Pensha

Sir, Sir, Sarla, Makarand Deshpande's longest running play is going to be staged on Friday evening in the city. The play opened in 2001 with Anurag Kashyap, Sonali Kulkarni and Makarand. Over the years, Makarand wrote two more parts. In the show at Pune, Sir, Sir...will have part one and a portion from part two in it. The play, which reopened in 2012, now has Sanjay Dadhich, Faisal Rashid, Aahna Kumra and Makarand playing the main roles. Talking about the play, Dadhich says, “I am playing Phanidhar, who is in love with Sarla. Both of them and Keshav are Hindi literature students of Palekar Sir. Sarla is in love with Palekar Sir, but he says that it's ethically wrong and on his insistence, she gets married to another student. Phanidhar is a little angry with Sir saying that he could have help him win Sarla's love.” The play starts with a dream, Phanidhar and Palekar Sir are talking about past memories. At interval point, Sarla comes to meet Palekar Sir and then wha...

Look within and you will find yourself – this is the core of the work that Subhendu Bhandari has done so far. The theatre artist, who is engaging with villagers of Ramchandrapur, in Howrah district, makes use of psychological analysis while teaching them to get into the characters. He has brought the same skill-set and analysis to share in the workshop on 'Psychological Acting and Psychological Gesture' during the third edition of IAPAR Festival. Talking about the psychological aspect, Bhandari says, “Our theatre group, Amta Parichay works with both kids and adults in rural areas. What we have realised is that the children are expressive and emotionally rich. We train them in physical theatre aspect so that they might take up theatre, become artists, in the future. We take pains to ensure that our interactions don't seem like they are attending school.” Bhandari and his team rely on oral tradition, telling stories from Ram Jatra, Krishna Jatra, peppering their tal...

A gharial (a fish-eating crocodile) is caught in the floods and swept into a town. After the waters recede, he is stuck in the mud and that's where the people of the town find him. Obviously, they are scared! They want the crocodile to leave the town. But how? The kids of the Delhi Public School, Mohammadwadi, who are watching the enactment of Catch the Crocodile, crane their necks, sit up in their seat, to watch what the gharial is up to. The crocodile is mostly placid, not budging when the town people try their luck to shoo him out. First, comes the policeman. But he is no match for the aquatic reptile. Then comes a wrestler from Benaras. He huffs and puffs, flexes his biceps, making the children giggle and laugh. But the gharial doesn't budge. Out goes the wrestler, and in comes Bittu, the trainer, with his whip. Do you think it scares the croc? Not a bit. Dr Dutta, a vet, decides to tranquilise the gharial with an injection dart. But, the injection loses direction...

Shahi Paharedar, the Hindi-Urdu play, will begin with Hindi poet, scholar, Uday Prakash's quote – Iss Kahani Mein Utna Hi Itihas Jitna Na ki Dal Mein Namak. Directed by Niranjan Pedanekar, the play will premier on Sunday night at the ongoing Pune Natyasattak, theatre festival. Originally written by US-based playwright of Indian origin, Rajiv Joseph, Pedanekar bought rights for the play – Guards at the Taj – and its performances too. This is the second play of Joseph's that Pedanekar will be staging for Pune audience. The first one, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo also premiered at Pune Natyasattak last year. Characters speak When asked what was it that he liked about Joseph's writing, Pedanekar said, “I was trying to get hold of some plays which could be considered new by our audience here. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was one play which came under consideration. I found it to be extremely exciting because there was a strange mixture of absurdity and imag...

With the fourth edition of Pune Natyasattak, you will get to see not only the best of theatrical performances staged in the city, but also the young, fresh talent getting equal space with veteran artists like Dr Mohan Agashe and director Atul Pethe. Organised by Wide Wing Media, the Natyasattak will feature 23 performances by 23 groups that will be showcased at five different venues namely Sudarshan Rangmanch, Jyotsna Bhole Sabhagruha, Bharat Natya Mandir, Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagruha and Balgandharva Rangmandir. “ The festival , which starts from January 11, is spread over two week-ends. The first week-end will have Natak Company’s Mahanirvan, a full length play by senior theatre personality Satish Alekar. It will be the curtain raiser of Natyasattak 2019 whereas the festival will conclude with another innovative play Shahi Paharedar by Niranjan Pedanekar. The highlight is Natyasattak Rajani, the overnight theatre festival, on January 25,” says Kushal Khot of Wide Wings Media...

November ushers in Children's Day with lots of activities lined up for the young ones. Amongst them is Junoon Arts & Education Foundation's School Programme, which will be bringing two plays for students of Delhi Public School, Mohammadwadi, Pune. Under Theatre Adventures module, children between the ages of 8-10 can watch Catch the Crocodile by Gillo Theatre Repertory and the 11-13 year olds can watch Jhalkari by Rahi Theatre. The School Programme is one of the signature programmes of Junoon and Savitri Medhatul of the group explains the initiative. “Junoon has been co-founded by Sanjna Kapoor and Sameera Iyengar. Its primary motive is to make arts available and accessible to people. The most common refrain we hear is, 'Arts is not for us'. Or 'This is too complicated'. We think that arts has to become a part of everyone's day to day life. This is the umbrella motive of Junoon. And, we have multiple programmes keeping this in mind,” says Savitri...

Sanjna Kapoor doesn't mince words when it comes to voicing her thoughts on ensuring a shift for the theatre from 'survival' to 'thriving' mode. It's this clarity of thought and expression that Sanjna wants every theatrewallah to embrace. “If you know what your non-negotiables are, you will be able to make more advantageous use of the work that you have done and plan to do, resulting in a deeper impact,” she says. Prioritise and then strategise The conversation that we had on the sidelines of Maharashtra Cultural Centre's annual theatre festival, Rangmahotsav began with us asking her thoughts on behemoths like popular regional TV channel backing and producing Marathi plays and a dish TV having a separate channel for telecasting of experimental and commercial dramas. Is it a good sign? “ Marathi television has been showing recorded commercial plays for many years now. But I have no knowledge of Tata Sky's dedicated channel to theatre so I ...

In my interaction with actor Rasika Agashe, I could find myself nodding every now and then, chuckling at the hypocrisy that we so deeply embrace. Agashe is coming to Pune, her hometown, with her Hindi play, Sat Bhashe Raidas to be staged at 16 th Rangmahotsav, the annual national theatre festival, hosted by Maharashtra Cultural Centre. The play is based on Sant Rohidas/Raidas who questioned caste discrimination. The script of the play was written by Rajesh Kumar, from Lucknow, who submitted it as an entry to Sanhita Manch, a script writing competition organised by Agashe and her husband Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub's cultural venture, Being Association. The question of identity “ Sat Bhashe Raidas is about bout asprushyata (untouchability) and Brahmanvaad (not to be mistaken with anti-Brahminism). Rohidas was Kabir's contemporary and he questioned the hierarchy of caste in 15 th century. We have been having shows of the play in towns and cities like Jamkhed, Nanded, Aura...

William Shakespeare's literary works has been adapted by many artists and in many forms. One such adaptation is Kathakali-King Lear, a Kathakali adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear. It has been directed by Annette Leday and David McRuvie and was first staged in 1989. Since its creation, Kathakali-King Lear has become a reference in the field of intercultural performance. In order to mark its 30th anniversary, the Annette Leday/Keli Company has revived the production, which will include the generation of artists who participated in their youth, as well as a few young artists. The play will be staged in the city on Saturday evening. Leday gives us more details... * You have stayed in Kerala and studied Kathakali. Can you explain your and in particular France's relation with English literature? Why did you chose King Lear for this inter-cultural adaptation? Shakespeare is is an internationally known playwright. There are many French translations and performances...

A post graduate from the renowned Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai, Neha Mondal Chakravarty has learnt under some eminent stalwarts in the industry. Currently, based in Singapore, Chakravarty is a company performer and faculty member at The Apsaras Arts Dance Company in Singapore and tours frequently with their productions. The Bharatanatyam dancer, who is also trained in Jazz and Contemporary art forms, was a part of The Darbar Festival, one of the most celebrated festivals of Indian classical music and dance in the UK. She will be performing in Pune on Thursday evening at the invitation of the Nritayayatri Art Movement Foundation. Here, she talks about performing for Non-South Asian audience and what dance pieces she has planned for Puneites. You were based in Malaysia for quite sometime. Can you tell us something about the audience there for your performances? Are they more well-versed with Indian classical dance forms? I was in Malaysia for four years, before I mo...

Veteran theatre artists like Atul Kumar, Mohit Takalka, Koumarane Valavane and young name, Suraj Parasnis will hold the stage for the first edition of Saarang Theatre Festival, organised by Ashok Kulkarni of Sahitya Rangabhoomi Pratishthan. Earlier, known as Vinod Doshi Memorial Theatre Festival, the festival steps into 2019 with the aforementioned new name. However, the ethos and spirit of the festival remains unchanged and this year too the theatre going audiences in the city will get to see the best of Marathi and non-Marathi plays. Here's a line-up of the festival that will start from Monday, February 25 and conclude on March 1. All the plays would be performed at Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagruha, Kothrud. Khichdi of many different elements The Company Theatre Production play, Detective 9-2-11 is a comic noir, with elements of Navketan Films and Alfred Hitcockian directorials adding drama to the world of cinema on stage. Atul Kumar, who has directed the play, says,...

On this World Theatre Day for Children and Young Audience (March 20), take your child and his/her friends to watch a play, meant for them. Bringing to Pune three theatrical performances, precisely for this reason, is Meena Naik, a veteran theatre artist and puppeteer from Mumbai. Naik, who has been working on children related social issues through theatre and puppets for last four decades is also the vice-president of ASSITEJ India. ASSITEJ or Association of Theatre for Young Audiences is an international organisation with 87 countries as its participants. It began as a movement, after Second World War, and sought to help children who were impacted by the war and the ravages it brought. “ To pull them out of the trauma, ASSITEJ started as a movement to present plays which would address the issues of these children. The idea was that adults would enact the roles of children and address their issues. ASSITEJ observes March 20 as World Theatre Day for Children and Young Audience ...

Hijabistan has sixteen stories of women wearing a veil. To call them powerful would be a cliche. In the words of Sabyn Javeri, the author – 'The one thing in common I found when researching these stories was that all the women I spoke to were hiding something. Therefore the title ‘Hijabistan’ or land of the hidden. Not hijab as imagination has limited it – you would be surprised how many people can’t think beyond hijab being a garment. For them the word is incapable of having any other meaning and it is this stereotype boxed thinking I wanted to challenge.' Here, Javeri talks about what it means to be a Muslim woman wearing a veil. Telling stories no one wants to tell Javeri, who is known for her full length novel Nobody killed her, says that short stories are her first love. The Hijabsitan, published by HarperCollins, has couple of stories which were published in magazines. The author says, “Many of the stories were written at different times, place and durin...