Mumbai spellbound as multilingual theatre fest takes 'centre stage'

The annual theatre festival of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) kicked off on Friday with the winning street play in the Waves Drama contest at BITS, Pilani.

The fourth edition of ‘Centrestage’, which hosts premiering plays, promises to be a feast for enthusiasts, with six plays in English, three in Gujarati, three multilingual, one each in Marathi and Hindi over 10 days.

The shows are an eclectic mix that range from family dramas with a twist to GenNext love stories, and a Commedia Dell’Arte inspiration to an Alfred Hitchcock hat tip.

Organised in partnership with Vinod and Saryu Doshi, it includes a workshop and an outdoor performance.

Theatre groups Yatri, Pundalik, Schitzengiggles, Cartel, Jhoom are at Centrestage for the first time, along with Evam visits from Chennai and Stagecraft from Nagpur. The others, Akavarious, Awishkar, Aranya, Utopia  and Tram Theatre have been there before.

Evam’s Ali J, which delves into many freedom struggles still underway in India, was staged on Friday.

Three years ago, NCPA rejuvenated the theatre scene in the city with the introduction of this theatre festival.

“Over the years, NCPA has received overwhelming response, not only from the theatre community but from the audience too. Centrestage has become the most-awaited theatre festival and we promise to live up to expectations by providing a platform for new and aspiring talent,” said Deepa Gahlot, head of programming (theatre and film).

Many of the works showcased at Centrestage have been picked for other national and international festivals and have won accolades and multiple awards.