Delhi to Host 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav From Jan. 8–22

The 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav, the annual festival of the National School of Drama will be held from Jan 8–22, 2012. A total of 17 contemporary plays on the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore will be showcased during the festival.

The festival will see 97 productions, including 16 foreign plays, at 11 venues in the Indian capital. The festival will open on Jan. 8 with veteran director Ratan Thyam's new production — "King of the Dark Chamber" — an adaptation of Tagore's "Andhakarer Raja."

Apart from the Tagore focus, there will be 79 performances — adaptations, revisiting, improvisations, devised works, traditional and folk-inspired renditions — reflecting the complex and contemporary languages of the theatre practiced in India.

The festival will also host six Indian adaptations of Shakespeare's plays and old favorites like "Adhe Adhure (Mohan Rakesh)". An epic narrative play, "Stories in a Song" by Sunil Shanbag will trace the history of music-making in India.

Two productions from Pakistan, "Insha ka Intezaa (adapted from 'Waiting for Godot'), "Mera Rang de Basanti" (based on the story of Bhagat Singh) and "The Little Prince" from Afghanistan evoke the turmoil that has engulfed the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

Some of participating countries are China, Japan, Turkey, South Africa and Israel.

Tickets for the festival priced at Rs 200, Rs 100 and Rs 50 can be sourced from NSD sales counters and on Bookmyshow.com.