Guwahati Theatre Festival

English-language tabloid G Plus launched the Guwahati Theatre Festival in 2016. Its aim is to provide a platform to performing groups to showcase their productions in the region.

Ashvin Gidwani Productions’ 2 to Tango 3 to Jive, Cinematograph’s Hamlet – The Clown Prince, Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, Kalki Koechlin’s The Truths of Womanhood and Rage Productions’ One on One were staged during the inaugural edition. Ace Productions’ Broken Images, Patchwork Ensemble’s The Gentlemen’s Club AKA Tape and QTP’s Mother Courage and Her Children were among the plays presented at the 2017 instalment. Aparna Theatre’s Stories in a Song, Imogen Butler-Cole’s Foreign Body, Silly Point Productions’ Laughter Therapy and The Company Theatre’s Detective 9-2-11 were performed at the event in 2018.

The fourth edition, staged in 2019, featured Anaan Nirmitee’s Kusur (The Mistake), Felicity Theatre’s Patte Khul Gaye and Silly Point Productions’ The Devil Wears Bata.

Each instalment includes workshops for school and college students. The workshops are conducted in collaboration with Brahmaputra Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that works towards the enrichment of north-east India. Directors and actors such as Atul Kumar (2016), Quasar Thakore Padamsee (2017), Namit Das (2018) and Rakesh Bedi (2019) have helmed these workshops over the years.

The Guwahati Theatre Festival, which has been on hiatus owing to the pandemic, returned in 2022. On the bill were The Company Theatre’s production of British playwright Ronald Harwood’s Taking Sides, directed by Atul Kumar (Friday, 11 November); Primetime Theatre Co.’s Vodka & No Tonic, based on stories by author Shobhaa De and directed by Lillete Dubey (Saturday, 12 November); and Silly Point Production’s Rusty Screws, written and directed by Meherzad Patel (Sunday, 13 November).

Check out more theatre festivals here.