Guwahati Theatre Festival- A Classical Milieu
Last week, Guwahati premiered the first ever Guwahati Theatre Festival at ITA Machkhowa. It was a five day fair, from the 14th of September to the 18th which hosted several noted theatre personalities and actors like Saurabh shukla, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor and Kalki Koechlin.
The theatre festival was premiered in collaboration with leading English weekly, G Plus, in association with Ballantine’s and Audi Guwahati. The theatre festival also witnessed actors like Neil Bhoopalam, Rajit Kapur, Vrajesh Hirjee, Anhint Kaur, Sadir Siddiqui, Dolly Thakore, Sherna Patel etc performing in different plays.
The event was inaugurated by Anand Prakash Tiwari, Managing Director of Assam State Transport Corporation by lighting the ceremonial along with Dr Asha Kuthari, Festival Director; Sumit Jain, Festival Chairman and Swapnil bharali, Editor, G Plus and Festival Advisor. The festival opened with the play Hamlet- The Crown Prince, directed by noted actor and director Rajat Kapoor, which was a comic take of the famous Shakespearean tragedy. In the course of the five days, the festival brought together premium plays like The Living Room, 2 to Tango 3 to Jive, The Vagina Monologues, The Truth of Womanhood and One on One- all from the leading theater production house of Mumbai.
Commenting on the choice of location for the theatre, Mr Tiwari said “The festival aim to showcase world class performance by leading theatre actors from Mumbai coupled with quality entertainment making it a prestigious landmark in the cultural landscape of Guwahati.”
Adding to it, Mr. Sumit Jain said “Through this festival, we aim to bring in celebrated personalities from the world of theatre to the city, most of who are visiting for the first time, so they can learn a lot about the state, its people and culture, thus becoming our ambassador for the state.” Asha Kuthari Chaudhuri, the Festival Director said “Along with the plays, this festival also promise to provide learning opportunities to the local youth through workshops and interactions that have been planned with the visiting experts in the field of performing arts.”
According to a press release, the festival aimed to showcase world class performances by leading theatre actors from Mumbai and provide quality entertainment to theatre lover here, making it a significant event among the cultural activities here, a press release stated.
Tough the entry was only through pass and tickets, the funfair witnessed a huge audience, almost 700 in number. The Theatre Festival was a huge success and a major breakthrough in the cultural milieu of the city, and is expected to bring a change in the outlook towards the region.
