This weekend saw a great deal of drama, albeit of the very best possible kind. The yearly Prithvi Theatre Festival, which is back after a 2-year pandemic-induced hiatus, saw the city’s theatre neighborhood bounce back into action. The 11- day occasion, which is on its 37 th chapter, is held to honor the birth anniversary of Prithviraj Kapoor in addition to the opening day of the theatre on November 5,1978
The inauguration saw the who’s who of the fraternity and the state of mind was set by a fascinating show by young Sufi vocalist, Pooja Gaitonde. Puducherry’s Adishakti Laboratory For Theatre Art Research staged among its most popular current productions on Saturday. It is an English re-imagination of Sara Joseph’s Malayalam play Bhoomirakshasam. With efficiencies by Nimmy Raphel, Vinay Kumar, and their powerhouse group, the 85- minute-long poignant play is a commentary on violence versus ladies and the requirement to recover the story of quashing the patriarchy. Sunday was everything about tune and dance and an event of the matriarchal neighborhood of the conventional Lavani dancers. Lavanike Rang by Bhushan Korgaonkar’s B Spot Production saw sensational efficiencies by Pushpa Satarkar, Gauri Jadhav, Shraddha Nagarkar, Latabai Waikar, and the doyenne of lavani, Sangeet Natak Academy Awardee Shakuntala Nagarkar.
But it was Makarand Deshpande’s( Ansh Theatre Group) Dhat Teri Yeh Grihasthi t hat started the plays on Friday. “According to the Hindu dharma, there are 4 phases in an individual’s life: Brahmacharya-Ashrama, Grihastha Ashrama, Vanaprastha Ashrama, and Sannyasa Ashrama. It remains in the 2nd ashram that an individual develops a household, uses up duties for it, and leads a married life. The concern I am presenting in my play is if s/he is all set for this phase, all set for married life. The play has a couple who remain in various phases of their relationships and it likewise has a brahmachari.”
” I like to compose plays about life’s complicated, disorderly, inescapable, however inevitable circumstances. And marital relationship is among those. In a celebration like this, I wished to have an enjoyable play that likewise has a message. And what much better than doing a funny based upon real-life scenarios?” states Makarand including, “Opening the play at this celebration is an honor and we plan to take a trip with the play to different other parts of the nation also.”
Apart from twin programs of each of the plays, Stage Talk at the Prithvi House saw artists like Adil Hussain, Shefali Shah, Jim Sarbh, Ali Fazal, Piyush Mishra, Radhika Apte, and Neena Kulkarni, to name a few reminisces about their theatre days apart from sharing insights on their crafts.
Theatre in India is still not a profitable endeavor and arranging a celebration of such magnitude, particularly post the pandemic, wasn’t simple. A lot has actually altered however Kunal Kapoor, the existing owner of Prithvi Theatre, is not a guy to let such obstacles moisten his spirit. “A lot has actually taken place and oddly at the exact same time insufficient! My preferred huge tree that overlooked the Theatre was blown down in the cyclone Tauktae harming a few of the home. We have actually re-built and fixed and raising to go– which we have actually been doing all this year,” he states as we capture up with him throughout the celebration. He confesses that “the primary obstacle is constantly the financing one. Once again we have a hard time with no sponsorship of financial backing.” The program needs to go on and he has actually self-funded the occasion this time.
Among the other best productions, this year are Aakarsh Khurana’s (AKVarious Productions) The Verdict, Vikram Kapadia’s (Water Lily) The Greatest Show in the world, and Abhishek Majumdar’s (Tibet Theatre & & Tipa) Pah-Lak.
” I’ve constantly discovered Prithvi, and the celebration, to be an excellent chance to pursue enthusiasm tasks. It assists that Kunal Kapoor is extremely encouraging of our imaginative pursuits. Above all, it’s a great story I actually desired to inform” states Aakarsh. Speaking about his brand-new play, which is arranged to be staged on November 10, he discusses: “I’ve constantly been a big fan of courtroom dramas. Underdog stories. I liked the movie variation of The Verdict and dabbled the concept of adjusting it to the phase for many years. It never ever took place. I chanced upon a phase variation (based on the book the movie was based on) by Margaret May Hobbs, and that made life a lot simpler. As soon as we obtained efficiency and adjustment rights, I just required to reinterpret and contextualize it for Indian audiences.” And he is confident that the play, publish its Prithvi run, will take a trip to other parts of the nation also.” We have a couple of programs lined up at Prithvi itself, however I believe a great underdog story orgasm courtroom drama will constantly have legs. I am quite enthusiastic for a long and effective run, throughout cities,” he states.
For Vikram Kapadia, whose play The Greatest Show On Earth will be staged on Nov 8, it was a timeless case of things lining up completely at the correct time. “I was all set to start with this play when Prithvi’s invite occurred. There was no other alternative,” he quips. “About 10 years earlier, I got presented to Frank Capra’s timeless, Meet John Doe, by my theatre buddy Naushil Mehta. I was so enamored by the idea that I utilized it as the bacterium for the concept of composing this musical. I would compose a couple of scenes and after that put them on the rack. After a couple of years, I needed to get it out of my system and prepared to stage it a couple of years ago however as quickly as I had actually cast it, we suffered the lockdown,” includes the star, playwright, and director. He has more programs of the play arranged at Prithvi in the 3rd week of November followed by a couple of at NCPA. “We are taking a look at other places in the city and want to take a trip next year to cities like Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore to name a few,” he states.
The celebration likewise consists of theatre groups like Motley, TIFR, Katha Kathan, Naya theatre, Afsana theatre, Aditi Bhagwat, Storia Senza Storia, Theatre Unit, and D for Drama to name a few. The celebration schedule likewise has actually efficiencies by kept in mind Odissi dancer Bijayini Satpathy, dhrupad singer Pelva Naik, and Louiz Banks’ Jazz@Prithvi program together with efficiencies of upcoming skill hosted on the Platform@Prithvi phase. The emphasize of the celebration will nevertheless be a poetry reading session on November 13 by Naseeruddin Shah.