Theatre Utsav 2008, the 10th Bharat Rangmahotsav from 3 January 2008

New Delhi, Delhi, India

The Bharat Rangmahotsav (BRM) was started a decade ago by the NSD in order to contribute to the growth and development of theatre across the country. From being a national festival that annually presented the recent work of the most creative theatre workers in India, it has grown into an international event, hosting theatre companies from around the world. It is today acknowledged as the largest theatre festival of Asia - dedicated only to theatre - and is firmly established on the international theatre festival map.

BRM 08

Theatre Utsav 2008, the 10th Bharat Rangmahotsav, will kick off the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the National School of Drama (NSD) New Delhi. The festival will open at the Kamani Auditorium on 3 January 2008 with a performance of Prologue, the first part of Ratan Thiyam's Manipur Trilogy. The Festival will be inaugurated by Mrs Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi, in the presence of guest of honour Mr Ebrahim Alkazi, distinguished theatre personality and former Director of the NSD who is also one of the most important architects of contemporary Indian theatre.

In Delhi the festival will feature 76 productions, out of which 57 are from India and 19 from abroad, over a period of 17 days. In keeping with the practice started three years ago of sharing the fare invited for the festival with another city, 26 of these productions will travel to Mumbai for the Satellite Festival that is being organized there from 6 to 17 January.

With seven venues presenting five to six productions per day over a period of 17 days in Delhi and four venues presenting two to three productions per day over a period of 11 days in Mumbai, the NSD will host about 2000 theatre people as its participants. As in the past, the festival shows are expected to run to full houses, attracting over 50,000 spectators in Delhi and about 20,000 viewers in Mumbai. To design, mount and coordinate a festival of this size in two cities in such a short span of time involves a logistical feat that the NSD manages with elan because of its highly trained technical personnel, faculty and staff and the commitment they bring to the cause of theatre worldwide.

Plays by the NSD Alumni

In its 50th year, NSD salutes its alumni for their devotion and phenomenal contribution to the theatre movement. As a special aspect of its celebrations, the School showcases the work of more than 60 of its alumni from across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Mauritius. Rooted firmly in their cultural specificities, the palette is a riveting mix of technical perfection and histrionic skills; drawing on adaptations of Indian and foreign plays alike—classics and contemporary, correspondence, autobiography, short stories, nonsense verse: Karnad and Kambar, Parthasarathy and Alekar; Tendulkar's Ghashiram Kotwal in a Manipuri adaptation; dramatized versions of short stories by Hari Prakash, Kamatanath, Jainendra Kumar; a docudrama, using rare archival footage and live acting on the correspondence between Gandhi and Tagore, and Gandhi and Nehru; adaptations of Chekhov, Ionesco and Anouilh; Bhasa's one-acter; two versions of Oedipus Rex in Marathi; vintage Badal Sircar and Dharamvir Bharati in new interpretations.

The NSD will also host a 360-hour long performance of The Glass House Project: a reality performance by a practising actor.

International

Pina Bausch's latest work "Bamboo Blues" is an expression of her artistic interaction with India over the past 25 years and forms the highlight of the international section this year. Other offerings from abroad include Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle from Afghanistan, Kafka's The Trial and Metamorphosis from Bangladesh, a Broadway hit Butterflies are Free from China, a France-India collaboration Phèdre in India, Phèdre in Hindi, ventures in avant garde experimentations in performance aesthetics—Nijinski the God from Poland, Delirium from Switzerland; Chekhov's Three Sisters in a tour de force dance extravaganza from Japan; a take-off on Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea from the Centre for Ibsen Studies, Oslo. Habib Tanvir's endearing modern classic Charandas Chor will be presented in a Sri Lankan production; along with an adaptation of Ibsen's Ghosts in a production from Mauritius.

Exhibitions

The importance of the National School of Drama as an institution instrumental in shaping and formulating the course of modern theatre in India, bringing it out of the colonial straitjacket and infusing it with a whole new perspective and vision with its training methodology will be the focus of a special exhibition to be mounted during the festival at the NSD, documenting and presenting the history of one of the finest theatre training institutes of the world.

Another exhibition will highlight the achievements of its alumni in their respective professional fields with special displays of published book-length works by the alumni, set-models, costumes and props, besides a whole range of still photographs of productions designed / directed by the alumni.

Awards/Tributes

The Manohar Singh and B.V. Karanth Smriti Puruskars, the two annual NSD awards for its alumni, will be conferred at the inaugural ceremony in Delhi. NSD will also pay tribute to some of its alumni at this festival.

Foreign Festival Directors

As part of an initiative begun last year, international festival directors from countries like Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Pakistan and Croatia will be camping at the Festival, to interact with directors and theatre groups.

Performance Venues

The performances at the festival will take place at 7 venues - the Kamani Auditorium, the Shri Ram Centre, the Siri Fort Auditorium, the LTG Theatre and the three theatres in the premises of the NSD—Abhimanch, Sammukh and Bahumukh theatres.

Satellite Festival in Mumbai

The Satellite Festival, started 3 years ago by taking a part of the Festival repertoire to a second city, goes to Mumbai this time, with 26 productions being performed at the Rabindra Natya Mandir, the Nehru Centre, the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre (NCPA), and the Mini Theatre at the P L Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Academy between 6 and 17 January 2008. The Mumbai session, organized in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra, will be inaugurated by Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister, in the presence of guest of honour Smt Vijaya Mehta, distinguished theatre personality.

Source: National School of Drama (Business Wire India)

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