Stage Therapy

As part of Adakaarian,the theatre fest,artist Sahib Singh and his team of actors will present Punjabi plays (written and directed by Singh) which his group Adakar Manch has staged all over the country. Singh says that the varied themes,treatments and ideology makes Adakaarian a festival that mirrors contemporary Punjabi theatre. “The audience gets to see the entire oeuvre of a playwright’s work while the actors get a chance to play different roles everyday,” Singh says.

Pinjar,based on a short story by Amrita Pritam that has been staged in Pakistan and various national festivals and fetched the best actress award for Rajinder Rozy,will open the festival. Rawaitan Ton Paar again is a bold take on a woman choosing her integrity and freedom over tradition. “The story is about a girl who defies her parents and society to marry a handicapped poet. He lets her down and the play is about her struggle to stand up for her values and beliefs,” he adds. Paramvir Chakra deals with the plight of soldiers’ families,who are promised much after their death but usually forgotten and let down in the process. In Vidya Vichari,Singh creates a courtroom drama to talk about our school education system which is dry and non-creative. Suraj Di Pith Nahin Hundi is a bold take on the obsession with immigrating abroad,which forces an uncle to marry his niece and live a life of lies and deceit.

Also reaching out to the masses through the medium of theatre is the Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi,which is organising a theatre fest in the rural areas of Punjab in June. “We have invited 12 leading theatre groups,including young directors for the fest. The directors and their groups will travel to various villages with their productions and create awareness through their plays,’’ says Sufi singer and president of the Akademi,Hans Raj Hans. The themes of the plays will be relevant to the times,with a focus on drug addiction,caste system and female infanticide. “I am a Sufi,we don’t believe in any distinctions of caste and religion. Our message is that of love,’’ he says. Hans is also in the process of finalising an Indo-Pak Sufi and folk festival to be held in October this year. “This festival,to be held in Punjab,will have artists from both countries spreading peace and love. I was in Pakistan last month and met other artists there and we felt art and culture can help build bridges between both countries,’’ he adds.

The Adakaarian festival is on from May 26 to May 30 at Punjab Kala Bhavan,Sector 16,7 pm daily.