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The Festival: Edition II
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The MetroPlus Theatre Festival is back in Chennai with even more variety and a bigger line-up
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NINE DAYS OF PURE THEATRE This year's fest is bigger and better with a greater variety of themes and presentations
Over the past couple of years, Chennai has been quietly, but resolutely, developing its English theatre traditions.
New groups are formed every couple of months, plays are staged reassuringly often and passionate students throng theatre companies for roles, even if it's just to play trees in Act II or powder the lead actor's nose.
Chennai now sees English theatre as a living, breathing art, rather than stuffy performances for intellectuals.
Indian theatre in English is making itself comfortable on stages, masala chai, desi accent and all, while even British and American works are being adapted and Indianised by enterprising young directors.
Important event
It couldn't be a better time to stage The Hindu MetroPlus Theatre Festival.
The festival, launched last year, is set to becoming an important date in the theatrical calendar and goes international this year.
Escape Theatre, a professional theatre group from Singapore will stage A Very British Affair, a revue — a first for the festival.
The production promises to bring together everything from Andrew Lloyd Webber to Kylie Minogue in one hilarious, musical, extravagant sweep.
We have also scouted the country to bring an interesting selection of contemporary Indian theatre.
This has , resulted in a line-up that includes theatre groups from five Indian cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and, of course, Chennai.
Shakespeare reinvented
The result is an impressively eclectic mix, which ranges from giggle-fests such as Q Theatre Productions' Beyond Therapy to thought-provoking entries like the moving Valley Song by Athol Fugard, South Africa's leading playwright, interspersed with simple hymns.
Of course, there's Shakespeare, slickly reinvented.
The thoughtful and award-inning Othello,A Play In Black and White translates and adapts the Bard's work into contemporary theatre.
And adman Alyque Padamsee brings an extravagant Macbeth, one that draws parallels between Tantric rituals and European witchcraft.
Appropriately, the fest features the work of an Indian playwright.
And though Asif Currimbhoy's Goa, with its political overtones, is set in 1961, it addresses issues still relevant to the socio-political climate of present-day India.
Local theatre plays an important role in the MetroPlus Theatre Festival. Naturally, we will be featuring The Madras Players — which at 50 is probably the country's oldest group promoting theatre in English — staging The Shadow Box. The Boardwalkers, which consistently picks and promotes young talent from the city colleges, will be putting up Amadeus.
And finally, Theatre Nisha, a promising new entrant to the festival, has chosen to feature the Sri Lankan play Thicker Than Blood."
The festival is presented by Bose. Associate sponsors are Airtel and HSBC Bank. Lifestyle Associate: Royal Challenge Golf Accessories. Travel partner: Jet Airways. Hospitality partner: The Park, Chennai.
For tickets, log on to www.hindu.com/theatrefest or call 98402-22363. Season passes are priced at Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 1,500. Tickets are priced at Rs. 500, Rs. 250 and Rs. 100. Students can enjoy 50 per cent off on tickets priced at Rs. 100 only at the venue on show dates. All the plays will be staged at the Music Academy from August 4-14, 7.15 p.m.
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Festival Schedule
August 4
A Very British Affair — Escape Theatre, Singapore
Directed by Mark Waite and Samantha Scott-Blackhall
August 5
The Shadow Box — Madras Players, Chennai
Directed by Mithran Devanesan
August 6
Othello: A Play in Black and White — Can and Abel Theatres, New Delhi
Directed by Roysten Abel
August 9
Valley Song — Artistes' Repertory Theatre, Bangalore
Directed by Arundhati Raja
August 10
Macbeth — ACE Productions, Mumbai
Directed by Alyque Padamsee
August 11
Amadeus — Boardwalkers, Chennai
Directed by Michael Muthu
August 12
Thicker Than Blood — Theatre Nisha,
Chennai
Directed by V. Balakrishnan
August 13
Goa — Theatrecian, Kolkata
Directed by Shuktara Lal
August 14
Beyond Therapy — Q Theatre Productions, Mumbai
Directed by Nadir Khan
SHONALI MUTHALALY
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Pondicherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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