Thespo is back!
The popular theatre festival will be held in the city soon
It was a bleak moment for the theatre world when news of Thespo falling into discontinuation started doing the rounds. But thanks to the theatre fraternity's constant support, Thespo is now back with a bang. Last year when the festival was facing extinction, the community came together to save the festival. Thus Friends of Thespo was born. 'Thespo 13 — Theatre Tera Mera' will witness workshops, live band performances, platform performances and full length plays. Four new plays in English and Marathi have been selected from 95 plays across seven cities that include Cock (English), Ek Don Adhich (Marathi), Patient (Marathi) and Janhit Mein Jaari (Marathi).
Manan Mehta, one of the festival directors, says, "It was a difficult time for us. Corporate support has been hard to come by, and last year we were struggling even more than usual. And then suddenly individuals started contributing. The festival was saved by 'Friends of Thespo' that is now a community of theatre lovers who believe that they should support the next generation of thespians. It began last year as a plea and has evolved this year into a committed community of people who have an active role to play in the future of this nation's performing arts."
Ask him if theatre personalities have come forward to help and Manan says, "The theatre fraternity has always been our biggest shoulder to lean on. In fact, that has become a feature of the festival, where theatrewallahs of tomorrow get an opportunity to interact with theatrewallahs of today."
The Mumbai theatre circuit has largely seen plays in the comedy genre. But the trend seems to be changing now. Manan agrees, "For a long time, particularly in English and Hindi theatre, the Mumbai circuit was dominated by comedies. But now, serious plays have begun to do a much higher volume of shows than ever before."
At Thespo, workshops will be led by theatre person Alyque Padamsee, actor-director Faezeh Jalali and RJ Rohini Ramanathan. Director David Hirst is slated to be present and UK's Kipper Tie Theatre will be represented by Bernie Byrnes and Jim Fowler. Arundhati and Jagdish Raja will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The popular theatre festival will be held in the city soon
It was a bleak moment for the theatre world when news of Thespo falling into discontinuation started doing the rounds. But thanks to the theatre fraternity's constant support, Thespo is now back with a bang. Last year when the festival was facing extinction, the community came together to save the festival. Thus Friends of Thespo was born. 'Thespo 13 — Theatre Tera Mera' will witness workshops, live band performances, platform performances and full length plays. Four new plays in English and Marathi have been selected from 95 plays across seven cities that include Cock (English), Ek Don Adhich (Marathi), Patient (Marathi) and Janhit Mein Jaari (Marathi).
Manan Mehta, one of the festival directors, says, "It was a difficult time for us. Corporate support has been hard to come by, and last year we were struggling even more than usual. And then suddenly individuals started contributing. The festival was saved by 'Friends of Thespo' that is now a community of theatre lovers who believe that they should support the next generation of thespians. It began last year as a plea and has evolved this year into a committed community of people who have an active role to play in the future of this nation's performing arts."
Ask him if theatre personalities have come forward to help and Manan says, "The theatre fraternity has always been our biggest shoulder to lean on. In fact, that has become a feature of the festival, where theatrewallahs of tomorrow get an opportunity to interact with theatrewallahs of today."
The Mumbai theatre circuit has largely seen plays in the comedy genre. But the trend seems to be changing now. Manan agrees, "For a long time, particularly in English and Hindi theatre, the Mumbai circuit was dominated by comedies. But now, serious plays have begun to do a much higher volume of shows than ever before."
At Thespo, workshops will be led by theatre person Alyque Padamsee, actor-director Faezeh Jalali and RJ Rohini Ramanathan. Director David Hirst is slated to be present and UK's Kipper Tie Theatre will be represented by Bernie Byrnes and Jim Fowler. Arundhati and Jagdish Raja will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
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