Playing it Again

The 10-day festival,from November 18-27,showcases a mix of genres and styles of theatre with plays such as English musical Spamalot; Sarpa Sutra based on Arun Kolatkar’s famous poem; Four Square,an ensemble play of four shorts; Vikram Kapadia’s Bombay Talkies that strings together eight monologues; Malaysian play Lady Swettenham,and Pramay,a Gujarati adaptation of David Auburn’s Proof.

This festival is expected to do the much-needed job of providing the city,especially those living in South Mumbai,an opportunity to enjoy the best in contemporary theatre.

And with the annual Prithvi Theatre festival called off this year,for the second time in a row,Centrestage will help fill the void. In fact,the debut of Centrestage coincided with Prithvi Theatre not doing a full-fledged festival last year after bringing the mammoth theatrical production,A Disappearing Number,from the UK in August 2010.

Centrestage’s first edition hosted the premiere of 12 new plays.

“Most of these plays,such as The Interview and Chakra,travelled in and outside India,” says Deepa Gahlot,head of programming,Theatre and Film,NCPA.

Purva Naresh,who is co-directing Preth for the festival,says,“Centrestage is a good platform for experimentation as it encourages us to come up with new subjects and styles. The audience may miss the Prithvi festival,but NCPA has provided another venue.” Naresh,who staged her first play Aaj Rang Hai at Centrestage last year,will be seen blending folk tales and music once again.

The draw of doing an experimental play is what made Vijay Kenkre take up the directorial reins for Sadu,Saduchi Bayko,Ani Urlela Jag. Another temptation,of course,was to direct the play which Marathi playwright Achyut Vaze has written after 25 years. Kenkre,who loves Prithvi Festival for its vibrant air,believes that a festival often creates a conducive atmosphere for theatre.

This is something NCPA is all set to achieve with street play competition in its Sunken Garden,organised by Delhi-based organisation Be Artsy. That apart,there are workshops scheduled on theatre direction as well as those to be conducted by Mind Walking team called “Playing Shakespeare” and “Devising with a fixed Cerceau”.