World Theatre Day is marked on March 27 and is a celebration of the stage and the people who have spent years cultivating its art and beauty.
Are theatres alive even today, in the increase of OTTs? Oh, yes! The nostalgic offline fun, while being seated on the theatre chair and glancing at the drama on stage - is a feeling that can't be taken away...
Some theatre plays are so impressive and worth knowing that they have been adapted as films, added to educational curriculum, etc. On this day, here are 5 theatre dramas to tune into:
Natsamrat
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Natsamrat was the name of an iconic Marathi play in which Shriram Lagoo, affectionately known in theatre circles as ‘Doctor Lagoo', was starred. He played a leading role in the play 'Natsamrat' written by Kusumagraj (Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar) and was best remembered for that role. However, the film adaptation of the same took Nana Patekar to play 'Natsamrat'.
In the play, Ganpat Belwalkar, a Shakespearean actor, retires from the stage but is unable to escape the drama of familial clashes. However, their ungratefulness leaves Ganpat and his wife homeless during their old age. Felicitated with the Sahitya Akademi Award, Natsamrat ran successfully for more than four decades.
Romeo and Juliet
This Shakespearean play keeps being done on theatres across the globe in regular intervals, not just for the lovebirds but for all who believe in the beauty of love.
Broken Images
Ad guru and theatre veteran Alyque Padamsee directed play 'Broken Images' is one that features Shabana Azmi in Girish Karnad's piece of writing. The lead played by Azmi shows her in a character of two sisters and their many images, as they morph into one another.
William Shakespeare's 'All the world's a stage'
Not a theatre play in itself, but a poem to read and appreciate on World theatre day. 'All the world's a stage' is an excerpt from William Shakespeare's much celebrated piece of writing, the play 'As You Like It'. The poem happens to be a monologue that runs twenty-eight lines long and is in part written as a blank verse.
Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe or Silence! the Court is in Session
Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe is a Marathi play written by Indian playwright Vijay Tendulkar in 1963 and first performed in 1967. The play was written for Rangayan, a Mumbai-based theatre group, and the idea addressed reflects on the representation of female in the then society.
