A scene from Nishumbita’s play ‘Dootavakyam’. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
After missing performing for live audiences for two years, Hyderabad theater groups are gearing up to host real-time events to celebrate World Theater Day on March 27 this year. Nishumbita will stage 27 plays in 24 hours and Sutradhar will present one Hindi play. Here’s what theater lovers can expect:
stage sacrifice
“Everyone knows theater groups have had a tough time during the pandemic. We wanted this World Theater Day to be special and make people pay attention to our innovative format,” says Rammohan Holagundi, founder of Nishumbita. A group stage of 27 plays will be seen in 24 hours in a program named ‘Rangmanch Yagya’. This initiative marks the completion of 27 years of Nishumbita in theatre.
The team consists of over 30 children and 40 adults and young adults. “We will be staging 20 new plays and some of our earlier productions. It has been a tough task. But the eagerness to try something unique and put Hyderabad on the world theater map is what drives us,” explains Holagundi.
From the rehearsal of the play ‘The Beggar and the King’ by Nishumbita. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The line-up includes seven Telugu plays (7am to 1pm), children’s plays (1pm to 6pm), English plays (6pm to 11pm) and Hindi plays. (11 p.m. to 4 a.m.) and mime acts.
The emphasis, says Holagundi, was on choosing stories that dealt with social issues. He believes that theater can be a medium that can make an audience think and perhaps lead to change.
The group did a dry run on 12 March and staged the plays for 20 hours. On March 27, the group plans to stage various plays continuously, with an allowance of barely a few minutes to change sets.
Nishumbita hopes that its 24-hour event will find mention in the India Book of Records and the Asia Book of Records.
The Natya Yagya will be organized at Nishumbitha School of Drama, Begumpet, Hyderabad in collaboration with the Department of Language and Culture, Government of Telangana. Contact 8978686787 for tickets priced at ₹250 for seven plays.
A thief, a judge and a journalist
Sutradhar will stage Hindi-English drama past midnight, written by Shankar Shesh in the 1970s. Directed by Vinay Verma, the play stars Sanjay Rath as a judge, Vishal Saxena as a journalist and Mayank Parakh as a thief. The story explores the events that unfold after a thief breaks into the judge’s residence one night and insists on arresting him. The events that follow are a satire on crime and punishment.
Mayank Parakh and Sanjay Rath during the rehearsals of ‘After Midnight’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“Some old stories need to be adapted to the contemporary setting, but there are stories that hold good even after 40 to 50 years. past midnight is in the second category,” says Vinay Varma, and adds that he stuck to the original story and did not make any major departures except changing a few lines to make it more relatable for the audience.
There was an option to replace the landline used by the judge with a mobile phone if he wanted to make the story and characters more reflective of present times. However, Vinay argues against it: “The judge does not have any family or social life and we can infer that he cannot depend on a mobile phone. We took this as an opportunity to drive home that not everyone needs to use a mobile phone.
The thief’s entry into the judge’s house is for a larger purpose, which comes to the fore later in the story. A journalist neighbor also becomes part of the proceedings. “The thief has been to jail many times and knows a few things about the law; He is aware of the sections under which one can be charged for an offense and can attract an act of offence,” Vinay elaborated.
before zeroing in past midnight, Vinay had contemplated another comedy drama with 10 to 12 characters, but when the planning and preparation began, the third wave of COVID-19 was underway. not wanting to risk it, they chose past midnight,
past midnight To be staged on March 26 and 27 at Rangbhoomi Spaces & Events, Jayabheri Pine Valley, Gachibowli, Hyderabad; 7:30 pm Tickets cost ₹250 each, available on bookmyshow.com. or call 9030149947/9849875920