Bhubaneswar: The ongoing Theatre Olympics is gathering momentum in the city.
This year, Bhubaneswar is one of the co-hosts of the largest international theatre festival that is being hosted in India for the first time.
The eight edition of the festival began here on Saturday with the staging of the play Galpo Hekim Saheb, a Bengali play by theatre artiste, playwright and director Manoj Mitra.
Over the fortnight, theatre lovers can watch a series of 14 performances, including specially invited plays from renowned theatre artistes. "With the festival, we attempt to bridge the borders across countries through the call of theatre and engage in creating a global village," said Arjun Deo Charan, acting chairman of National School of Drama Society.
Apart from the plays, a number of street plays and folk art forms were also showcased from 3pm to 6pm on the auditorium premises.
The 51-day-long nationwide theatre extravaganza was inaugurated at Red Fort in Delhi on February 17.
With "Flag of Friendship" as its theme, the edition will celebrate universal friendship and human values by showcasing theatre traditions of India and the world.
Waman Kendre, director of National School of Drama feels that the festival is a huge leap towards putting Indian theatre on the world map.
"Throughout centuries we have seen playwright including Shakespeare and Bertolt Brecht becoming a part of Indian theatre, while despite having our own extraordinary playwrights and theatrical figures, we are still to make the similar impact. We should be proud of our theatre legacy that is more than 2500 years old," he said.
The other plays to be staged during the festival are Aadi VidrohiTilka by Sheikh Kairuddin, Behad Nafrat Ke Dino Mein by Daulat Vaid), Streer Patra by Seema Biswas, Man Of The Heart by Suman Mukhopadhyaya, Katha Karnabhar by Suman Saha), Hiyar Majhe by Kingsuk Bandyopadhyay, Hojang Taret by Oasis Sougaijam, and Elephant In The Room by Yuki Ellias.
Lamenting the lack of auditoriums in the city, co-ordinator of the event Dhira Mallick said: "We have urged the government to set up another auditorium near the old bus stand here. Then we can host more such international festival."
