New Delhi, Feb 13 (UNI) In an effort to put India firmly among the top nations in the world theatre map, the country will play host to the 8th Theatre Olympics, the greatest carnival of thespianism with the theme of 'Flag of Friendship'.
The Theatre Olympics is being organised by the National School of Drama (NSD) under the aegis of Ministry of Culture.
Making the announcement, Union Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma on Tuesday said,'It gives me immense pleasure to announce that India will be hosting the 8th edition of Theatre Olympics 2018 from February 17 to April 8, 2018.'
'It's a matter of pride for us and a big day to celebrate this great event.I compliment and congratulate the international society who has given this oppourtunity to India to have this Theatre Olympics in the history of independent India,' Dr Sharma said.
The minister said India will get an opportunity to showcase the richness and diversity of it's culture to the world through this mega event.
"Theatre Olympics is one of the biggest theatre events that shall witness some of the greatest theatre practitioners from around the world," he said.
Dr Sharma said the best theatre productions from around the world shall be showcased to the Indian audience in different cities.
"This mega event shall host 450 shows in 17 different cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai," he said.
The minister hoped that this Theater Olympics will make an identity in the glorious history of the country.
"We have many burning issues in the country and for them to be solved by any government organisation, law alone won't be able to help but they will be resolved from the consciousness of the society," he said.
'Appeal of the theatre medium is very big. I have seen some theatre few days back like the one based on 'Beti Bachao,Beti Padhao' campaign, one on dowry and they had displayed it so beautifully through the theatre that it strikes a chord in the heart,' the minister said.
The event will feature Indian and international theatre groups, eminent theatre personalities along with their performances. There will be exhibitions, seminars, symposia, interactive discussions and workshops with well-known authors, actors, designers and directors.
The festival will have participation from 30 countries, 600 ambience performances and 250 youth forum shows, with 25,000 artists from across the globe. It will include 60 'living legends' series conversing with theatre enthusiasts and 50 'master classes' on various art forms.
The 51-day long nationwide theatre extravaganza would be inaugurated in the Red Fort on February 17.
The youth forum 'Advitiya 2018' will be organised by the NSD students, comprising of competitions for music bands,street theatre plays,short play writing and cultural journalism.
Participants from 30 countries including Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, ITaly, Japan, Lithuania, Mauritius, Nepal, Poland, Russia, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, UK and the US would showcase their acumen in theatre.
Prof Waman Kendre,Director,NSD said,'to regain the past glory of our nation we must make it the cultural superpower of the world.'
'With this international event, we wish to express our theatre practices,its variations, philosphies. The objective is to create a platform for conversation between Indian and global artists with an intent to enrich our collective undertsanding and expression of art,' Mr Kendre said.
Theatre and film veterans like Shabana Azmi,Paresh Rawal, Manoj Joshi, Himani Shivpuri, Seema Biswas and Saurabh Shukla will also take part in the olympics.
UNI PYAR 1812