The stage is set

Centrestage, NCPA’s annual theatre festival is ready and raring to go with its sixth edition that kicks off next week. Over the years, the festival has become synonymous with providing space for young theatre artists to showcase their work on one of the most prestigious platforms in the city. Staying true to tradition, this year too, audiences will get to see a mix of languages, theatre styles and subjects in the plays that are going to be staged. Fifteen plays in Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Rajasthani will be premiering in the 10-day festival. Deepa Gahlot, programming head, film and theatre, NCPA, said, “Each year, Centrestage is curated with an aim to present exceptional, edgy works. We feel proud to host multi-lingual productions that showcase the diversity and true essence of theatre.”

There will also be a six-day workshop alongside the plays, which will be conducted by Theodora Skipitares, an award-winning theatre artist from New York. The workshop will turn upside down Eugene Ionesco’s iconic play The Chairs, where the chairs by themselves will transform into individual performing objects.

Among the plays that will be premiering at the Centrestage this year, is noted theatre artist Heeba Shah with her first directorial attempt Parindon Ki Mehfil (English). “The last time I directed a play was in school. I have been acting all my life. I didn’t see actors as directors, until now of course,” she says with a smile. The play is an adaptation of Persian poet Farid-ud-Din Attar’s The Conference of Birds. “In 1979, there was a Peter Brook production of The Conference of Birds. This is a continuation of that, we have written a whole new script. It’s about birds in search of their king. It can be interpreted in many ways, I don’t want to give away too much at this moment.” Her last brush with Centrestage was when she had acted in a play titled Status Quo, directed by Zubin Driver. “This play now happened by accident. I called Deepa (Gahlot) and just at that time a group had cancelled. So we were in,” Heeba says. And how different is Centrestage from the Prithvi Theatre Festival, we ask her. “They are both committed to theatre. Of course there’ll be structural differences. But at the end of the day, they are like siblings.” Her first directorial attempt has been smooth sailing so far. She says she has got some very valuable inputs from her father (Naseeruddin Shah) too. “He helped massively in the last scene. And he keeps coming and giving talks to the cast now and again, tells them things I forget to. My mum (Ratna Pathak) also does that.”

Seema Pahwa has been associated with the festival for some time now. Her play Saag Meat received good feedback last year and this year she’s back in Miss Cuckoo. Speaking of the play, the veteran theatre artiste says, “It’s loosely inspired from the life and times of this dancer-singer in the 60s. The play is about an artiste who is struggling with her lost stardom, and then someone offers her a chance to make a comeback.” Humour has been a binding factor in Seema’s work and this play is no exception. “Some subjects are so dark, that they have to be presented with a dash of humour.” Among other draws of the festival is Kalki Koechlin’s directorial venture The Living Room starring Jim Sarbh. She stepped in as the actress at the press preview of the play, where Jim and she performed one scene that drew several guffaws from the audience. One Marathi play, Spandan (Taalim) and two Gujarati plays Whatsup (Ideas Unlimited) and Babot (Utopia Communications) also feature in the list of premieres.

From November 27 to December 6, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts.

For the complete schedule log on to: www.ncpamumbai.com