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Friday, Aug 06, 2010
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The Hindu Metroplus Theatre Festival in three more cities by year-end

Divya Kumar

We hope it will morph into a truly South Indian experience: N. Ram

— Photo: M. Vedhan

Members of the Sevensense and Yegam Theatre Company from Korea who will open The Hindu MetroPlus Theatre Fest 2010 with the dance comedy 'Break Out' on Friday.

CHENNAI: The Hindu MetroPlus Theatre Festival is set to go to three other South Indian cities by the end of this year, said N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu.

Speaking at the launch party of the sixth edition of the fest at The Park Hotel here, he said: “By the end of 2010, the fest will have travelled to Hyderabad, Bangalore and Coimbatore. We hope these events elsewhere will become annual features, as they have been in Chennai. If that happens, the MetroPlus Theatre Fest will morph into a truly South Indian experience.”

“For a six-year-old festival, this may be said to be precocious,” Mr. Ram said, and noted that The Hindu's engagement with the theatre had grown beyond the fest with the launch of the MetroPlus Playwright Award three years ago.

“We are very pleased to be working with a leading publishing house to bring out a volume of the three award-winning plays. And the book should be out in a few months,” he said.

The sixth edition of the fest features eight world-class plays from Korea, Singapore, the U.S., Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai and Thrissur. “We believe that this year's line-up is perhaps the best, or among the best, we've had until now,” said Mr. Ram.

The fest will open on Friday, August 6, with the internationally renowned dance comedy ‘Break Out' by Sevensense and Yegam Theatre Company from Korea, followed by ‘Ms. Meena' by Chennai's Perch, a quirky re-imagining of the Swiss-German classic ‘The Visit,' on August 7.

Allied activities include a symposium on August 9, and music and theme food paired with the play of the day at the venue. Another first for the fest this year is a blog (metrotheatrefest.com) with write-ups by organisers of the fest and members of the theatre fraternity. The launch party was attended by theatre personalities and theatre lovers.

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