Banarasis enjoyed this Theatre Olympics

The 8th Theatre Olympics organised by National School of Drama (NSD), under the aegis of

Ministry of Culture

at

Nagari Natak Mandali

, was a theatre aficionados’ delight. During the nearly a fortnight-long festival, some brilliant work was staged in varied languages depicting the rich theatrical traditions.
The festival opened with the play Rudali, directed by veteran theatre artist

Usha Ganguly

. The popular play depicted the travails of handless farmers who struggle against the exploitative system. Addressing the contemporary issue of lack of dialogue within the families was the Gujarati play Welcome Zindagi. Directed by Saumy Joshi, the play dwelled on the father-son relation which is devoid of communication.
Another vernacular play that stood out was

Ghumayee

which was in Dogri language. Other plays that were staged included Netua directed by Dilip Kumar Gupta, Meeta Ki Kahani, directed by Kaviraj Laique, Batohi directed by Abhay Sinha,

Santati

directed by Himani Shivpuri, Aranya Gatha directed by Kanhaiya Lal Kaithwas and Khoobsurat Bala directed by

Hema Singh

.

A scene from the play Batohi (BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)

A scene from the play

Bhand Duhai

(BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)

A scene from the play Ghazab Teri Adaa (BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)

A scene from the play Ghumayee (BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)

A scene from the play

Jatayuvadham

(BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)

A scene from the play Meeta Ki Kahani (BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)

A scene from the play Santati (BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)

A scene from the play Wating For Godot (BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)

A scene from the play Welcome Zindagi (BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)

Aman Jaitly

and Pt Channu Lal Mishra (BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)

(L-R) Shriyasi Mittal, Surasree and Sohini (BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)

(L-R) Sumit, Gunjan and Subham (BCCL/ Arvind Kumar)