The festival, which turns five this year, brings together 12 directors, from Natsamrat’s own Fareed Ahmed to Arvind Gaur of Asmita Theatre Group to Satya Prakash of the LTG Repertory Company. “Many Delhi groups battle fund crunch and other problems to keep the show going, and they converge at the Natsamrat Theatre Festival to perform on one platform,” says Shyam Kumar, organizer of the festival.

Of the 13 plays that will be staged over nine days, around eight are comedies. The ribticklers include Chandu ki Chachi about two friends, their girlfriends and a millionaire aunt, LTG Repertory Company’s Bure Phanse (see picture) which takes a hilarious look at a police officer for whom everything starts going wrong, and several others.

Some plays take a long, hard look at the world as well. Swamiji stresses on the true meaning of religion while socio-political conflict comes under the scanner in Supna ka Sapna, by Group Vivechana, the only troupe from outside Delhi.

As a first, the festival is starting the Delhi Natsamrat Theatre Awards — the only such non-government award system for the city. Apart from the Best Director and Actors, the award will recognize backstage excellence.