51-day Theatre Olympics opens on Feb 17, will be showcased in 17 cities

India is all set to host an international Theatre Olympics for the first time, from February 17.

Themed "Flag of Friendship", the eighth edition of the 51-day long mega theatre extravaganza and contest will be inaugurated at the Red Fort in Delhi at 6.30 PM by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. The fest, being held under the aegis of the National School of Drama (NSD), will conclude on April 8 with a grand ceremony at the iconic Gateway of India in Mumbai.

The theatre fest will travel to a total of 17 cities across the country, including Bengaluru, with 450 shows, 600 "ambience" performances and 250 power packed youth forum shows. A total of 2,500 artistes from across the globe, including India, will participate in the mega event.

Theatre artistes from 30 countries, including US, UK, Japan and Israel, will participate in the contest.

Pakistan will not be represented as none of the five plays entered by artistes from the neighbouring country could qualify, according to the NSD.

In view of the Theatre Olympics, the annual 'Rang Mahotsava' of the NSD will not be held this year.

"This is a historic moment. India will get the opportunity to showcase its talent. The variety, forms, depth, styles, practices and philosophy that India has in performing arts is perhaps not available in any other country in the world. Rang Mahotsava will continue to be held from next year," NSD director Waman Kendre told reporters.

"We will try to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the closing ceremony in Mumbai," Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said.

Bengaluru leg  

The Bengaluru leg of the theatre fest will be from February 20 to March 6. A total of 13 plays in various languages, including English, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada, will be staged at Ravindra Kalakshetra, 10 plays at Kalagram and two at Kalagram open lawn.

A national seminar on theatre will be held in Bengaluru. One seminar each will also be held in Bhopal, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kolkata and Varanasi.

"One international seminar each will be held in Delhi and Mumbai. These seminars will be attended by national and international academicians and scholars along with several eminent theatre practitioners," the NSD director said.

Hall of fame

Foreign invitees for the event include  Theodoros Terzopoulos, chairman of the International Committee of Theatre Olympics, Greece. Among the Indian theatre maestros are Ratan Thiyam, Alyque Padamsee, Rudraprasad Sengupta, M K Raina, Raj Bisaria, Bansi Kaul, Tripurari Sharma, Maya Rao and Soumitra Chatterjee.

The Olympics brings together productions of well-known theatre practitioners from around the world. It was established in Delphi, Greece in 1993 at the initiative of noted Greek theatre director Theodorus Terzopoulos.

The first country to host the Olympics was Greece in 1995 and the last mega carnival of theatre was held in Poland in 2016.