the poems of ‘Pash’)

Poet: Avtar Singh Sandhu ‘Pash’
Director: Sarthak Narula
Group: NSD Student Diploma Production, New Delhi
Language: Multilingual
Duration: 1hr

The Play
The process of this collaboration started with reading aloud the poetry of Pash in Hindi and Punjabi. A piece without any script or characters but with people, a site and the words of Pash. Sieving through poetry and oscillating from selection to rejection of the text multiple times; engaging with protest music; reading critical material written on Pash; and staying with the site for long hours, the idea of this piece was to revel in what would emerge when people come collectively to produce a performance on the poetry of Pash. On developing a scene on poetry, the performers were wary of not getting into plain recitation or a visualisation of the written word. There was an attempt to delve into the how, why and what is Pash communicating through his poems; its significance in the times we live in being a crucial aspect of the play.

Director’s note
One image of lynching shows up on our Facebook screen and all our senses are captured by it. Soon the number goes up and one sees 16 lynching in a span of two months, and then it becomes a scroll. One scrolls and scrolls till the geography of fear gets etched on our forehead and we become immune to a ‘fact’ to which bowing down seems like an option which, if not opted for, shall lead to serious consequences. What are those moments of encounter wherein we interrogate the self and the other and what are those repetitions that make violence a routine?
The summoning of Pash’s poetry in the current socio-political context of the spaces we inhabit is a provocation to unearth the silences that have been buried underneath the official, documented and visible discourses which have made the repetition of violence so inevitable that even yearning for a near-utopia seems as a task that is unrealistic. The ruins of what remains of the alternate discourse though, are potential sites wherein a traversing into the past has led to the future of these silences. Rummaging through the silences and staying with them, these ruins seek to take things in reverse and then starts the commencement of the trial of the portrayal of a robust entity through Pash’s poetry.

The Director
Sarthak Narula is a graduate of National School of Drama, with specialisation in Direction. Before joining NSD, he had completed his Masters in Theatre from Academy of Theatre Arts, University of Mumbai. His area of interest is the intersection between Scenography and Light design. He has designed lights for more than 30 productions in the last two years. Presently, he is doing a fellowship at NSD in the field of technological advancements in lighting in context to the alternative spaces of performance.

The Poet
Pash (9 September 1950 – 23 March 1988) was the pen name of Avtar Singh Sandhu, one of the major poets of the Naxalite movement in the 1970s. He was killed by Khalistani extremists on 23 March 1988. His strongly left-wing views were reflected in his poetry.The poetry of Pash invokes dissent and rebellion against the violence and marginalization that takes place on the basis of class. In his poems he protests against the idealistic portrayal of folk life; interprets love as an expression of pain, which surfaces as one gives it up for a more important or substantial cause. His poems split open the game of ‘democracy’ and yearn for dreaming towards a world where equality and freedom shall make the ground fecund for progress.

The Group
This play is a part of National School of Drama’s graduate showcase of class 2019. It aims to provide a platform to encourage emerging theatre practitioners to share their work with a wider audience.

Cast & Credits
On Stage Aditi Rora, Anmol Ghuliani,
Ashlesha Phad, Bhumisuta Das,
Hari Shankar Ravi, Jitu Rabha,
Manoj Kumar Thapar, Pallav Singh,
Salim Hussain Mulla, Snehalata Tagde,
Snigdha Mondal, Suman Purty,
Mujib Takhmeer, Rizwan, Imran

Lights Sarthak Narula
Scenography Nitish Arora, Vidur Sethi
Video Sourav Poddar
Costume Bhumisuta Das, Snigdha Mondal
Property Nitish Arora, Manoj Kumar Thapar
Poster & Brochure Mehak, Divyangana,Vidur, Saras
Sound Vishala R Mahale
Music Composition Navdeep Singh, Masood Malik, Manoj Kumar Thapar
Percussion Sayan Sarkar, Paalin Kabak, Bhaskar Jha
Vocals Navdeep Singh, Manoj Kumar, Snehalata Tagde, Ayushi Masood
Dramaturgy Vidur Sethi, Bhaskar Jha, Pallav Singh

Dramaturgical Guidance Avijit Solanki, Vicky Maheshwari

Poet Pash
Director Sarthak Narula

Contacts
Sarthak Narula
M: +91 9646106077
E: sarthak1811narula@gmail.com

Playwright & Director: Maya Krishna Rao
Group: Vismayah, Delhi
Language: English
Duration: 1 hr 15 mins

The Play
Loose Woman is about the travels of a woman – into and out of herself. To make this show, a performer, a video & sound designer, and a singer, through a series of improvisations, ‘looked for her’ in different places, in different manifestations. The stories that emerged were given an episodic form. They each stand alone, though a loose thread connects them all. We see her at home getting ready for office and then, on a whim, stepping out of her cab and disappearing altogether. In ‘Dancer’ she discovers what it means to not walk the straight and narrow but to ‘side-step’. ‘The Line’ jolts her into the realization of how precious her own looseness really is. And so on…
She looks for, she muses, she discovers the possibilities of ‘looseness’ in her life – of new directions she can create. The very ground beneath her seems to shift when she reacts with objects and characters from the world around her. She rediscovers her own mother. Even Gandhi enters her universe.
With humour, yet serious introspection, Loose Woman has been conjured, coaxed and driven by different mediums – theatre, sound, dance and the camera. Of course, the underlying reference here is to the heavy irony in the throwaway expression ‘loose woman’, whose application is rampant in a skewed familial and social setting crafted by just one sex.
For the purposes of this show, though, she’s not loose enough….not yet!

Director’s Note
Way back in 2002, I had made a show called A Deeper Fried Jam. In trying to recreate it, I found myself veering towards this woman – the ‘loose woman’. Possibly, it’s the sign of our times – it is by looking through a woman’s gaze that we see, in sharp relief, currents and under currents at play in society. The one person who carried over from the 2002 show is Gandhi – he seems to have travelled over the years and found a firm place in the ‘loose woman’s’ universe. This performance derives in its entirety from improvisations with a guitar player and a singer. Musically too, we wanted to keep it open – traverse a range of musical references – from rock to blues to sounds closer home. For each show we change the mix of episodes, to keep her fresh and alive.

The Director & Playwright
Maya Krishna Rao is a theatre artist and teacher. Her shows range from dance-theatre to cross media collaborations to comedy. She is her own performer, writer and director. Some of her celebrated performances are, Khol Do, The Job, A Deeper Fried Jam, Heads are Meant for Walking Into and Ravanama. Walk was created in response to the horrific gang rape in a moving bus and eventual tragic death of Jyoti Singh in 2012. Her latest, Loose Woman, are explorations of the extents to which a woman can stretch and redefine herself.

The Group
Vismayah was founded in 1993 under the chairpersonship of Shri P.N. Haksar, diplomat and iconic policy maker. On a regular basis Vismayah attempts to create new theatre, drawing upon our traditions of dance, music and the other arts. Among it’s celebrated productions are Khol Do, A Deep Fried Jam, Heads are Meant for Walking Into, Are You Home, Lady Macbeth? and Ravanama. Vismayah also works in the area of education, conducting workshops for teachers and students on drama as a methodology of education. Vismayah performances have travelled to various places, both across the world and in India and have been received with critical acclaim.

Cast & Credits
Performer Maya Krishna Rao

Sound design Sumant Balakrishnan,
Video design Santana Issar
Lights Sujay Saple
Costume Pratima Pandey

Concept, Creation
& Direction Maya Krishna Rao

Contacts
Director, Vismayah
A 30 Friends Colony East
New Delhi- 110065
Ph: 011-41058951
M: +91 9818324311
E: mayamaze@gmail.com

Playwright: Dea Loher
Adaptation: Atik Rahman
Director: Mukul Ahmed
Group: Mukul Ghetto Tigers, Bangladesh
Language: Bengali
Duration: 1 hr 5 mins

The Play
In this play an hour takes us inside the heads of Asha, Kalpana and Bina as they pit themselves against their torturer, Zafar, who has the power to decide their fate in the jail. Eventually Asha will be placed in a gas chamber. Asha’s resistance and ability to turn the tables on her torturer provide one of the most compelling stories. The central question of the play relates to what someone should sacrifice for their relationships, dignity and political affiliation. Asha’s story is a searing tale of survival as she, along with her fellow prisoners, struggles to hold onto her disintegrating sense of self.

Director’s Note
Mrityu Ghar is an adaptation of Dea Loher’s first play Olga’s Room (published in 1992). Dea Loher is one of the most celebrated playwrights of Germany today. Special thanks to Shameem Chawdhury for a fluid translation. I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Atik Rahman for accepting the offer to adapt Olga’s Room into a new play.

The Director
Mukul Ahmed grew up in Bangladesh and was taught at home till the age of 10 by his mother. His early memory is filled with ritual festivals, open-air music concerts, chaotic street markets, tropical calamity and community living. The dual heritage and displacement help him being unreasonably optimistic and rationally helpless, someone with love for classics and modernism, rebellion and discipline. He likes to explore the role of arts and imagination in creating new connections between people and the community in order to strengthen participation in community life. In 2007 he completed the Birkbeck MFA Theatre Directing programme. He has since directed a series of classics, new writing and play readings. Mukul has Staff Directed at the National Theatre, England. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, UK.

The Playwright
Atik Rahman is a theatre practitioner (performer, script writer and light designer) based in Bangladesh. He completed B.A. (Hons.) and M.A. in Theatre from the Department of Theatre, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has participated in numerous national and international theatre festivals in Bangladesh, India and the UK as actor, designer and musician. He is currently working as a script writer, performer and light designer for Mukul and Ghetto Tigers (Bangladesh), and is also a freelance theatre worker and a performer for ‘theatreX’ in Bangladesh.

The Group
Mukul and Ghetto Tigers is a UK and Bangladesh based theatre company that offers story, relationship and entertainment to the regular and non-theatre going audience. We take genuine interest in new writing and world classics. MGT is a platform for emerging talents. Our aim is to mentor and nurture the new comers and offer them the opportunity to excel in their respective fields. Our mantra is re-imagination, innovation and collaboration. We aim to develop a community-oriented, quality training service in a fun and safe environment by staff committed to continuously developing their skills. We also strive to create new audiences of performing arts from non-theatre going and disadvantaged communities.

Cast & Credits
Asha Usha Ganguli
Kalpana Lopamudra Guha Neogi
Beena Swagata Biswas
Zafar Biswajit Das

Light Designer Mirza Shahkhesep Sakib
Set Designer Sabiha Ambereen Haque
Sound Designer Tarun Jasani
Sound and Video Projection Operator Atik Rahman
Stage Manager Polash Rahman
Documentation Shishir Karim
Subtitles Shubhaluxmi Mukherjee
Production Manager Tahmina Shaily
Publicity Material Mong Mong Sho
Video Projection Material Shishir Karim, Shishir Imran
Video Performer Novera Yesmin

Playwright Atik Rahman
Director Mukul Ahmed

Contacts
Director, Mukul Ghetto Tigers
Shop No- 125, 253/254 Elephant Road
Emporium, Katabon, Dhara, Bangaladesh
M: +88-0172-0907957
E: mukul_tiger@yahoo.com

Playwright: Mahakavi Bhasa
Director: Jagadeesh R
Group: Sri Shivakumara Rangaprayoga Shale, Sanehalli, Karnataka
Language: Kannada
Duration: 1 hr 20 mins

The Play
A Brahmin family is captured by Ghatotkach, son of the demoness Hidimbā and the middle Pandava prince, Bhima, who is doing his mother’s bidding, for she has asked him to find a human for her meal. Upon painfully discussing who will sacrifice his life, it is decided that the middle son, Madhyama, is to be taken for Hidimbā. Before facing his fate, the middle son asks permission to quench his thirst at a nearby lake.
The middle son is gone for some time and Ghatokach calls out to him… “Madhyama… Madhyama…” Incidentally, Bhima, also called Madhyama by his brothers, is passing by. He responds to the call and finds the priest and his family in a state of despair. Bhima inquires the identity of Ghatokach’s mother, only to find that Ghatokach is his own son. Bhima is amused and without giving away his identity gets into a duel with his son and defeats him. Bhima asks Ghatokach to call his mother so that she can satiate her hunger. Hidimba appears and reveals the identity of Bhima to their son. Ghatokach is shocked and humbled by the sudden revelation. Hidimba says that her appetite is satisfied by the return of her husband, and both families go their separate ways.

Director’s Note
In contemporary society middle path symbolizes weakness and defeat, and is related to adjustments. The play carries the notion that one who has the power and utilizes it to serve and protect the poor and week knows the middle path… madhyama. To interpret the above view, I have chosen the Sanskrit play Madhyama Vyayoga to be presented in folk forms like Kudiyattum and Yakshagana by folk artistes. The stylised acting method gives performers room for improvisation and the austerity of the presentation ensures uninterrupted flow of action. In these productions, it is the actors’ bodies which become the vehicle of manifestation of human emotions and action. The actors acquire the central space in these productions marked by a variety of colours, musical tunes and themes.

The Director
Jagadeesh R was born in Chikkamagalur district, Karnataka, India in 1981. He graduated in Design and Direction from National School of Drama, New Delhi in 2013. He is a sculptor and a musician and is active in theatre giving direction, music, light and scenic design. He has won the State Award for Theatre Music in the year 2006. He participated in the 2nd Asian Theatre Festival at Beijing, China (2012), and The NAPA (National Academy of Performing Arts) International Theatre Festival at Karachi, Pakistan (2014). Currently he is working as a director at Sri Shivakumara Rangaprayoga Shale, Sanehalli, Karnataka.

The Playwright
The earliest known Sanskrit dramatist, Bhasa, is believed to have lived sometime during the 3rd century AD. Thirteen of his plays were rediscovered in 1912. Most of these surviving works are romances taken from the famous epics the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, although two of Bhasa’s plays do boast of original plots viz. Avimaraka and Charudatta.

The Group
Sri Shivakumara Rangaprayoga Shale was established in year 2008 and is a residential theatre school. It has been designed in the Gurukula system with a broad syllabus, adapted from the best theatre institutions of the country. Its course is backed by 25 years of experience of Kalashangha and 15 years of the Shivasanchara Theatre repertory. It is training today’s youth in both traditional and experimental ways.

Cast & Credits
Hidimba Madhushree V A
Ghatotkacha Naveen M
Bhima Abhishek K
Brahmana Santhosh Guledagudda
Brahmani Pooja Gajakosh
Prathama K S Gireesh
Madhyama Golla Ramesh
Trutiya Shivanagouda Maalipatil
Devi Chetan J
Sahachareyaru Tulasi P Karigar, Asha M R
Rakshasa Gana Madan S V, K Prem Kumar
K V Ganesha, Guruprasad
Ateem Dadapeer Nadaf, Sanath Kumar

Light Design Vinod Laxman Bhandari
Choreography Prathibha B G
Make-up Mithun Balakrishna
Costume Kiran T C, Panduranga Nayak
Vocals Jagadeesh R
Percussion B Prakash, Madhu E
Sound Design Lava Kumar
Assistant Directors Vinod Laxman Bhandari, Pratibha B G

Playwright Mahakavi Bhasa
Music, Design and Direction Jagadeesh R

Contacts
Jagadeesh R
Director, Sri Shivakumara Rangaprayoga Shale
Sanehalli – 577515, Karnataka
M: +91 8199243772, 9743095604
E: janichik@gmail.com

Playwright: Pallav Singh
Director: Hari Shankar Ravi
Group: NSD Student Diploma Production, New Delhi
Language: Hindi
Duration: 1 hr 20 mins

The Play
The seed of this play was planted during the site visit of G.B. Road (now Shraddhanand Marg), and was nurtured by the news and facts i.e. real incidents which were fictionalized and merged with the geography and social fabric of the site. This gave rise to the characters of the play, whose stories were intertwined by the dramaturgy team. The visual references were drawn from works of many new media and visual artists. The narrative was conceptualized by the playwright in the form of blogs written by the protagonist Baidehi Chandola, which reach us through a web journalist Meeta, thus unbuttoning the repercussions on the residence of ‘Khwahish Gali’, a destination of desire and a dead-end to love, according to Baidehi.

Director’s Note
Being a young Indian director, I make sure that my art speaks about the marginalized and the victims of social oppression. Violence, be it physical, mental or verbal has severely affected the women of every region. When I was looking for a subject for my diploma production, I intended to share my thoughts on this subject. But it was challenging to choose the kind of oppression I would wish to convey through my production. I discussed this with my teachers and classmates and decided to choose the suffering of sex workers as the subject. My classmate Pallav Singh took the responsibility of dramatizing the concept. We started our research through films, plays, documentaries, and books, and by visiting brothels. On meeting the sex workers, we discussed their problems and their lives. After this we made our first draft and kept editing it with the help of Asif Ali Haider Khan and our guide Dr. Abhilash Pillai. The play came to its final draft during the process of making this performance. Our team has gone through many ups and downs in the process of the making of this play, but we stood together as a team and took up the challenge of making the worst circumstances favourable. Being a designer and director I love to portray a large canvas in my artworks. Thus resulted the design of Khwahish Gali with the collaboration of 45 artists as the cast and crew.

The Director
Hari Shankar Ravi is a post-graduate in theatre studies, with specialisation in Direction from National School of Drama. As an artist working in multidisciplinary set-up, he has worked and collaborated with various groups, performance makers, directors, visual artists and choreographers to create a wide range of art works as a designer, assistant director, director and collaborator in Bihar and throughout India. He has worked with several NGOs and groups to create social awareness through theatre.

The Playwright
Pallav Singh is a post graduate with specialization in Acting from National School of Drama. He is an actor and a playwright. He started writing plays while he was pursuing Engineering at Sikkim Manipal University.

The Group
This play is a part of National School of Drama’s graduate showcase of class 2019. It aims to provide a platform to encourage emerging theatre practitioners to share their work with a wider audience.

Cast & Credits
Baidehi Chandola Yashaswini R
Kajal Dikhsha Tiwari
Salu Aditi Arora/ Snehalata Tagde
Meeta Sugandha Pandey
Durga Poonam Dhaiya
Rukhsaar Bhumisuta Das
Rumi Snigdha Mondal
Surbhi Anmol Ghuliani
Monty Pallav Singh
Master Manoj Thapar
Trumpet Parmanand
Banjo Jitu Rabha
Dholak Mridul Chawla
Sonu Shiv Swaroop
Photographer Pushkar Tripathi
Parikshit Singh Ankur Saxena/ Vivek kumar
Thumri Dance Team Ashwini Joshi, Shruti, Diksha Tiwari, Aditi Arora, Poonam Dahiya, Sugandha Pandey, Apsara Khan, Arzoo, Juhi, Akaanksha, Vaibhavi, Savita, Aditi, Gurleen Kaur (Aashna)
Guest Artists Arzoo, Juhi, Akaanksha, Vaibhavi, Savita, Aditi, Avinash, Sumit, Gurleen Kaur (Aashna), Ankit, Sunny, Pushkar, Shiv

Choreography Ishita Agarwal, Agrima Grover
Music Composition Swayam Gadhvai, Manoj, Jitu, Sayan, Sandy
Background Score Sandy
Sarangi Anil Mishra
Dholak Dhiraj Kumar
Harmonium Rajesh Pathak
Guitar Sandy
Graphic Artist Tribhuman Nath
Properties Poonam Dhaiya, Apsara Khan
Lead Vocal Ayushi Mishra
Special Vocal Rajnish Ranjan
Projection Balasubramanian G., Saras Namdeo, Vishala R Mahale
Sound Design Vishala R Mahale
Light Design Sarthak Narula
Costume Design Priyanshi Agrawal
Supported by Jitu Rabha, Diksha Tiwari
Make-up Sejuti Bagchi, Abhilasha B Paul
Archiving & Photography Amresh K. Anand
Poster Jitu Rabha
Brochure Amresh K. Anand
Dramaturgy Pallav Singh, Hari Shankar Ravi, Vishala R Mahale
Special Thanks M K Raina, N K Sharma, Anuradha Kapur, Geetanjali Shree,
Asif Ali Haider Khan, Randhir Kumar

Guidance Abhilash Pillai

Lyricist & Playwright Pallav Singh
Design & Direction Hari Shankar Ravi

Contacts
Hari Shankar Ravi
M: +91 9718335988
E: hsravi.is.star@gmail.com

Playwright: Chandan Sen
Director: Meghnad Bhattacharya
Group: Sayak, Kolkata
Language: Bengali
Duration: 1 hr 30 mins

The Play
Damini Hay is an elaborate and symbolic portrayal of how a woman stricken by poverty remains unburdened by it. The play is a tribute to a woman’s inner strength and ability to rise above problems such as grinding poverty. The situation of the play is a poverty-stricken, out-of-the-way village of Bengal where hunger, exploitation, greed, and deception reign unbridled, and the poorest subalterns living there grow-up believing everything is an unchangeable lot.

Director’s Note
The space between the parameters of poverty and utopia is difficult to describe and justify. The play moves between the real and the surreal, between poverty and hunger, and dreams of utopia and motherhood. The play is also concentrated on well established truths about poverty and exploitation, most of which is man-made. Simultaneously it pays tribute to a woman’s inner strength and ability to rise above grinding poverty.
The set design demonstrates an experiment of a dwelling place that is visually in ruins and is a representation of the stark reality of poverty that has gripped even those who claim the right to live. The light and music have been designed to describe the dreams of motherhood that the protagonist has.

The Director
Meghnad Bhattacharya has directed the translations as well as adaptations of plays by great masters like Tolstoy, Brecht, Schedrin, Somerset Maugham and Moliere. His noted play productions are Dui Hujurer Gappo, Gnan Briksher Fol, Daibaddha, Bashbhumi, Badhutantra, Karnaboti, Aa Awa Ka Kha, Sanjhbela, Dildar, Pinki Buli, Dhrubatara, Damini Hay, Passing Show, Premkatha etc. Meghnad has also directed three plays in Canada produced by Prabasi Toronto in 2006, 2008, 2013 and three plays in USA, one produced by Epic Actors’ Workshop in 2013, and two by Spotlight Columbus in 2015 and 2016. He has also directed a play Charduar by Gandhar Kolkata in 2002. Apart from theatre Meghnad has directed several TV plays in different channels and has also acted in at least 50 TV serials and films.

The Playwright
One of the frontline playwrights of Bengal, Chandan Sen has written more than hundred plays including his adaptations and inspired works of Schedrin, Chekov, Tolstoy, Lorca, Eugene O’ Neil, Sartre, Brecht and others for the Bengali Theatre. His plays have been translated in Hindi, Assamese, Oriya, and Telugu.

The Group
Sayak has the pride distinction of staging more than 3000 performances of 26 full length and 7 short plays, not only in all corners of West Bengal but also in different parts of the country and in countries like U.S.A. Canada, Bangladesh and Kuwait. Sayak, with its large involvement in multifarious theatrical activities has built a theatre hall Bijon Theatre, in North Kolkata. The group also conducts lectures on dramaturgy, and organises festivals of selected Bengali plays and children theatre workshops, and publishes a yearly theatre journal Sayak Natyapatra.

Cast & Credits
Lakshmikanta Biswanath Roy
Ganesh Pradip Das
Kartick Uttam Kumar Dey
Damini Kathakali
Jabali Aruna Mukherjee
Judhistir (Chief) Subrata Bhawol
Kalyan (Head Clerk) Dhurjati De
Bonomali (Tout) Meghnad Bhattacharya
Chakka Ajoy Sankar Banerjee
Panja Goutam Sen
Gunga Jayanta Das
Farash Samar Das
Villagers & Ghosts Kartick Maitra, Santanu Bhattacharya, Susanta Dasgupta,
Samir Deb, Prasenjit Kundu, Samiran Bhattacharya,
Parimal Chakraborty

Music Subhendu Maity
Light Joy Sen
Stage Soumik, Piyali
Choreography Subhendu Mukherjee, Kabir Sen Barat
Make-up Panchanan Manna
Light Operator Somenath Chattapadhyay
Background Music Swapan Bandhopadhyay
Music Operator Asit Maitra

Story Amar Mitra
Playwright Chandan Sen
Director Meghnad Bhattacharya

Contacts
Director, Sayak
C/o 192 G, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road.
Shyambazar, Kolkata- 700 004
Ph: 033-25551973
M: +91 9230517473, 9830716207
E: sayak_theatre@yahoo.co.in
theatresayak@gmail.com

Playwright & Director: Jainendra Dost
Group: Bhikhari Thakur Repertory, Chhapra (Bihar)
Language: Hindi & Bhojpuri
Duration: 1 hr 15 mins

The Play
Bhikari Nama is a musical play based on Bhikhari Thakur’s life and his contribution to theatre. The play is broadly divided into four parts, each exploring one phase of his life. The first part presents his childhood, seamlessly moving into the section exploring his youth where Bhikhari Thakur narrates his life and talks about his marriage and his migration to Bengal in search of livelihood. He continues to work as a barber, his caste profession, in Bengal and also takes a keen interest in the Ramleela performances. Not too long after that, he returns to his village and starts putting up Ramleela performances. The next segment shows how Bhikhari Thakur goes on to set up his own theatre troupe, writing plays that go on to be wildly popular.

Director’s Note
As a researcher and director, I was amazed by the expertise in his work despite him being formally uneducated, and the way he worked behind the scenes. Ranchandra Manjhi, Shivlal Bari and Lakhichand Manjhi, three seasoned performers from Bhikhari Thakur’s original troupe, were a great support and it was with their guidance that I started the study of Bhikhari’s biographical songs, the play Naayi-Bahar, and the Bhikhari Thakur Shanka Samadhan. After this, I began collecting stories and events from Bhikhari’s life, right from his birth to when he created the Naach group. These were then re-assembled in chronological order before being made into a written performance text. The real challenge here was to think of the form that would best reflect the multifaceted artist’s work and life. We found the answer in our very own Launda Naach tradition. We weaved together songs, music, dance, drama and comedy in a documentary theatre form. The play
uses purbi, nirgun, doha, choubola and many other folk singing traditions in a theatrical form which highlight the cultural, sociological, and economic facets of Bhikahri Thakur’s life.

The Director & Playwright
Jainendra Dost is the founding director of Bhikhari Thakur Repertory and Research Centre. He studied theatre at the Department of Dramatics and Film Studies (MGAHV, Wardha). He also pursued a PhD in the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He completed his PhD thesis on the Launda Nach tradition, focusing on Bhikhari Thakur’s invaluable contribution to the form, this year. He has directed more than fifteen plays and many folk musical programs, and his theatre company has been invited to international theatre festivals in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal where it performed successfully. Recently Jainendra made a documentary film on Bhikhari Thakur’s life and theatre performances, Naach Bhikhari Naach, with the support of Doordarshan and Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT). The film has been screened at film festivals in the country and abroad, and has received much appreciation.

The Group
Bhikhari Thakur Repertory Training & Research Centre is dedicated to the study and research of folk theatre traditions. Traditional actors who were trained and worked under the guidance of Bhikhari Thakur himself are an integral part of this repertory. The collective has performed at famous national and international festivals. The eldest member and artist of the Bhikhari Thakur Repertory, Ramchandra Manjhi, received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2017. In the same year, the repertory and Sangeet Natak Akademi of India also organized an event, Bhikhari Thakur Theatre Centennial Celebration, at Bhikhari Thakur’s birth place, Kutubpur, and also in Chhapra (Bihar).

Cast and Credits
Sutradhar Jainendra Dost
Pyari Sundari/Singer Sarita Saaz
Story Teller/Singer Ramchandra Manjhi
Story Teller/Singer Lakhichand Manjhi
Story Teller Shiv Lal Bari
Harmonium Jaleshwar Mali
Dholak Bharat Thakur
Jhaal Raghu Paswan, Ramchandra Manjhi Chhote
Tabla Rahul Kumar
Chorus Priyanka Kumari, Gauri Shankar, Brijnath Singh

Light Shiv Kumar
Light Assistant Vivek Kumar
Set Ramlakhan
Property Naresh Gautam
Make-up Ankita Chaudhry
Music Design Sarita Saaz
Backdrop Design Dipti Ogre
Production Manager Nashim Ahmad
Stage Manager Ranjeet Kumar Ram

Script, Design &Direction Jainendra Dost

Contacts
Bhikhari Thakur Repertory
Vill: Ramnagar, Near Railway Crossing,
P.O. Sandha, Chhapra, Bihar- 841301
M: +91 9560695145
E: dostjai@gmail.com

Story: Ernest Hemingway
Director: Sahidul Haque
Group: Orchid Theatre, Nagaon
Language: Assamese
Duration: 1 hr 10 mins

The Play
As the play opens, the audience is acquainted with the fact that the protagonist of the story, the old fisherman Vodai, has gone 84 days without catching a single fish. ‘Vodai’ is considered the worst form of misfortune. In fact, this fisherman is so unlucky that his young apprentice, Rongmon, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with the old man, and been ordered to fish with more successful fishermen. Still dedicated to the old man, however, the boy visits Vodai’s hut each night, hauling back his fishing gear, getting him food and talking to him about his life journey and stories from his past…

Director’s Note
The Old Man is a dramatic adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s classic The Old Man and the Sea in Assamese. The mighty Brahmaputra with its tributaries flows through Assam, a state in the North Eastern region of India. It is the lifeline of the people of this valley. The river is witness to the several ups and downs in the life of people living in and around it. People in the valley earn their livelihood and are dependent on the river directly or indirectly, either as fishermen, boatmen or as daily wage labourers. We humans have destroyed nature for our greed. Nature has begun to show its anger in return in the form of disasters. This region around the Brahmaputra River faces frequent floods. This conflict between humans and nature goes on year after year.
Loneliness is a complex and usually unpleasant emotional response to isolation. Loneliness typically includes anxious feelings about a lack of connection or communication with other beings, both in the present moment while also extending into the future. As people grow old, loneliness begins to get manifested in their lives in different forms. At some point in time, this feeling becomes synonymous to existence as one grows old. But, even as this situation seems hopeless, life gifts one with the will power to push oneself mentally, beyond the powers of reasoning, towards a stronger, more positive and optimistic world view.

The Director
Sahidul Haque, an actor, director, designer and painter, belongs to the beautiful land of Assam. He was an active practitioner of folk theatre till college, and then love for theatre led him to HCRFTA, Himachal Pradesh. He then joined the NSD TIE Co. as an actor-teacher for 7 years. He directed more than 35 plays in Hindi, English, Assamese, Non-verbal, Tiwa and Rabha and participated in many national-international theatre festivals like Bharat Rang Mahotsav, Poorvottar Natya Samaroh, Natasurjya Theatre Festival etc.

The Writer
Ernest Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist and short-story writer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. He was noted both for the intense masculinity of his writing and for his adventurous and widely publicized life. His succinct and lucid prose style exerted a powerful influence on American and British fiction in the 20th century.

The Group
Orchid Theatre was established on September 2, 2005 at Nagaon, 100 km away from Guwahati, Assam. Guided by famous theatre personality Janada Borah, it was established by Sahidul Haque with the help of 50 energetic young workers of Nagaon. Around 10 villages of Nagaon district are actively attached with the group. Orchid Theatre is engaged in training theatre, dance, music, drawing and painting and holds workshops and activities.

Cast & Credits
On Stage Chanku Niranjan Nath, Barnali Medhi, Bikash Bangthai,
Himangshu Dewri, Sahidul Haque

Music Sonmoni Sharma
Light Tapan Baruah
Costume & Make-up Barnali Medhi
Voice-over poem Chanku Niranjan Nath
Set Sahidul Haque

Assamese Adaptation Dikha Moni Bora
Story Ernest Hemingway
Director Sahidul Haque

Contacts
Director, Orchid Theatre
Dhepajan Morikolong
Nagaon – 782101 Assam
M: +91 9650068254
E: sahidulhaq@gmail.com,
orchidtheatreforum@gmail.com

Playwright: Girish Karnad
Translator: B.V. Karanth
Director: Bharti Sharma
Group: Kshitij, Delhi
Language: Hindustani
Duration: 2 hrs

The Play
Tughlaq explores the series of events that led to the downfall of one of the most fascinating kings of Delhi, Mohammed-bin-Tughlaq. The protagonist, known for his reformist, ahead-of-times ideas had a grand vision, but his reign was an abject failure. He started his rule with great ideals of unifying India, but in twenty years his reign had degenerated into anarchy and his kingdom had become a ‘kitchen of death’.
The vision of Tughlaq to unify India and keep religion out of politics cost him dearly.

Director’s Note
Muhammad bin Tughlaq wanted to build a secular state, moving his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, a Hindu-majority city. His ideas about the economy were new but he turned into a whimsical tyrant who couldn’t control the kingdom any more. The life of the people is governed and corrupted by the interaction of the saints and the politicians. Tughlaq, who pretends to be a true follower of religion, commits countless murders to retain his monarchy. The play is eerily contemporary with thirteen scenes woven around the life and times of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the 14th century sultan of Delhi, and an authoritarian but idealistic king who disintegrates into failure in a span of twenty years. Tughlaq is noted for its symbols like prayer, sleep, game of chess and the rose which are used to heighten the effect of the play.

The Director
Bharti Sharma is a National School of Drama graduate and has been doing theatre in Delhi for last 38 years. She has acted in over fifty plays and has directed more than 35 plays. She has been awarded the Senior Fellowship by the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. She has directed and co-produced a comedy serial for Doordarshan, directed documentaries made by Kshitij for Dept. Of Culture, Govt. of India, and has directed short-films and educational films for Deepaliya Plan Project (a social organization). She has acted in tele-films and a few episodes of the popular TV serial Bhanwar.

The Playwright
Girish Raghunath Karnad was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer. He is the recipient of Jnanpith Award for Kannada, the highest literary honour conferred in India. He was also active in the world of Indian cinema working as an actor, director, and screenwriter, earning numerous awards along the way. He was conferred Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the government of India.

The Group
Kshitij theatre group was established in 1987 by a few graduates of National School of Drama, headed by NSD alumna Bharti Sharma, with the aim of promoting Indian art and culture through theatre. Apart from producing plays it has also been organizing theatre workshops in remote areas of the country in collaboration with the Department of Culture, Govt. of India.

Cast & Credits
Tughlaq Mohit Tripathi
Sauteli Ma Bharti Sharma
Barni Lakshya Goel
Najeeb Nitin Koul
Azeez Anurag Kumar
Aazam Divyanshu Kumar
Sheikh Prabhat Mishra
Shahbuddin Akshay Malik
Ratan Singh Vishal Kasana
Ghiyasuddin Vishal Kasana
Kaka Prabhat Mishra
Mazhabi Aadmi Naveen Panday
Jawaan Sudhanshu
Shareef Lokesh Patel
Hindu Kamal Sharma
Sipahi Naveen Pandey
Hindu Aurat Priya Yadav
Jawaan Atul Pandey
Darbaan Kapil
Naqeeb Abhishant
Qareem Khan Bhartendu Pandey
Aurat 1 Ritu Sharma
Aurat 2 Shweta Gupta
Aurat 3 Shivani Arora
Dhindhorchi Lokesh, Atul Pandey, Abhishek
Ameer Umra Nitesh, Abhishek Bajpayee, Kamal, Pankaj, Sanjeev, Kapil, Jaideep, Ankit Rawal, Prakhar
Hindu Sipahi Lokesh Patel,Tarun Srivastava, Naveen Pandey, Atul Pandey, Abhishek Kamboj, Namit Singh, Ankit Raj, Vishal Kasana
Crowd Ritu, Shweta, Shivani, Naveen, Lovely, Abhishek Bajpayee, Nitesh, Kamal, Ishan Pundir, Nitin Joshi, Sanchit Agarwal, Ankush Singh, Nishant Singh, Tarun, Abhishek Kamboj, Namit, Ankit, Vishal, Bhartendu, Kapil, Lokesh, Jaideep, Ankit Rawal
Mulazim/Muslim Sipahi Ankit Raj Singh, Naveen, Atul, Bhartendu, Nitin Joshi, Abhishek,
Namit Singh

Lights Himanshu B. Joshi
Music Rupesh Bhimta
Set Management Abdul Hakim
Costume Nitin, Naveen, Abhishek, Ishaan
Property Abhishek Bajpaye, Lovely, Atul
Poster/Brochure Anurag Thakur
Assistant Director Anurag, Divyanshu

Playwright Girish Karnad
Director Bharti Sharma

Contacts
Director, Kshitij
A-9, Swati Complex, 3rd Floor,
Acharya Niketan, Mayur Vihar, Phase- I
Delhi- 110091
M: +91 9810824194
E: kshitij.t.group@gmail.com