National Centre for the Peforming Arts Presents ANANDA: HINDI NATYA UTSAV This Weekend

The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Mumbai, widely recognized for its support and encouragement to theatre in all languages, is proud to host the fourth edition of its Hindi theatre festival 'NCPA Ananda: Hindi Natya Utsav', from today, 1st May to 4th May 2014. NCPA Ananda will present a selection of delightful Hindi plays directed by Rakesh Bedi, Rohit Tiwari, Gouri Dutt and Ram Gopal Bajaj.

Ananda, meaning happiness or pleasure, is an apt title for a festival revolving around the joy of good theatre. It is an ongoing annual feature of NCPA's calendar which showcases plays that have strong literary roots.This year, the festival will comprise of a fine selection of Hindi plays by some of Mumbai's best.

Ms. Deepa Gahlot, Head of Programming (Theatre and Film), NCPA, says,"At NCPA, it is our constant endeavor to offer our audiences quality performances spanning across genres and languages. Since 2011, NCPA Ananda has aimed to present the best of Hindi theatre to our audience. This year too the festival presents a small section of Mumbai's Hindi theatre at its creative best."

A full schedule of events follows:

Experimental Theatre
Simla Coffee House
Thursday, 1st - 7.00 pm

In a small secluded joint somewhere on the foothills of Simla, a coffee house is managed by a waiter called Satish Kashyap. Anupchander comes to this place often to write his novels. He has been writing a series titled "Tere Chhall" which is extremely popular. Rahul Verma, an ardent fan of the writer, confronts him at the coffee house, as he does not agree with certain points in the series. The conversation starts at a very cordial note but later takes violent proportions. The waiter also intrudes during the conflict and becomes an integral part of the drama. The play has psycho-comic moments and tries to depict how society and literature are counter images of each other.

Simla Coffee House is written and directed by Rakesh Bedi. The cast features Asif Sheikh, Rakesh Bedi, Avtar Gill, Nivedita Baunthiyal and S.M. Zaheer. Simla Coffee House is an Indian People's Theatre Association Production

The Return of Baijaneehapinala
Friday, 2nd - 7.00 pm

A musical comedy for children and adults set in the fantasy land of Bejaneehapinalapur, a colorful kingdom which turns black and white overnight. The only way to bring the colors back is to travel through seven different fairy tales-- Red Riding Hood for red, Great Big Pumpkin for orange, Indigo Jackal for indigo and so on. The play is a humorous, fun-filled, adventurous, and sometimes dangerous journey of a princess, a boy and soldier in quest of these colors.

The Return of Baijaneehapinala is written and directed by Rohit Tiwari. The cast features Abbas Syed, Aditya Banerjee, Ankit Sharma, AnuragJha, Anurag Thakur, Devyani Dagaonkar, IdrakQureshi, Kamal Singh and others. The play is a JTPAC and Theatre Walls Production.

Outsider
Saturday, 3rd - 7.00 pm

Based on L'Etranger by Albert Camus, the play is about M, a man who gets involved in a violent murder. As his story unfolds we see the journey of a man as he struggles against an indifferent world. A stranger on the beach picks up a stranded shell and hears in it the secrets of the ocean. He is returning home after twenty years, remembering along the way all the secrets he uncovered that were hidden away in those grains of sand. Two stories... two lives that flow in and out of each other to represent that one life is good as another.

Outsider is written and directed by Gouri Dutt. The cast features Kumud Mishra, Ujjawal Chopra, Narottam Bain, Dilshaad Edibum Khurana, Jaihind Kumar, Ghanshyam Lalsa and others. Outsider is a 'D For Drama' Production.

Kaamiya
Sunday, 4th - 7pm

Winner of the Sultan Padamsee Award, KAAMIYA is invested with overtones of the seventies and the society of its author. Although making hilarious comments on the upbringing in a conventional Punjabi household, it highlights the isolation a woman must face if she necessarily wants to find herself. Beginning where Ibsen's Nora (Dolls House) leaves off, the play is about the space to grow that a society denies its women.

The original playwright is Kamla Kapur. This production features translation and direction by Ram Gopal Bajaj. The cast features Preeta Mathur Thakur, Aman Gupta, Kanika Dang, Laxmi Rawat Accher, Shilpa Shilpi Kartik and Ram Gopal Bajaj. Kaamiya is an Ank Production.

Opening its doors to the world in 1969, the NCPA became the first multi-venue and multi-purpose cultural centre to be built in South Asia. Vibrant and diverse, the NCPA today is recognized by artistes, patrons and media alike as India's premier performing arts institution. The Centre provides a fine showcase for India's rich performing arts traditions, all thanks to the institution's training and research initiatives.

The NCPA presents over 600 events each year across all major art forms, most notably Indian Music, International Music, Theatre and Film, Dance, and Literature, Visual Arts and Photography. There are Heads of Programming for each of these art forms who curate innovative events and festivals; representative of everything from classical to contemporary throughout the year. The NCPA produces its own programmes as well as collaborates with leading cultural promoters from around the world.

In 2011, the NCPA created and hosted its first-ever Hindi theatre festival NCPA Ananda Hindi Natya Utsav. The festival, held in May, showcases original Hindi plays that have strong literary roots. Ananda means happiness or pleasure. The plays at this festival are new, fresh and unique in form, style and content.

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