NSD, Sri Ram Centre come up with summer theatre festivals

It's raining plays in Delhi! Two major theatre institutions, the Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts (SRCPA) and the National School of Drama (NSD), here have come up with summer theatre festivals that are sure to evoke a bouquet of emotions in viewers.

The SRCPA Summer Theatre Festival will take place from June 8-16.

It features Girish Karnad's masterpiece "Tughlaq", Vijay Tendulkar's play on homosexuality "Meeta Ki Kahani", and "A Tale of Two Cities", an adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, directed by famous Feisal Alkazi.

Also scheduled are "Prem Kabootar" by actor-director Manav Kaul, "Urubhangam" by Bhassa, "Antigone" by Niloy Roy, "Dilapidated" by Kaushik Bose, "Agni aur Barkha" by Girish Karnad and "Arsenic and Old Lace" by Joseph Kesserling.

NSD's Summer Theatre Festival 2019 also features a lineup of thought-provoking plays like "Pehla Satyagrahi", "Jaat Hi Poochoo Sadhu Ki" and "Tajmahal ka Tender".

"Pehla Satyagrahi" is about the life and struggles of Mahatma Gandhi and his non-violent war for India's freedom.

As per the play's director and NSD head Suresh Sharma, presenting something new on Gandhi's life seemed challenging to him, so he chose to focus on the "story of the making of the Mahatma from Gandhia.

"Jaat Hi..", of playwright Vijay Tendulkar, is a commentary on nepotism in offices and universities.

The third play is a satire on corruption that shows Shah Jahan wanting to build the Taj Mahal in the contemporary times. He is left wanting when it takes 25 years just to float the tender of Taj Mahal.

The NSD Festival concludes Monday.

--IANS

sj/vd