The Sabhagar Theatre Festival in association with t2 is back, and this edition explores the theme of ‘Searching for Sanity’. Over the course of three days, the festival, to be held at GD Birla Sabhagar, will deal with the idea of sanity through two plays and a stand-up act, covering social, political, mythological and biological elements.
What: Sateroi July
When: March 23, 6.30pm
Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes
Tickets: Priced at Rs 300, Rs 200 and Rs 100, available on bookmyshow.com and at the venue (11am to 6pm)
What: NRI (Not Really Indian) — stand-up comedy by Dubai-based Nitin Mirani
When: March 24, 6.30pm
Duration: 70 minutes
Tickets: Priced at Rs 1,500, Rs 1,000, Rs 700, Rs 500 and Rs 200, available on bookmyshow.com and at the venue (11am to 6pm)
What: Shikhandi — The Story of the In-Betweens
When: March 25, 6.30pm
Duration: 90 minutes
Tickets: Priced at Rs 2,000, Rs 1,500, Rs 1,000, Rs 700, Rs 500 and Rs 200, available on bookmyshow.com and at the venue (11am to 6pm).
Written by Bratya Basu (left) in the wake of the 2002 Gujarat riots, Sateroi July tells the story of a group of youngsters falsely accused in a rape case and the courtroom drama that follows. Basu plays the protagonist, Rakesh Chatterjee, the lawyer defending the youths, while Biplab Bandyopadhyay (right) plays the prosecutor, Pankaj Parekh. Having wowed audiences back in 2004, the play has only recently returned to stage courtesy Thealovers, an organisation dedicated to producing one-act plays and participating in theatre competitions. The play, in its second run, is being directed by Debasish Dutta, who has also designed the set.
NRI (Not Really Indian) is a hilarious look at stand-up comic Nitin Mirani’s life as an NRI. Mirani was born in Mumbai but grew up in Dubai, and the show takes you on a ride with him, as he talks about the people he has met and the conversations he has had around the globe. The concoction of his experiences — bizarre and embarrassing — and his relationships, is a sure-fire recipe for a laugh-out-loud evening. The Comedian of The Year 2017-18 at the Esquire Middle East Man At His Best Awards has a simple disclaimer about the act that says “contains things you are thinking but would never say”. Sounds insane? Well, that’s the point!
Named after Shikhandi, a character in the Mahabharata, who was a princess named Amba in the previous birth and had been reborn to be the cause of Bhishma’s death, Shikhandi — The Story of the In-Betweens is a modern, comic retelling of the story. It explores gender identities, exposes stereotypes and is an attempt to make us think about our prejudices vis-a-vis those “in between”. Produced by National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) and theatre collective FATS TheArts, it was awarded Best Play at the Laadli Media Awards 2017 and was runner-up at the Sultan Padamsee Playwriting Awards 2016. FATS TheArts founder Faezeh Jalali has written and directed the play, which features Meher Acharia-Dar, Nikhil Murali, Karan Desai, Mahnaz Damania, Srishti Shrivastava and Vikrant Dhote.
