NCPA Presents Pratibimb Marathi Natya Utsav Experimental Theatre Festival, Now thru Aug 6

Begun in 2010, Pratibimb Marathi Natya Utsav was conceptualised to reflect the best of contemporary Marathi theatre. This year, it's experimental theatre festival will run from today, 2 to Tuesday, 6 August. With the aim of promoting Marathi theatre and its understanding, each performance will be followed by a discussion with the cast and crew of the play.

DREAM SOCIETY (90 mins)
Friday, 2nd - 6.30 p.m.
A writer wants to peep into the dreams of other people. The judiciary and the society have prohibited him from trespassing into the territory of other people's dreams. The writer is confused and has bouts of dementia. He can't think of anything new to write about. A crowing rooster makes sounds any time of the day and night and the writer is even more confused between fact and fiction.

Written by Shfaat Khan
Directed by Pradeep Mulye
Cast: Sayaji Shinde, Arun Kakade, Mangesh Kadam, Deepak Damle, Parag Bedekar, Vikrant Kolpe, Vishal Raut andSunil Ranade

An Awishkar Production

MELE UNDIR (120 mins)
Saturday, 3rd - 6.30 p.m.
All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This play crosses the barriers of surface realism and deals with the inner core of human existence, exploring and exposing the turbulent and contradictory ulterior motives. The form of the play is abstract, complex, novel and open, in the sense that it constructs and deconstructs the content and motive, and allows the viewers to enter into it and to interpret in their own way. The disinterring of the play makes it moving and dynamic and reveals different possibilities at different points.

Written by Deelip Jagtap
Directed by Abhijeet Zunjarrao
Cast: N. Ashtaputre, S. Magar, M. Shinde, R. Shirsat, R. Ghadi, R. More, P. Katke, K. Phad, Zabhi and others

An Astitva Production

SHIVACHARITRA ANI EK (100 mins)
Sunday, 4th - 3.00 p.m.

Marathi theatre has always been conscious of social issues. However, it seldom touches on the chronic and bewildering conflict between Brahmins and non-Brahmins. This is a two-part play centred on this very issue, taking into consideration the exhaustive nature of the caste system and the necessity and possibility of transcending it. Traditional forms such as kirtan and powada are used.

Written by Dr. Sadanand More (Part 1) and Dharmakirti Sumant (Part 2)
Directed by Aalok Rajwade
Cast: Sunil Sukathankar, Sachin Patil, Sayalee Phatak, Virat Madke, Pushkaraj Chirputkar, Prayag Varpe and others.

A Natak Company (Pune) Production

EK DIWAS MATHAKADE (70 mins)
Sunday, 4th - 6.30 p.m.

A young man in the prime of his life is searching for something... something within him, but he isn't looking in the right direction. He needs someone to guide him. He seeks his own personal guide in every person he meets; someone his father could never be. During this search, he meets an older man. Both of them have lost someone very important in their lives recently: the young man has lost his mother and the older man has lost his wife. They pull towards each other in their personal worlds to help understand the meaning of various events in their life, and to arrive at a way forward.

Written by Satish Alekar
Directed by Nipun Dharmadhikari
Cast: Girish Kulkarni, Amey Wagh and Parna Pethe

A Natak Company (Pune) Production

KHOON KARAYCHAY (120 mins)
Monday, 5th - 6.30 p.m.

Rajwade, a successful writer of detective murder-mystery novels, and struggling actor Ajay Talwalkar have something in common: Rajwade's wife Sai. In an attempt to find a way out of this without costing Rajwade a fortune in alimony, Rajwade proposes that Ajay steal her jewellery simulating a burglary. Ajay would make a fortune selling the jewels to an intermediary, and Rajwade would be reimbursed by the insurance company, and would not have to pay alimony. They find out too late that the whole situation was part of an evil game.

Written by Sameer Garud (based on Anthony Shaffer's Tony-winning Sleuth)
Directed by Rohan Gujar and Amey Borkar
Cast: Rohan Gujar and Amey Borkar

A Stage Players Theatre Production

IN MIN TEEN (70 mins)
Tuesday, 6th - 6.30 p.m.

There are three benches in a park. Three persons come to this place at different times and each one wants to sit on the particular bench, which is already occupied by another. For this, they start arguing and it turns into a great squabble, proving what psychologists say: there is a hidden beast in every person.

In Min Teen is based on a one-act play The Park, originally written by Manav Kaul in Hindi and translated by Pravin Bhole to Marathi.
Written by Manav Kaul
Marathi Translation by Pravin Bhole
Directed by Aniruddha Khutwad
Cast: Aniket Pandkar, Jayesh Shevalkar, Manasi Karandikar, Sanjeev Kolhatkar and Vivek Pandkar

A Theatre Space (Baramati) Production

Tickets will cost `180 & 135/- for members and `200 & 150/- for the public. The box office is now open. To use the online booking facility simply log on http://www.ncpamumbai.com/buy-tickets or visit www.bookmyshow.com.

For more information, visit www.ncpamumbai.com.