Cuttack, Aug. 31: Twelve countries will take part in the international theatre festival, which will be organised as a part of the silver jubilee edition of Indian Theatre Olympiad, starting tomorrow in the city.

Utkal Yuva Sanskrutik Sangh organises Indian Theatre Olympiad, a festival of drama, dance and music, in September every year.

The theatre festival will start from September 1 and continue till September 12 at Kala Vikas Kendra. 'On the opening day, Utkal Sanskrutika Parishad of Sunabeda will present an Odia play Baran Nibas Bhala Ranakhetrare. A Kathakali dance performance by Kalamandalam Prasad of Kerala and a play Lost and Found by Studio Znakovi from Serbia will also be presented on the opening ceremony,' dramatist and general secretary of the Sangh Kartik Chandra Rath told The Telegraph.

The national festival of multilingual plays in English, Hindi and regional languages is marked by various trends and the international festival, in which various groups from several countries take part, has been a major attraction.

'Around a hundred diverse cultural groups constituting of more than 2000 performing artistes, including playwrights, directors, classical and folk dancers, vocalists, musicians and critics from about 20 states of India and twelve countries, will take part in the 12-day theatre festival,' Rath said.

He added: 'Groups from Russia, Serbia, Croatia, Georgia, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Morocco, Iran, Bangladesh and Nepal have given their consent to take part in the festival.'

More than 50 plays, along with dance performances, will be presented at the festival. The categories of plays are: contemporary, humorous, historical, mythological, ancient, folk, lyrical, musical, and experimental, children's play, mime and pantomime.

The Indian Theatre Olympiad has been organised for the past 24 years. The department of tourism and culture and the district administration support the event.

'The objective of the festival is to promote theatrical creativity to develop a sense of unity among various cultures across the country and abroad. It also aims to develop national integrity, international amity and universal brotherhood through cross-cultural synthesis and social assimilation,' said the president of the Sangh, Dilip Kumar Patodia.

An Indian classical and folk dance competition and performances on vocal and instrumental music will be a part of the festival. This apart, there will be performances on Odissi, Bharatnatyam, Kuch-ipudi, Mohiniattam, Kathak, Manipuri and various folk dance forms at the event.

Co-ordinator of the Sangh S.K. Kalimullah said: 'During the last 24 years, more than 2,000 playwrights and about 75,000 artistes and directors from to various socio-cultural groups from India and abroad have taken part in the festival.'