Sonali Mukherjee loves theatre, always has since she was a child. Husband, Surojit, prefers long drives, quick getaways. After 10 years of marriage and a theatre break, Sonali has found a solution.

"Some theatre groups are putting up performances over the weekend in interesting locations, a couple of hours' drive from the city," she says.

Interesting locations, meaning? Daronda, Malda, Santiniketan, Murshidabad, Purulia, Bishnupur... the list is evolving.

Nearly all the places make for pleasant drives. In some cases, one has the option of travelling with the troupe from the city and back. Watch them conduct workshops and performances. Interact with directors and actors. Some trips last more than one night with more than one play on the menu.

Kasba Arghya is a Calcutta-based theatre group known for productions such as Dr Faustus, Andha Yug, Debi Mangal Kabya, Othello and Urubhangam, among others. Performances are in a mix of Bengali, Hindi, English and Sanskrit.

Urubhangam, based on the Mahabharata, is a six-hour play. The group did a show in Birbhum last year that lasted until the early morning hours. As the sun rose, painting the horizon blood red, so did Gandhari's primeval lament. A memorable duet of art and nature, according to those present in the audience.

The next edition is scheduled for December 31.

Parul Ghosh travelled with Kasba Arghya last year. She remembers how even the intervals [of Urubhangam] were so carefully conceived and knit. There were four intervals. A folk performance similar to Teejan Bai's Pandavani, a Hindustani classical song, a Chhau dance and a kirtan.

Says Ghosh, "They were not intervals as we understand them. They were not meant to break the rhythm of the narrative, the story. Each was more like a branching out from the main narrative. It reinforced and nourished the central theme."

"I call this organic theatre," says Manish Mitra, director of Kasba Arghya. "This will not only develop new locations but also give audiences a feel of rural areas," adds veteran director and former National School of Drama boss, Ratan Thiyam.

One such location is Tepantar in Satkahaniya near Panagarh, Bengal's first theatre village. Theatre artiste Kallol Bhattacharya's group Ebong Amra runs it. Spread over four lush acres in Burdwan, it has five permanent cottages to accommodate theatre tourists. There is an open-air stage, a pond and steps leading down to it, a poultry farm and a mango orchard. During the three-day drama festivals in November and March (on Holi), temporary habitats made of straw, clay and bamboo spring up to host as many as 150 tourists.

This December, Mahabharata In the Mango Orchard will be staged at Tepantar. "Vidur and Sanjay, the two protagonists, will be seen emerging out of the earth in the beginning. The Pandavas will vroom about in their bikes. After the war, corpses will be carried out in stretchers," says Bhattacharya.

Scenic and performance designs are conceived keeping in mind the natural surroundings. Lights used at night are natural. Fire torches, clay lamps, candles and huge bonfires. "We want to show that a stage can be more than a conventional proscenium space," he adds.

Mitra of Kasba Arghya wants theatre tourists to also experience how stage productions are developed. At the five-day festival, Lokranga, held in Calcutta every year for the last three years, 200 tribal folk artistes participate. "You can see how we rehearse. How workshops are held. You can talk to our teammates and get a better sense, better view of the methodology. At night, if you want to stay back, you can enjoy folk performances," he says.

"For Urubhangam, I created 18 pyres and female actors emerged covered in ash from behind them. The audience walked with them to the old banyan tree under which Vyasdev was sitting. The effect was electric."

Sanjay Halder, who has recently completed his master's, got a social media alert about a "play under the open skies". Debi Mangal Kabya, a play by Mitra was being staged in Daronda, in a theatre space and resort set up by theatre artiste Partha Gupta.

The Mangrove Theatre group in Basanti island of the Sunderbans is still at a nascent stage. National School of Drama graduate Sajal Mondal, who runs it, plans to start drama tourism in full measure from early next year. Currently, the group puts up performances whenever it has bookings for more than five people. Why the Sunderbans? Because Mondal is from the region. The plays are imbued with elements typical to the terrain and culture of the delta - Bonbibi songs, jhumur and Manasamangal dances.

Locals are also roped in. "We try to incorporate a folk song or a local dance and we let the local tribal or village group perform within the play," says Mondal. Local snacks such as pithe, naaru and steaming cha are served during intervals.

Says Thiyam, "Regional theatre is doing good work with its limited resources and experimenting with nature and environment. The government should help establish platforms for those trying to club performances with tourism."

Way to go, although a fair way yet.