Where there are Bengalis, theatre can’t be far behind. The 11th Ganga Jamuna Theatre Festival, from December 25 to January 4, is proof of that. Of the 29 participating groups, four are from Bangladesh, and one each from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tripura and New Jersey.

The venues are Rabindra Sadan, Academy of Fine Arts, Sisir Mancha, Girish Mancha, Madhusudan Mancha, Minerva, Purbasree in Salt Lake and Nazrul Satabarshiki Sadan in Madhyamgram.

The New Jersey show is an adaptation of Badal Sircar’s Pagla Ghora, directed by Amol Palekar with an all-Bengali cast from the Epic Actors’ Workshop, New Jersey. It will be staged on December 26, 6.30pm, Rabindra Sadan.

“What better example of the expanding frontiers of Bengali theatre than a Marathi director choosing to do Pagla Ghora in Bengali even after he has done it earlier in English and Hindi?” said theatre veteran Ashok Mukhopadhyay.

Bengali residents of Allahabad will present Charu (based on Tagore’s Nashta Neer) in Hindi, while Dishari from Pune will present Koshthi Pathor, directed by ex-PLT member Surya Sengupta.

The city plays include some of the reputed names — Nandikar’s Ajnatobas, Chetana’s Nirnoy, Charbak’s Apsara Theatre-er Mamla, Rangakarmee’s Mukti, Sundaram’s Galpo Hekim Saheb, Sayak’s Dournama, PLT’s Kiraat Parba, Mukhomukhi’s Atmakatha, Kalyani Natyacharcha Kendra’s Meyeti and Aneek’s Adventure Kare Koy.