Elephant on the stage

The story of the elephant that travelled to Vienna, is just one of the plays at Pratibimb, the Marathi theatre festival at NCPA. Others include a play that was first staged in the 1970s and another in the 1940s

Marathi theatre connoisseurs in the city have something to look forward to in the next few days. NCPA is back with Pratibimb Marathi Natya Utsav, its annual Marathi theatre festival. Starting from August 5, five Marathi plays will be staged till August 9. This year's edition has a focusu00a0-- that of revivals. Amongst the five plays, three are revivals of classics. These include Jaswandi, Moruchi Maushi and Lovebirds. About the plays, Deepa Gahlot, Head-Programming (Theatre and Film), NCPA, says, "In the last few years a trend has emerged in Marathi theatre. A lot of the recent plays are revivals of old hits. So we decided to keep this as a focus this year."

Shot of a rehearsal from Jaswandi

Jaswandi, which will be the opening play of the festival on August 5, was first produced in the 1970s. It tells the story of a lonely wife who begins to have an affair with a younger man. Moruchi Maushi, on the other hand, is an even older play. It was first staged sometime in the 1940s. The play is a comedy, where two roommates host a party in their house and dress up another male roommate as one of their aunts. It will be held at NCPA on August 6. Lovebirds is considered to be another classic. It was staged sometime in the 1980s and will be performed at NCPA on Tuesday. This one is a thriller, which explores the belief, that when a lovebird dies, the partner will not live for long. Here, a man loses his memory and his wife and secretary try to help him. But he soon learns of a serious crime committed before his memory loss.u00a0

Gahlot adds that while the focus was on revivals, the plays were also chosen keeping in mind the need to showcase variety. Gajab Kahani, which will be performed on August 7, for instance, is an adaptation of a novel. Called The Elephant's Journey, the novel was written by Nobel Prize-winning author Jos ufffd Saramago. Here, Solomon the elephant and his mahout make a long journey from Lisbon to Vienna. The two travel through various landscapes, and meet villagers and townsfolk who variously interpret the sudden enigma of an elephant entering their lives.

The other play, Mister Behram, which will be staged on the last day of the festival, explores the relationship between a mentor and his disciple. Set in the 1890s, the play centres around a rich Parsi lawyer and the tribal boy he adopts. Gahlot says, "All these plays are immensely interesting and make for an eclectic mix. They showcase, in many ways, the best of Marathi theatre."u00a0
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At: August 5-9, NCPA, Nariman Point
Call: 66223737