<img title="&lsquo;Cyclewala&rsquo; Akram Feroze interacts with the audience during the Metta International Festival at Kalina campus of Mumbai university. Pic/Sneha Kharabe" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2016/sep/Akram-Feroze.jpg" alt="&lsquo;Cyclewala&rsquo; Akram Feroze interacts with the audience during the Metta International Festival at Kalina campus of Mumbai university. Pic/Sneha Kharabe" /> &lsquo;Cyclewala&rsquo; Akram Feroze interacts with the audience during the Metta International Festival at Kalina campus of Mumbai university. Pic/Sneha Kharabe
Theatre artistes all over the world have come together in an attempt to &lsquo;dissolve&rsquo; borders and establish liberty, equality, fraternity and justice at the Metta International Festival, hosted by the University of Mumbai at its Kalina campus.
<img title="Girish Ingle, President of the Parivartan Foundation (right) Hayk Sekoyan of the group &lsquo;Theatre for Change&rsquo; from Armenia" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2016/sep/Girish-Ingle.jpg" alt="Girish Ingle, President of the Parivartan Foundation (right) Hayk Sekoyan of the group &lsquo;Theatre for Change&rsquo; from Armenia" />Girish Ingle, President of the Parivartan Foundation (right) Hayk Sekoyan of the group &lsquo;Theatre for Change&rsquo; from Armenia
Breaking boundaries Rwanda, Mozambique, the African Republic, Armenia, Nepal and Sri Lanka are the final participants. &ldquo;The festival was planned over more than two years. A lot of effort has gone into it,&rdquo; said Girish Ingle, President of the Parivartan Foundation, Mumbai, one of the partners of the event.
&ldquo;The reason this festival is called Metta, which in Balinese means friendship, is because we want to send out a message that we are one and love has no language or barrier.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The response has been unbelievable. On the first day, when Sri Lanka performed on a topic about marriage, sex and love, the audience gave the team a standing ovation,&rdquo; Ingle said.
The Armenian group shared several commonalities with Indians, including the Indo-Pak rivalry. Hayk Sekoyan of the group &lsquo;Theatre for Change&rsquo; said, &ldquo;In 1915, there was a genocide in our country. We have strained relations with a quite a few of our neighbours. What we share with them is quite similar to what Indians share with the Pakistanis.&rdquo;
Cyclewala naatak Among the many groups was an Indian storyteller, famous as Cyclewala, who, through his &lsquo;invisible theatres&rsquo;, has been travelling across the country, telling stories of war, identities, freedom and the need to fight authorities.
&ldquo;The best way to communicate during times of resistance and intolerance is through theatre. The power of theatre lies in the fact that it can change minds. What I try to do is through absurdity create a dialogue among people. When people saw me travelling to cities, borders, telling stories, they wondered why I was doing it, what was the purpose&hellip; in the process, they learnt &lsquo;what&rsquo; I was trying to say and start a discussion,&rdquo; said Akram Feroze.

Theatre artistes from African nations, Armenia, Sri Lanka gather at Kalina campus &lsquo;to establish liberty, equality, fraternity and justice&rsquo;

Putting global issues on centre 'stage'

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