Raising the Roof

Every year,the rooftop of a nondescript building in Shankar Market comes alive with lights,music and dramatic performances. In its fourth edition,the Terrace Theatre Festival is living up to the same expectations. With 11 theatre groups from across India participating,the line-up covers varied themes,from love to hate and existential crisis.

If the curtains went up on September 20 with Atelier Theatre’s The Zoo Story,which revolves around the conversation between two strangers in a park,Dalchhut,a play about street urchins,was presented by Kolkata-based theatre group Eso Natak Shikhi on Saturday. Scheduled to be staged on September 29 is White Noise,a critically-acclaimed play based on William Dalrymple’s Nine Lives,which revolves around the lives of an idol-maker,a Jain nun who flees desire only to seek it in death,a devdasi who says more with her body than anyone could with words and a mad woman escaping a violent past. Presented by Pune-based theatre group Orchestrated Q’works,the director of the play,Hina Siddiqui,says,“Since we are a contemporary theatre group,we are used to using space innovatively.”

The Terrace Theatre Festival is on till September 30 at F- 37,Shankar Market,Connaught Place. Contact: 9971507910