Veteran thespians take to the stage at the Delhi Theatre Festival

The third edition of the festival will present the classic and the avant-garde with big-ticket names, writes Amrita Singh

For a performing arts culture that has treated Bharata’s Natyasastra as its holy book for some 2,000 years and continued the tradition right up to venerating plays such as Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq (1964), theatre in contemporary India has seemed to be at a crossroads. Accomplished Bollywood actors who chose the lucrative world of film over theatre recall their stage days only with nostalgic affection. Theatre became an increasingly political art form, of interest only to niche audiences. And cinema the preferred form of mass entertainment. While nobody was watching, though, there’s been a revival of sorts afoot. 

Pankaj Kapur in Dopehri

Take the Delhi Theatre Festival (DTF). Breaking out of the mass-niche binary, its third edition will showcase six well-known plays with eight performances spread across three venues in Delhi and NCR. By collaborating with actors such as Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vinay Pathak, Supriya Pathak Kapur, Sumeet Vyas and Sonali Kulkarni — all of whom have earned their stripes in theatre and gained mass recognition on the big screen — the DTF plan is nothing less than an attempt to revive theatre’s appeal.

Vinay Pathak & Rajat Kapoor

“Our vision for the Delhi Theatre Festival is ultimately to create a global platform for theatre enthusiasts. We had a fantastic run last year, with full houses for each play,” says Prabhu Tony, COO of Alchemist Live, a Mumbai-based marketing solutions company that was the founder-organiser of DTF. The company has also managed to coax in money for the festival, in the form of sponsorship by American Express, which joined in the first edition, and now real estate company M3M. 

Arif Zakaria & Sonali Kulkarni in Gardish Mein Taare

Tony claims that previous DTFs pulled in audiences from different cities. That may seem like a tall claim, but then they’ve pulled in towering presences too. One of the big draws will be the production of Einstein featuring Naseeruddin Shah. Another highlight will be Sumeet Vyas in White Rabbit Red Rabbit, a play by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, which requires no rehearsal or preparation but the spontaneity of the actor in question. The play can only be performed once by an actor (Anurag Kashyap, Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal have all tried their hand at it previously). The mysterious Dreamz Sehar, featuring Pankaj Kapur and Sehar (Supriya Pathak Kapur), will open the festival at the city’s Siri Fort Auditorium on August 30. 

Sumeet Vyas

“I'm happy that such festivals are being held because it will enrich Delhi audiences and will give us more opportunities,” says Kapur who will also be seen in Dopehri, a play about an old woman’s journey from loneliness to self-discovery. Meanwhile, even as the cultural world frets about the future of theatre, Shah presents a contrary perspective. “When we put up plays by Ismat Chughtai or George Bernard Shaw, I see youngsters and students in the audience who have a great interest in theatre. Now more than ever,” says the veteran actor. The rekindling of interest in classic theatre is heartening. Do sponsorships and audiences for experimental work lie around the corner too? Hope flares.

Houseful

Dreamz sehar

Cast: Pankaj Kapur & Supriya Pathak

Where: Siri Fort  

When: Aug 30

Dopehri 

Cast: Pankaj Kapur 

Where: Siri Fort  

When: Aug 31

Gardish mein taare 

Cast: Arif Zakaria & Sonali Kulkarni

Where: Siri Fort  

When: Aug 31

Einstein 

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah 

Where: Orana Conventions & Siri Fort

When: Aug 31 & Sept 1

White Rabbit Red Rabbit 

Cast: Sumeet Vyas 

Where: Pearey Lal Bhawan

When: Aug 31

Nothing Like Lear

Cast: Vinay Pathak

Where: Pearey Lal Bhawan  

When: Sept 1

Tickets start at Rs 500 and are available on www.bookmyshow.com