Shillong: The National School of Drama (NSD), an autonomous institution under the Union ministry of culture, organised the Meghalaya chapter of the 25th Bharat Rang Mahotsav — the world’s largest international theatre festival — at the West Garo Hills district library auditorium in Tura.The festival was held from Jan 27 to Feb 20, featuring over 277 productions across 228 Indian and international languages.
Chittaranjan Tripathy, director of NSD, said, “The beautiful state of Meghalaya has produced many theatrical talents and is a great place for nurturing art and culture. The theme of the 25th Bharat Rang Mahotsav is ‘Samvad Sanskritiyon Ka’, which focuses on fostering dialogue among various cultures. In pursuit of this vision, we have introduced several underrepresented languages and dialects this time and have tried to make theatre as inclusive as possible. The Tura edition of the festival is a wonderful addition to that effort.”The Tura edition featured two plays on Feb 17. The first was ‘Ku Bilbat Muni’ (Nightmare of Using Mobile Phones by Children), a Garo-language play written and directed by Balsrame A Sangma and presented by A-Chik Theatre, Tura.The second production, ‘The Wise Creature’, was a multilingual play written and directed by Jyoti Narayan Nath and presented by Anubhav — The Actors Guild, Guwahati. The play offered a compelling theatrical experience by blending multiple languages and perspectives, showcasing the richness of regional theatre traditions.“The drama festival concluded on a high note, providing an enriching cultural experience to audiences in Meghalaya and bringing together performers and theatre enthusiasts in a vibrant celebration of storytelling and stagecraft,” the organisers said in a statement.
