Scene in Summer

Even as the rising mercury level drives art and culture activity in Delhi to a halt,the stage continues to pulsate with life. City-based group Asmita Theatre is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the annual Asmita Summer Festival,fittingly with a smorgasbord of its classic and new plays. “Fourteen plays are staged every weekend,” says Arvind Gaur,head of Asmita. The festival began on May 11 and will continue till July 14.

Asmita’s activist credentials emerge in full force in the curation of the festival — it started with stories of Partition by Saadat Hasan Manto such as Toba Tek Singh and Sahai. Coming up are Ambedkar aur Gandhi,a controversial play that is also among Asmita’s biggest hits. The play,to be staged on June 2,deals with the relationship between the Father of the Nation and BR Ambedkar,their conflicts as well as their bond of respect. Another controversial play,Operation Three Star,has been adapted by Gaur from Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist,about crimes of the state,power and politics. It will be staged on June 9 and 10,a few days before Log Baag (June 16 and 17) takes a hard-hitting look at prejudices such as class distinction prevalent in the minds of the common man. Moteram Ka Satyagrah,on June 23 and 24,is a satire based on a Munshi Premchand story. Another play which is a part of the summer repertoire is The Last Salute,a play about the Iraqi journalist who had thrown a shoe at former US president George Bush.

Besides the plays,Asmita has also introduced summer workshops in the festival this year. These workshops are divided into two batches — for young children and for people above 17 years — and takes place only on weekends. While the children’s workshop focuses on speech,exercises and games,the workshop for seniors is primarily about acting.

Asmita Summer Theatre Festival is being held at IHC and Lok Kala Manch every weekend