Mumbai to stage Theatre Olympics this coming week

Mumbai: If all the world’s a stage, that stage arrives in Mumbai next week with India playing host to Theatre Olympics this year. It was established at Delphi, Greece, in 1995 and extended the platform for theatrical exchange to Japan, Russia, Turkey, South Korea, China and Poland, overcoming ideological, cultural and language barriers.
What is perhaps the world’s largest theatrical extravaganza, the eighth edition of the Theatre Olympics that opened in Delhi with the Red Fort as backdrop has covered 16 cities with over 25,000 artistes performing a staggering 1,300 shows before it hits the bay on March 24 for its closing phase and finale at the Gateway of India.
The India chapter, organized by the National School of Drama (NSD) in collaboration with the directorate of cultural affairs, will see a series of 28 plays from across the country as well as international productions from Belgium, China, Australia, Japan and the Czech Republic staged at the Nehru Centre and Ravindra Natya Mandir till April 7—all gratis.
In showcasing theatre traditions of India and the world, the roster of 28 plays— whittled down by a two-tier committee that scanned 1,000 performance DVDs— will include Waman Kendre’s Mohe Piya, Sohag Sen’s Sonata, Ravishankar Khare’s Rashmakirathi, Soumitra Chatterjee’s Phera alongside eight international productions, including Shri 420 by Saba Zaidi and Atul Tiwari from Australia, Almost Alive by Sabine Molenaar, Belgium, and Xuan Zang’s Pilgrimage by Wang Ziangyun, China. An international seminar on dwindling popularity of theatre on March 27 and 28 titled ‘Who Shrunk my Theatre?’ features globally renowned theatre artistes. While allied activities such as ambient performances —tribal, folk, street shows— will be staged before each play, a living legend series with famous practitioners, master classes, director meets and workshops are in order too.
This global fair stretches back to 1985 when Greek director Theodoros Terzopoulos organized the first international meeting on ancient drama, an event featuring theatre performances, symposia and workshops. Overwhelmed by theatre artistes from around the world and heady open discussions on challenges faced by practitioners of theatre, he witnessed different ways to understand and recreate Greek classics. Eager to create an international festival that could lead global theatrical artists into open dialogue beyond borders, he forged an international committee focused on theatrical heritage, which would re-establish the rank of contemporary theatre.
Just like Olympic Games, Theatre Olympics, too is held in a different country every four years. What distinguishes Theatre Olympics from other festivals is that it is organized via collaboration of artistes where the role of the artistic director is performed by a member of the international committee who represents the host country.
Each Theatre Olympic is designed on a unique theme that draws on the host country’s culture. If tragedy, hope, theatre for the people, beyond borders, and love and humanity defined the previous editions, the 51-day nationwide gala in India is celebrating universal friendship and human values with ‘Flag of Friendship’ as its theme.
“It celebrates universal friendship just as Lord Indra’s flag acted as a protector and symbol of the Indian theatre tradition, forging bonds of friendship between the Gods and performers,” says Waman Kendre, director, NSD, who pulled off the festival on a Rs 51.8 crore Central government budget. “We took this on as we saw in it an opportunity to put India’s 2,500-year-old theatre tradition on the global map. With academicians, practitioners and scholars of world theatre, I hope we will be able to bridge the gaps, assess where we stand and arrest the shrinking theatre spaces.”