A still from Chand Tara
The 21st edition of the festival, curated by theatre practitioner Mohammad Ali Baig , will run from November 12 to 18.
Curator Mohammad Ali Baig says the intention is to offer audiences a mix of genres and performance styles. “Audiences would prefer a bouquet of a variety of plays — a comedy, a tragedy, a love story on one day, a solo performance the other day, a technically heavy performance some other night, a musical some other night,” he says. One of the festival’s contributions, Baig says, has been introducing new audiences to theatre in Hyderabad.
A comedy one evening, a tragedy the next, followed by a solo performance or a technically elaborate production — this year’s Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival is bringing together different forms of storytelling under one roof. Featuring performers such as Rakesh Bedi, Raghubir Yadav , Shrivardhan Trivedi and Kotla Hanumantha Rao, the festival’s programme spans theatre, cinema and workshops. Having experimented with editions centred on love stories, biographies, mythology and historical subjects, the festival is moving away from a single-theme approach this year. Film screenings:
Festival schedule November 12 — Massage — Featuring actor Rakesh Bedi
Recalling the uncertainty surrounding the response to theatre festival when it first began, he says the event has gradually drawn both regular theatre-goers and first-time audiences. They say that, from now on, they will never miss a play,” he says. “Some youngsters come and say that this was their first festival, their first exposure to theatre.
