What’s new at this year’s Prithvi Theatre Festival?

From a communicative based connected William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and an aggravated communicative of the sufferings of 3 women to a bid of storytelling sessions, this year’s Prithvi Theatre Festival (PTF) offers a wide canvas. Add to that immoderate music, dance, discussions and play screenings, and the prime is adjacent much varied.

Now successful its 47th year, PTF has go a landmark successful Mumbai’s taste calendar. Traditionally organised to observe thespian Prithviraj Kapoor’s day ( November 3), this year’s festival volition beryllium held from November 1 to 17. Interestingly, the Motley theatre group, a regular astatine PTF since it was founded by Naseeruddin Shah and Benjamin Gilani successful 1979, is not connected the docket this time.

Like past year, 1 of the highlights volition beryllium performances of dastangoi, the Urdu creation of storytelling. The Delhi-based Dastangoi Collective, led by Mahmood Farooqui, volition person 3 presentations, including Dastan-e-Guru Dutt, written and directed by Mahmood to people the legendary filmmaker-actor’s commencement centenary.

Mahmood, who is credited to person revived dastangoi successful 2005, feels Prithvi is an perfect spot for the creation form. He elaborates, “Dastangoi performances are determination betwixt a baithak and the ceremonial assembly. What we did was, enactment it arsenic a signifier of stage. We followed a batch of the signifier method and requirements specified arsenic entry, exits and lights, which didn’t beryllium earlier. Initially, the stories would beryllium astir magicians, tricksters, fantasy, emotion and romance. They are fantastic stories which I can’t match.”

However, helium feels determination are different stories with a dastanic element, whether they are derived from people stories, magic realism oregon the lives of known personalities. Last year, the Dastangoi Collective presented Dastan-e-Ahwaal-e-Kapoor, written by Sibtain Shahidi and directed by Mahmood. “It was based connected the beingness of Raj Kapoor and has been 1 of our astir palmy productions, utilizing a batch of songs. The performers, Rana and Rajesh, are among the seniormost dastangos.”

Dastan-e-Guru Dutt premiered successful Delhi successful October. Says Mahmood, “It’s not conscionable astir Guru Dutt, but astir his time. I speech astir the workplace strategy helium was trained in, astir Geeta Dutt, and the aureate epoch of the 1950s. It is besides astir the ‘big four’ — Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy, Mehboob Khan and Guru Dutt — and the films they made and issues they raised.”

At PTF, the Dastangoi Collective is besides presenting Dastan-e-Kabir, written by advertizing nonrecreational Udit Yadav and directed by Mahmood. “He has researched not lone connected Kabir but besides connected his contemporaries and however his doctrine impacted generations. We are besides presenting Dastan Raja Vikram Ke Ishq Ki, based connected the people tales by student A.K. Ramanujan and poesy of Mir Taqi Mir.”

Other theatrical productions astatine PTF see the fantasy-filled A Fish Ate My Cat, directed by Yuki Elias, Daniel D’Souza’s play play Queen, Mohit Takalkar’s aggravated Anatomy Of A Suicide, Akarsh Khurana’s A Perfect Time To Panic, based connected The Tempest, and Atul Kumar’s Ambaa, adapted from the Greek drama Lysistrata. Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal and Kaizaad Kotwal, has directed Eden Creek, which tells the communicative of six Calcutta women station the 1943 Bengal famine.

Besides the plays and dastangoi, PTF besides features jazz by Louiz Banks and his group, sitar by Shujaat Husain Khan, occidental classical by pianist Isa Trott and the SOI Chamber Orchestra, and Bharatanatyam by Shreema Upadhyaya.

Zahan Kapoor, trustee, Prithvi Theatre, says, “The effort has been to bring unneurotic immoderate of the finest directors successful the fraternity”. His father, Kunal Kapoor, sums it up by adding, “The festival has ever been astir rejuvenating the satellite of theatre.