Through the day, Kalbelia dancers from Rajasthan, Sambalpuri troupes from Odisha and Bhangra groups from Punjab appeared across the venues, with artists from the visiting countries joining these folk performers
A puppet camel breathed fire, a masked Thai demon king carried off Sita and a Vietnamese mother mourned eight children lost to war as the BRICS Theatre Festival 2026 filled Delhi’s Mandi House stages for three days. Hosted by the Culture Ministry and the National School of Drama, it gathered eleven plays and over 500 artists from nine nations, ending with Sardar Patel’s story.
India
Louha Purush, Chittaranjan Tripathy’s NSD Repertory play on Sardar Patel’s life, closed the festival
Russia
A clown serenades his bird sweetheart, monkeys form a pyramid and a camel flies while breathing fire in Circus on Strings, the wordless marionette show from Moscow’s Obraztsov Puppet Theatre. Viktor Antonov, a Golden Mask winner, worked every string himself at LTG Auditorium, packing an entire circus into 45 minutes for all ages.
Iran
A blind man named Jean leans on his wife Mite’s eyes until a surprise party for her birthday leads him to troubling discoveries in their all-white home. Written by Reyhaneh Razi and Kourosh Shahone, who also directs, the tense Persian play Hidden came to Abhimanch after more than 600 shows in Tehran alone.
Vietnam
Mother Nguyen Thi Ranh lost eight children and two grandchildren to wars against France and America, and in Steel Land her story is told by the ghost of an American soldier who fell at Dong Du. Le Quy Duong’s Vietnamese play reached the Shriram Centre with a cast born and raised in Cu Chi.