Celebrate The Iconic Prithvi Theatre’s 40th Anniversary At This Week-Long Festival

The iconic Prithvi Theatre celebrated its 40th anniversary on November 3, 2018. This celebration is marked by the beginning of the theatre’s annual festival — Prithvi Theatre Festival. The theatre performances scheduled as a part of this festival will take place at three different venues — Prithvi Theatre, Royal Opera House and G5A. The festival commenced on Novermber 3, and will be followed by theatre performances from November 5 to 12.

Prithvi Theatre’s 40th anniversary coincides with the 112th birth anniversary of one of Indian theatre’s pioneering personalities Prithvi Raj Kapoor. To honour Kapoor’s contribution and legacy director Sunil Shanbag revived Kapoor’s 1945 classic Deewar with his own adaptation of the iconic play. Originally written by Inder Raj Anand and Prithviraj Kapoor, this play’s adaptation was staged at its original venue — Royal Opera House — 73 years after the play was initially staged. “What drew me to this play was the allegory of colonisation and partition; how a family is used as a metaphor for the nation. I see the play relevant even today. It tackles certain myths of colonisation and plugs into the various political conversations that the country is currently engaged in,” said Shanbag. This adaptation marked the opening of the festival.

Stage Talk is one of the multiple events scheduled as a part of this celebration. These are curated sessions hosted by Pragya Raj, who will be in conversation with Natak Akademi Award Winner, Mohan Agashe, veteran thespian, Sam Kerawala, playwright & director, Ramu Ramanathan, theatre and film actress, Kalki Koechlin and the original architect of the Prithvi Theatre, Ved Segan.

Prithvi Theatre was started by Shashi and Jennifer Kapoor in 1978 to honor the dream and memory of Prithvi Raj Kapoor. With an acoustic concert, three premiere productions, 15 theatre companies, 21 writers and over 70 performers, this Prithvi Theatre Festival promises to leave you enthralled with its stellar presentations.

Click here to view the festival’s schedule.

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