CELEBRATING DIVERSITY IN THEATRE

The first Manam Theatre Festival, being held in Hyderabad, hopes to empower the city's diverse community

- Avantika Bhuyan

For nearly a month since Friday, Hyderabad is set to be immersed in theatre—from non-verbal performances and masked puppetry to monologues and docu-plays. The inaugural edition of the Manam Theatre Festival features 18 shows across four venues by visiting and home troupes, besides talks, workshops and demonstrations.

There’s a diversity in formats, aesthetics and themes. For instance, both Rest Of The Story and Bhoomi focus on pertinent social issues, yet the treatment is different. In the latter, Puducherry-based group Adishakti, led by Vinay Kumar, looks at sexual assault and power politics at the workplace through a play within a play. The performance is powered by music and movement. In Rest Of The Story, students of the department of theatre, University of Hyderabad, offer their own interpretation of Badal Sircar’s original script of Baaki Itihaas (1965). Deliberate alterations have been made to the script by toning down existentialist elements and rooting it in the contemporary.