SAATH Festival to Return for Fifth Year at Mosesian Center for the Arts
The three-day event will honor late Off-Kendrik member Jayanta Mukhopadhyay with plays in multiple South Asian languages.
Off-Kendrik, the Boston-based nonprofit dedicated to serving the South Asian community through Art, Theater, and Storytelling, is back with the fifth annual South Asian American Theater (SAATh) Festival, September 18-20 at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown.
Saath means “coming together”, and the three-day celebration aims to bring people of all backgrounds together for multilingual theatre and cultural expression from across the South Asia diaspora. Tickets are on sale now at saathfest.com.
“As the world around us gets more challenging and complex, Off-Kendrik has realized the necessity of creating a platform for opening dialogues and building partnerships between communities,” said SAATh Artistic Director Sankha Bhowmick.
SAATh brings together creative groups from across the country, performing original productions. The narratives from these shows address a range of issues in multiple languages, including the complexities of love, morality, mental illness, homelessness and much more.
The festival is more than a celebration of multiculturalism; it offers insight into the diversity of the South Asian-American diaspora and provides a rare opportunity for education and enrichment. Every performance will be super-captioned in English, making it accessible for all audiences.
This year's festival will honor the memory of longtime Off-Kendrik member Jayanta Mukhopadhyay. Apart from acting, Jayanta also brought his directorial skills and song-writing talent to many Off-Kendrik productions. His vision created “Naksha”, an experimental series of skits that introduced many of the current Off-Kendrik family into the group. He directed productions such as Aleek Rasta and Mr. Sashmal, and his songs, which he wrote and composed, were featured in street theater formats such as Khelure and in shows like Lokkhoner Shaktishel, Dikchihnoheen, and many others. He was instrumental in bringing Off-Kendrick's South Asian America Theater Festival to fruition. His wife Mahua and sons Maitrayan and Reetahan embraced his philosophy and were a constant presence and support at Off-Kendrik events.
“This year's SAATh will be the legacy of Jayanta. We all need to remember his tireless effort to make this event successful and try to emulate his energy. Coming together, we can preserve and continue his legacy of SAATh,” said Bhowmick.
SAAThFest 2026 Schedule Includes:
Friday, September 18,
- 6:30 PM: Inauguration
- 7:00 PM: Multilingual Minithon: Short plays in six different languages
Saturday, September 19, 2:00 - 9:30 PM
- 2:15 PM: Aadhi Raat k Baad – Hindi play by Mandi Theater (Chicago)
- 3:45 PM: Den to Water & The River Swells – English plays by Kids-Kendrik (Boston)
- 4:50 PM: American Bhoot – English play by Colab Arts (NJ), written and directed by Dan Swern
- 6:15 PM: Bottoms Up – Bengali play by Spotlight (Ohio)
- 7:30 PM: Tringsha Shatabdi – Bengali play by Off-Kendrik (Boston)
Sunday, September 20, 2:00 - 8:00 PM
- 1:30 PM: Panel Discussion
- 2:45 PM: Thaniyavarnatham – Malayalam play (Boston)
- 3:45 PM: Modern Love Jaisa – Hindi Play by KrossRoads (Boston)
- 5:15 PM: Aranyak – Marathi play by Natyaranga (Boston)
- 6:30 PM: Sakharam Binder – English play by Epic Actors (NJ)
Off-Kendrik is a 501(c)(3) Non-profit organization serving the South-Asian community of the Boston/New England area through Art, Theater, and Storytelling for today and tomorrow. In addition to SAATh, Off-Kendrick produces original plays written and performed in Bangla, workshops for artists, actors, and playwrights, and Voices, a storytelling series that brings South Asian immigrant voices to the American experience.
The South-Asian American Theater Festival will take place September 18-20 at the Mosesian Center for the Arts (321 Arsenal St, Watertown, MA 02472). Tickets are on sale now at saathfest.com.
