Language no bar at Delhi theatre festival

If you have a special liking for everything theatrical, then a festival at the end of the month promises to entertain you with a potpourri of plays in different Indian languages. The 11-day theatre festival, known as Jash-ne-Bachpan, is being presented by the National School of Drama (NSD) along with the initiative Theatre in Education (TIE).

The participating groups at this festival are from different regions of the country and will be performing in various languages such as Hindi, Bangla Assamese, Kannad, Marathi, Malyalam, Nepali, Manipuri, Tamil and English. “There will be subtitles to these plays, so that the audience can understand the dialogues and what the play is all about,” says Abdul Latif Khatana, Chief of TIE. The language might be a barrier for the audience, but director of NSD, Anuradha Kapoor, feels that in a creative medium like theatre, it takes a back seat while emotions and actions rule the plot in the play.

This year, Jash-ne-Bachpan is also showcasing plays enacted by special children. Out of the 17 plays in this festival, three plays will involve special children — Dakghar, a Bengali play based on Rabindranath Tagore’s play as the opening performance and Dastaan-e-Dilli by Astha foundation, Delhi, as the closing performance besides Budhuram, which will be showcased by Seagull Theatre from Guwahati.

The plays will be based on fairies and fantasies rather than current socio-political topics, something which is again new in this year’s edition. “We have decided to go back to the world of imagination and creativity, back to nature,” says Khatana. As to the idea behind involving special children in this festival, Khatana says, “If you teach children that there should be no divide, probably a lot of the divisions that exist today in the society will not be there in future.”

Watch out for
Play: Kalptaru
Where: Abhimanch
When: 6.30pm, November 23, 2012
Play: The Kachra Tales
Where: Abhimanch
When: 6.30pm, November 24, 2012
Play: Across the Sea (Musical Puppet show)
Where: Abhimanch
When: 6.30pm, November 27, 2012

Catch it here
What: Jash-ne-Bachpan
On till: November 28
Timing: 5.30pm onwards
Where: Abhimanch, Samukh (NSD) and Sri Ram Centre
Entry: Where: Abhimanch, Samukh (NSD) and Sri Ram Centre
Nearest metro station: Mandi House on Blue Line