1 4 ALL & ALL FOR ONE
15 performances, 7 cities, 1 festival
Ø A new array of workshops conducted by nationally and internationally acclaimed professionals
Ø Ruby and Burjor Patel honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award
28 November 2012, Bombay: The city’s best loved theatre festival returns for its fourteenth edition and this time with a new war cry – One for All, All for One.
The focus for Thespo 14 has been to reach out to as many young theatre
people across the country, and the last six months have been spent
conducting workshops, outreach programmes and activities in numerous
venues across the nation. This resulted in a record number of entries
(97), from a record number of cities (10).
Says Vidisha Kanchan, a member Team Thespo: “We
could be mistaken for the 3 Musketeers, but the motto applies very
strongly to theatre. Everyone contributes and chips in to make the show
go on. This has even been the case with our crowd funding initiative
‘Friends of Thespo’. That’s the beauty of theatre, where everyone
contributes selflessly, and that’s the kind of attitude we want to
inculcate in the next generation. A sense of togetherness and
inclusivity.”
Thespo 14 will run from December 11th to 15th at Prithvi Theatre, and then culminate in an Awards Ceremony on December 16th at NCPA Little Theatre, the highlight of which will be the Lifetime Achievement Award to Ruby & Burjor Patel.
Quasar Thakore Padamsee, one of the ‘oldies’ in Team Thespo, says, “This
year we tried to reach out to cities and people that we haven’t been
able to access in previous years, and the responses this year have been
phenomenal. With Thespo 14, we can truly say we are a National Festival.
And we even have people signing up from Canada to work on the festival.
Theatre is really for all and everyone.”
The
line-up this year includes 15 performances in 3 languages from 7
cities. The full-length plays vying for the coveted Thespos will be God=Father (Marathi, Bombay), Line (Hindi/English, Delhi), Being Sartak Majumdar (English, Bombay), Apradhi Sugandh(Marathi, Pune), and Naav (Marathi, Pune).
Joining
this line up are young performers from Bangalore, Calcutta, Nagpur and
Ahmedabad whose work will be showcased in the bouquet of short plays,
poetry recitations, dance performances and live band performances.
In
keeping with the motto of reaching out to one and all, the Thespo 14
workshops have been designed to cover a wide range of specialties and
are open to any age group. Karl Alphonso, one of the success stories of
Thespo (now a Stage Manager with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the
US), returns to share his learnings in a dynamic workshop called Be Prepared:
about how stage management is the building block of any play.
Actor/director Abhishek Saha will conduct a session on the Brazillian
martial art Capoeira, specialist Oorvazi Irani will conduct an intense workshop on the world renowned Michael Chekov acting technique and Danish Irani will take participants through the wonderful Urdu story telling tradition of Dastangoi.
Says Farid Currim, treasurer of Theatre Group Bombay, the ‘parents’ of Thespo, “Each
year the energy and excitement is palpable. I have moved my other shows
in order to be available to attend Thespo. The themes covered by the
plays this year are wonderful, from felling of a tree, to the influence
of television, to love in the online age. Contemporary topics tackled by
contemporary theatre practitioners.”
The
weeklong festival culminates at the NCPA Little Theatre with the Thespo
14 Awards Night, which will include the special felicitation of theatre
stalwarts Ruby and Burjor Patel, who will be presented with the Thespo
for Lifetime Achievement. It is apt that they receive the award, since
they spent much of their career developing, training and showcasing
young theatre talent. Daisy Irani was one such recipient of their love and nurturing, “They
taught me to respect theatre as a spiritual responsibility and to
respect the team as family. I remember as the youngest one in the team I
was always treated with special love and warmth.”
Truly, Thespo 14 is One for All, and All for One.
Thespo 14.
December 11th to December 15th at Prithvi Theatre. 10am to 11pm.
December 16th: Thespo 14 Awards Night at NCPA Little Theatre. 7pm.
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