15 new plays in 5 languages

Kalki Koechlin

It's celebration time for theatre lovers. Close on the heels of a theatre festival that concluded recently, the city is ready with a fresh line up. In its sixth edition, Centrestage: Festival of premiering plays, will present 15 acts that are a mix of languages and styles. The 10-day festival will include plays in English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Rajasthani along with an exciting line up of plays, the festival will host a six-day workshop, The Chairs - A challenge to Ionesco, by Theodora Skipitares, award-winning interdisciplinary artiste, based in New York. The workshop will turn Eugène Ionesco's play upside down, creating chairs that are powerful autobiographical performing objects.

Kalki Koechlin at a rehearsal for The Living Room. Pics/Onkar Devlekar

"Each year, Centrestage is curated with the thought to present creative, unique and exceptional works with an edge. We feel proud to host multilingual productions that showcase the diversity and true essence of theatre," says Deepa Gahlot, Head - Programming (Theatre & Film), NCPA. At a recently held preview, we caught a glimpse of some of the acts.

A scene from Ambu and Rajalakshmi

Some of our picks include Miss Cuckoo by Akvarious Production that stars Seema Pahwa in the flawless lead act as a feisty old woman abandoned by her son and daughter-in- law. The Living Room by Kalki Koechlin is an amusing story of a girl who is visited by the God of Death but mistakes this situation as a prank being played on her in a televised reality show. 7/7/07 directed by Faezeh Jalali speaks about women's rights. The Conference of the Birds directed by Heeba Shah, which features a group of birds deciding whether they are better off in a cage or want their freedom. Ambu and Rajalakshmi is a story of two cousin sisters who meet each other after many years, on the occasion of a death in the family. Watch this for the talented, Sadya Siddiqui.

A scene from Parindon ki Mehfil

Gujarati plays, Babot - about a special child whose mother thinks he is almost robotic - and Whatsup? dedicated to Whatsapp is laced with great punch lines, which even non-Gujaratis in the audience will enjoy.