Bhagavadajjukeeyam (Hindi) – 6 pm

Troupe: NIPA Rangamandali, Lucknow 

Script: Bodhayan 

Adaptation, Direction: Surya Mohan Kulashreshta

Synopsis: The play begins with a light-hearted debate between Guru Parivrajak and his disciple Shandilya. The saint believes in the spirit alone, and the disciple in the world and its necessities. Courtesan Vasantsena, along with her friend Madhukarika, enters the garden to meet her lover. Shandilya is attracted towards Vasantsena. A yamdoot, in the guise of a snake, bites Vasantsena and she dies. Shandilya weeps for her, and Guru, out of compassion for his disciple, puts his own soul in Vasantsena’s body and she lives again… but, she is no longer herself she behaves like Parivrajak. What follows, shakes up the beliefs of both the Guru and his disciple.

On stage: Vikesh Bajpai, Nitish Bharadwaj, Komal Singh, Baijanti Nath, Sandhya Rastogi, Mridula Bharadwaj, Sanjeev Verma, Shubham Tiwari, Suraj and Navneet Rastogi; Backstage: Lights – Sukhesh Mishra, Music Operation – Vinay Mishra, Music Conductor: Akhilesh Dixit ‘Deepu’, Set: Shubham Tiwari and Vinay Mishra, Wardrobe – Sandhya Rastogi, Props – Sujeet Singh Yadav ‘Bunty’, Make-up: Shaheer Ahamad, Choreography – Yateendra Chaturvedi, Music Composition – Ravi Nagar, Production Controller, Assistant Director, Costume Designer & Dance Trainer – Mridula Bharadwaj.

Mahadevbhai (English/ Hindi) – 6.30 pm 

Troupe: Working Title, Mumbai 

Script, Direction: Ramu Ramanathan 

Synopsis: Mahadev Desai, the main character of the play ‘Mahadevbhai,’ was a secretary and onlooker to Gandhiji. The play is based on the daily diary entries that Mahadev Desai had maintained. In this play, Ramu Ramanathan has chosen the form of lively story telling along with a touch of humour. Highlighting feature of this play is one actor plays out various historical characters. The play also reminds how a healthy tradition is slowly getting wiped out throngh hatred and prejudice. 

On stage: Jaimini Pathak; Backstage: Research – Kinnari Vohra, Lights – Amogh Phadake, Sound – Arvind Panaganty, Set Design – Nikhil Khadiikar & Vinesh lyer; Production: Deepak Agarwal & Chirag Khandelwal.

Jhalkari (Hindi) – 7 pm

Troupe: Rahi Theatre Company, Mumbai 

Script: Punarvasu Malviya 

Direction: Neha Singh 

Synopsis: ‘Jhalkari’ is a musical play in Hindi and Bundelkhandi which reveals the real life character of Jhalkari Bai. Jhalkari Bai was a poor, Dalit girl who defied her destiny and became the body double of Queen Lakshmibai of Jhansi and also the commander of her women’s army. The play tries to present together the known and unknown facts of the first revolt of Independence in 1857 and holds the spotlight on Rani Lakshmibai and Jhalkari Bai, camaraderie and Hardihood. 

On stage: Dipika Pandey, R.P. Vaishnavi, Bharati Perwani, Punarvasu, Ashutosh Shukla, Madhur Khandelwal and Ashutosh Singh; Backstage: Light Designer – Vishal, Costume Dinigner – Sonika Riar, Music Composer – Punarvasu, Additional Music – Madhur Khandelwal; Action Director – Arpit Singh; Production Manager – Priyanshi Bahadur.

Mukhyamantri (Kannada) – 7.30 pm

Troupe: Kalagangothri, Bengaluru 

Script: Ranajit Kapur

Kannada Translation: T.S. Lohitashwa 

Direction: Dr. B.V. Rajaram 

Synopsis: During his 5-year regime, the Chief Minister of Udhayachala, Krishnadwaipayana Kaushal is dethroned due to no-confidence motion passed by his Ministers. As a result of this unfortunate incident, there is a turmoil in the State poiitics. Until the next elections, the Governor asks Kaushal to be the interim Chief Minister for next two days. In accordance to that, Kaushal serves in his post from 6 in the moming till midnight 12. To win back the trust of his Ministers in all the devious circumstances, Kaushal throws light on the darkside of the politics with the cleverness and statesmanship.

On stage: Dr. Mukhyamantri Chandru, Suguna, Hemanth, Kiran Kantavara, Siddarth Bhat, Prakash Ballari, Shrinivasa Kaivara, Kodi Rajesh, Durgadas, Shrinivasa Mestru, Sushma, Manjunatha Hegade, Kitti, Chandrashekar, Pavan Putra, Suresh, Subhash, Chandan, Ajay, Gurudah, Dr. M.S. Vidya, M.N. Muralidhar, Rohit, Avaneet; Backstage: Background Music – Shashidhar Daksha, Make-up – Shrinivasa Kaivara, Lights – Prabhanjan, Set – Kodi Rajesh and Pavanputra, Props – Durga and Purushottam.