The Bharat Rang Mahotsav has a mix of various things. While the street theatre by colleges takes up social issues, the international plays highlight the human conditions that are sometimes specific to a particular country. By Team Viva

The sounds of Kerala’s Panchvadyam musical form echoed in the Kamani Auditorium as Bharat Rang Mahotsav, the annual theatre festival of National School of Drama (NSD) marked the opening of the festival, which is now in its 20th edition.

The play Karanth ke Rang, directed by Amod Bhatt, was a medley of songs composed by late B.V. Karanth, a stalwart of Kannada and Hindi theatre.

During the Mahotsav there are two distinct streaks this year — the participation of 54 colleges which will be performing street plays on different issues which are wide ranging — from Article 377 to the deteriorating conditions of roads, to terrorism and body shaming to sex education and the condition of rag pickers — all the issues occupied centrestage. Colleges — from the Delhi university as well as those affiliated with other universities showcased their talent.

The other distinct thread is that of directors from different countries who have offerings that have a distinct flavour of that country. So there is Alien  being staged by Galiaskar Kamal Tatar National Academic Theatre, Russia in the Tatar language which looks at life of people after the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the USSR. Soldiers captured during the Second World War who refused to cross over to the side of fascist Germany were first sent to concentration caps of Hitler and after the collapse of the Third Reich became prisoners of the Stalin's GULAG. Some never returned. Naqip, the main character of the play, stayed in Canada and organised a kind of a Tatar village. Most Indians are not aware of this incident in the the pages of history and the play provides an insight into it. And then there is Charahaukosammelan (Conference of the birds) from, Nepal which imagines that the birds from all over the world gather in a conference to debate upon a crisis. Maybe humans need to take lessons from the birds to save the planet.

On the other hand there is Dear Elena Sergeevna from Russia, deals with the exam system and the obsession with marks where children who have not written their papers well break into the house of their teacher and at first they demand the key to the safe in which the examination papers, then they try bribe her and in the end threaten to blackmail her.

Another play from Mexico too talks about students but in a different context. Desaparecidos#43, aims to give voice to the dramatic event of Mexican students who disappeared on September 26, 2014. A strong performance of great emotional impact, it features not only words but also of physical actions, sounds, songs and projected images.

Many of the plays are also a commentary on the universal theme of human condition and the suffering that one undergoes in life. King Oedipus from Bangladesh and My sweet rotten heritance from Sri Lanka fall in the genre.

A play that talks about the perils of modern life which are universal is The Department from Sri Lanka. It is a study of the workplace pressures and competition. On a different note, but still about the workplace When We Dead Awaken consists of a few final episodes from the life of an ageing sculptor, who achieved fame at the expense of personal happiness.

And there are complications that we can create in our personal lives. The Open Couple is the story of a couple where the husband is having multiple affairs and the complications that it can lead to.

To add an element of intrigue, there is Stormy Weather from the same island is a murder mystery that keeps the audience guessing till the end.

But of course there is a regurgitation of the past. In An Iliad, aided by two Muses, a single, modern day storyteller takes the stage. There is also a Thousand and One Nights from Romania which recounts the ancient tales.