#TGLife
The ongoing 21st International Theater Festival of India, Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2020, which is the largest theatre festival of Asia, has invited Goa’s treater group Abhivyaktee to participate in the traditional production section where Abhivyaktee will present Vedharan (Kaalo) on February 16 at 6 pm at the National School of Drama complex.
Briefing on the group’s performance in Delhi, Saish Deshpande, founder and director, Vedharan informed that this prestigious theatre festival has invited 91 productions, out of which 10 are foreign and 12 are based on the theme of traditional and folk productions.
The 1.20 minute play Vedharan is written by Anagha Deshpande and casts 24 Goan artists, young as well as veterans. Saish, who has also given music for the play, shares, “Vedharan focuses on the story of Shankhasur, who stole the Vedas and restricted the flow of ancient knowledge to his subjects. The story highlights on the chaos that engulfs the kingdom and how common man suffers due to ignorance.”
Sending a loud and clear message the play ends with a note that knowledge should be imparted without any prejudice or restriction and it is the right of every person to educate himself.
“We have incorporated contemporary situations and pin pointed that universities should be centers of education and not of politics. Also, we have added the episode form of Kaala, our traditional Goan folk theatre art to the story to make it contemporary while retaining what is traditionally Goan,” says Saish, who has been encouraging budding talents in Goa to showcase their art to the world by focusing on meaningful theatre as well as Goan folk and traditional theatre. He is thankful for the guidance regarding the form (Kaalo) offered to the play by veterans, folklore writer and researcher Vinayak Khedekar and musicologist Pandit Ulhas Velingkar.
For the past 21 years Abhivyaktee works towards inculcating the love and knowledge of classical, traditional folk forms of art into the young generation of performing, theatre artists.
To be invited to present their theatre art in the prestigious Bharat Rang Mahotsav is an honour, feels Saish, as this festival was initiated two decades ago by the National School of Drama to stimulate the growth and development of theatre across the country.
Originally a national festival showcasing the work of most creative theater workers in India, it has evolved to international scope, hosting theatre companies from around the world, and is now the largest theatre festival of Asia.
“To be able to present our Goan traditional theatre art form Kaalo before an international audience is indeed, a thing to feel proud about and I am thankful for the guidance offered by Khedekar and Velingkar,” maintains Saish, recalling that Abhivyaktee was invited by the ministry of Culture to present the classical Indian play ‘Swapnavasavdatta’ at the Theatre Olypmics at Guwahati in 2018.
