Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur to perform at Delhi Theatre Festival

Eminent thespians like Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, and Vinay Pathak among others will be performing at the 3rd edition of Delhi Theatre Festival.

With a promise to be "bigger, bolder and better" than last year, the theatre festival will be organised from August 30 at the Siri Fort Auditorium and Pearey Lal Bhawan here, and Orana Conventions in Gurugram.

"Over the course of three days, the festival will be featuring six productions and eight shows with theatre personalities like Supriya Pathak Kapur, Sumeet Vyas and Sonali Kulkarni to name a few," the organisers said in a statement.

The theatrical extravaganza will open with "Dreamz Sehar" at Siri Fort Auditorium. The play is directed and written by Pankaj Kapur, who will also play the lead along with theatre veteran and his wife, Supriya Pathak.

Based on a novella written by Kapur, "Dopehri", will tell the story of Amma Bi, a lonely old woman inside her haveli in Lucknow, and her journey from loneliness to self-discovery.

Arif Zakariya and Sonali Kulkarni will explore the "pain, pathos, magic, and music" in the lives of Bollywood greats Guru Dutt and Geeta Dutt in "Gardish Mein Taare", directed by Saif Hyder Hassan.

Directed and performed by Naseeruddin Shah, "Einstein" will unravel the thoughts that troubled the renowned physicist.

Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour's "White Rabbit Red Rabbit" will take actor Sumeet Vyas on an improv ride as he would come on stage without reading, rehearsal, and preparation for the play.

Directed by theatre director-actor Rajat Kapoor, "Nothing Like Lear", a devised performance based on Shakespeare's "King Lear", will show the iconic story through the eyes of a clown featuring Vinay Pathak.

An initiative of Alchemist Live, a marketing solutions company, Delhi Theatre Festival will try to create "a global platform for theatre enthusiasts", the organisers said.

"We've had an audience that travelled across cities to attend the festival and so have extended our reach with both productions and venues to ensure there are enough seats to satiate their appetite. We wish to take the festival to a much bigger scale and to continue to create platforms where great content can flourish," Prabhu Tony, COO of Alchemist Live, said.

The festival will come to a close on September 1.