Jharkhand is all set to co-host the 20th edition of international theatre festival of India –Bharat Rang Mahotsav from February 9. The seven day event will be organised in Ranchi at Aryabhatta Auditorium from 6:30 PM onwards. The cultural event is hosted annually by the nodal theatre training institution of India – National School of Drama (NSD) at New Delhi to showcase the vibrancy of rich theatre culture.
“For the first time, besides New Delhi, the international theater extravaganza is being hosted at the five cities in India which includes Dibrugarh (Assam), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Mysuru (Karnataka), Rajkot (Gujarat) and Ranchi (Jharkhand). The event inaugurated at New Delhi on February 1 will continue till February 21 while the event here in Ranchi will conclude on February 15,” said Assistant Professor – NSD, Amitesh Grover during the press meet on Tuesday.
According to the organisers, as many as seven plays including two international theater shows from Bangladesh and Nepal will be performed in Ranchi. “The plays will be organised in three languages – Hindi, Bengali and Nepali. Also, theatre enthusiasts and students can engage in interactive sessions with renowned theatre personalities. The themes of the theatre performances are mostly mythological and historical correlating it with a few socially-relevant issues,” added Grover.
Being organised in association with the Department of Art, Culture and Youth Affairs, GoJ, the event will be inaugurated by Minister, Amar Kumar Bauri. The communiqué released by the organising agency suggests, “On the premier day, Hindi play ‘Mahabrahaman’ written by Premanand Gajvi will be showed followed by ‘Nagin Tera Vansh Bade’, ‘Agnipariksha’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘Rakta Kalyan’ written by Girish Karnad, ‘Three Sisters’, ‘Mayamridanga’.”
Performances of the local theater artists from Jharkhand will be also showcased during the event depicting the rich inheritance of the tribal land. Related activities such as Director’s Meet, Living Legends and Master Class will be conducted at the 20th edition of Bharat Rang Baro Mahotsav every evening.
“The event responds to the need to facilitate a critical reflection of traditional and folk theatre forms, as well as emboldening performing artists from various countries to bring their work to the Indian audiences. It is an interactive space - fertile for practitioners, academicians, directors and actors to exchange ideas and debate, generate new understandings, besides developing new proclivities,” Grover further added.