Mumbai's iconic Prithvi Theatre is back with its annual Prithvi Theatre Festival, one of the most awaited events on Mumbai&rsquos cultural calendar. Being held after a hiatus of two years owing to the pandemic&rsquos impact, the celebration of art and culture this year will be spread over 12 days, from November 3 to November 14, with an inaugural performance by Pooja Gaitonde, a noted young artiste in Sufi and Ghazal.
The first edition of the festival was held in the year 1983. Now it is held every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of the legendary actor Prithviraj Kapoor and the opening day of the theatre on November 5, 1978.
The festival is organised to celebrate and explore the diversity of performing arts, from local, national, and international backgrounds, to new and old traditions and cross-cultural influences. In the previous editions of the festival, the themes have given exposure to local Mumbaikar, national, and international theatre groups with plays based on socio-political issues.
The Line-up To Look Forward
The line-up for the festival is exciting. Look for the noted dancer Bijayini Satpathy presenting Abhipsha, A Seeking, which will portray the classical Odissi dance forms through the lens of modern interpretation. There will be premiere productions by directors like Makrand Deshpande (Dhat Teri Yeh Grihasthi), Aakarsh Khurana (The Verdict), Manoj Shah (Mr Apple), Abhishek Majumdar (Pah-Lak), Bhushan Korgaonkar (Lavani Ke Rang) and Vikram Kapadia (The Greatest Show on Earth).
Apart from the plays, there are musical performances by Pelva Naik, a Dhrupad vocalist, Louiz Banks&rsquos Jazz@Prithvi Show and Western Classical Music Acoustic Concert by the Symphony Orchestra of India.
For the &lsquoStage Talk&rsquo at the Prithvi House, notable artists like Neena Kulkarni, Adil Hussain, Shefali Shah, Jim Sarbh, Ali Fazal, Piyush Mishra, Anurag Kashyap and Radhika Apte will discuss theatre and its importance in in-depth portrayals of characters.
The highlight of the festival will be a poetry reading session which will be graced by veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah on November 13th. Along with this, a number of small shows and informal sessions will be held in the Prithvi House to keep the festivities alive.
This year the festival is self&ndashfunded by Kunal Kapoor, the current owner of Prithvi Theatre, who believes that holding the festival this year was imperative to make people realise that it was art that kept us going during the past two years.
Little did we know that this charitable trust which was established in 1975, would give us a place to celebrate theatre and art in the chaos of Mumbai. So amp up to immerse yourself in the world of stories and watch them come to life with performances that will feed your soul.
More details here.