Plays on a platter

Plays on a platter

OF all the sundry theatre festivals already held and due to be held this year, the Rang Vardhan is the biggest in terms of scale, performance and venue. One hundred and eighty performances to be staged in 12 towns in Maharashtra, spanning four phases and involving eight groups, speaks volume for the sheer size of the festival. Only in its second year, the first phase of the 2001 festival was flagged off at Prithvi on Tuesday.

The eight groups hailing from Mumbai, Pune and Talegaon will perform at a stretch, first in Mumbai till February 25 (at Prithvi theatre at 7.30 pm), then in Pune from today till February 26. At Baramati, the performances will be held from February 22 to 27, at Daund, from Feb 23 to 28 and at Solapur, from Feb 24 to March 1. These five venues form the stops of the first phase. The second phase has been planned for April, followed by the third in July and the fourth in September-October, covering 12 culture-stops in the state. “In terms of arrangement, this festival is unique. Since very few states in India have live theatre, this festival easily becomes the biggest in the country,” says theatre-actor Atul Kulkarni, organising member of the festival.

The idea for such a carnival was mooted about two years ago by theatre-lovers in the city when they realised that though there was an increase in amateur theatre groups in the state, they were lacking in networking whereby their performances could not reach wider audiences. At the first meeting held to discuss the concept, 25 groups from all over the state were represented, while meeting held to discuss this year’s festival saw participation from 70 odd theatre-groups. The scale, too, has increased since last year, when 28 performances of seven plays were held in a span of 20 days in four places: Mumbai, Pune, Daund and Solapur. “While amateur theatre-groups from the interiors of Maharashtra have shown immense enthusiasm for the project, Mumbai and Pune-based groups are very eager to take their work to smaller towns. Though we intimated the groups only in January, none of them expressed unwillingness to perform at the scheduled place on the scheduled day,” points out Kulkarni. Applications from 30 theatregroups had poured in for this year’s festival, out of which, nine plays were selected by a seven-member committee.

The festival seeks to provide amateur and experimental theatre-groups an additional place to perform besides their local auditorium and a platform different from the various state competitions. Networking is another important function of the festival bringing the theatre activity out of its isolated pocket so that more people know about it and their distance from the media is reduced. Guiding this rich exchange are theatre stalwarts like Dr Shriram Lagoo, Vijay Tendulkar, Bhaskar Chandavarkar, Ratnakar Matkari and Kamalakar Nadkarni. The organisational responsibilities are handled by local groups who arrange everything for the visiting groups while Rang Vardhan provides for the travelling. “We have not promised remuneration to anyone.

However, if I have to put a figure to the estimated cost of the entire project it would be around Rs 15 lakh,” says Kulkarni. Apart from Buddhibal Ani Zabbu, the one-act play which was staged at Tuesday’s inauguration, the other selected plays include Yayati, penned by Girish Karnad, Chaitanya Vedh’s Kalokhachya Lekikadoony, Janaki by Abhijaat Rangabhoomi, Lasya Akademi’s Sangeet Dwanda and Ritushringar, Chaitali Deshpande’s one-act play Eklich Baymanas, the Company Theatre’s Sangeet Debuchya Muli and a mime show by Kalapini Taegaon. With two plays in Hindi and the rest in Marathi, Rang Vardhan is not opposed to receiving applications from groups in other parts of the country. “The project is taking shape in its own pace. This being only the second year, we are still finding our feet. However, our primary aim, which is to show as many plays as possible in a given period of time is being met. The balance between the cities where there is no dearth of performance spaces and sponsors and the small towns whereit is difficult to reach a wide audience is slowly being struck,” says Kulkarni. With such an ambitious project catering to both the art connoisseur and artists, the festival stands to provide amateur groups a platform to show their stuff across the length and breadth of Maharashtra.