Konkani play ‘Blood wedding’ directed by Vishnupad Barve, Sanskrit play ‘Swapnavasavdatta’ directed by Anagha Deshpande and Konkani Tiatr ‘Oini Mitth’ directed by Jayendranath Haldankar have been selected for the Theatre Olympics organised by National school of Drama, New Delhi and Ministry of Culture.
With the inaugural ceremony scheduled to be held on 17 February
2018, the event will come to a close in Mumbai on 8 April 2018 with a gala
function. Celebrating the cultural and lingual diversity of the participating
countries, the theatre event is expected to host over 50 international and 150
Indian theatre groups over the span of two months. Ratan Thiyam, chairperson of
NSD Society, informed that the theme for the upcoming event will be 'Flag of
Friendship'. He also pointed out that this is the first time, since the event’s
inception in 1993, that the India is hosting the event.
Stating that it is a proud moment for Goa, Minister for Art and
Culture, Govind Gaude made the announcement about the selection of the 2 plays
along with one Konkani tiatr.
“This is a great opportunity for Goa to get selected for Theatre
Olympics. At this competition there are more than 4000 entries that come in. It
is only due to the efforts put in by the artists that we are able to witness
such a prestigious moment. Goan art has now reached the international level and
there isn’t any proud moment than this,” said Gaude.
The Konkani play ‘Blood Weeding’ will be staged on February 20
at National School of Drama, Delhi. Directed by Vishnupad Barve of the group
Rangmell Kala Academy, the play on Spanish poet and playwright, Federico Garcia
Lorca’s Blood Wedding, showcases the cycle of life, progression of time,
choice, deception, fate and nature. The play revolves around a wedding. The
bride is being forced to marry the bridegroom when in reality she is in love
with Leonardo. Leonardo, despite being married, is also madly in love with the
bride. Together they decide to run away after the marriage. They are unable to
follow the social norms because their nature and desires will not allow them to
do otherwise. The director Vishnupad Barve, is an alumni of the National School
of Drama, New Delhi, with specialisation in Design and Direction,who has
participated in many international theatre festivals viz. CITF, Colombo, Sri
Lanka, ICC cultural festival Nepal, and many more. He has directed the plays
Unseen, Ferrous, Sordid Story etc. The group Repertory Company of Kala Academy,
Goa, was established in the year 1992. It provides professional experience and
exposure to the graduates of the school of drama as well as the local talents.
It functions as a leading light by way of staging plays of high standard in
terms of their content and presentation.
The Sanskrit play ‘Swapnavasavadatta’ which is a sequel to
‘Pratijnayougandharayan’ composed by the Sanskrit poet, Mahakavi Bhasa
depicting the tender love, in both phases of union and separation and also
speaks about the never ending conflict between ‘duty’ and ‘desire’ will be
staged on March 23 at Guwahati. The Konkani tiatr ‘Oinni Mitth’ (tasteless
salt) will be staged on March 24 at Bhopal.
Speaking about future development plans in the state, the Art
and Culture minister added that in order to encourage youngsters from Goa take
an active part in theatre and art, the general council of Kala Academy has
planned to increase the intake of students. “To support more and more artistes
we are planning to strengthen the base by enrolling more children and training
them. We are also in talks with National School of Drama to help them come
forward to participate and encourage them at a national level,” added Gaude.
He also mentioned that ‘Shambhu Raje Mahanatya’ a drama based on
life story of Sambhaji Maharaja by Shree Bhagwati High School and ‘Gomantak
Muktkata’, a play by V D and S V Wagle High School will be staged at Sanquelim,
Goa College of Engineering, Ponda and Quepem Ground tentatively from April 26
till May 6. “Once the final dates are out we are expecting around 10,000 people
to attend this play,” said Gaude.
The
Theatre Olympics was established in 1993 in Delphi, Greece. The founding
committee was a group of eight internationally renowned theatre directors:
Theodoros Terzopoulos, Nuria Espert, Antunes Filho, Tony Harrison, Yuri
Lyubimov, Heiner Müller, Tadashi Suzuki and Robert Wilson.